ICYMI: Startup news and resources from the week that was
What you might have missed last week on Caffeine.
Welcome to Monday!
As always, on Monday we recap a few of our favorite stories or resources from the week that was then tomorrow kick back into our full newsletter from Tuesday.
We are including one bit of fresh exciting news today though. Straight off the back of our sold out event in Auckland tonight, we are revealing the next in our Caffeine event series. Scroll to the bottom for details!
Have a great start to your week,
Finn and the Caffeine team
Icehouse Ventures celebrates multi-billion dollar milestone following 15th Annual Showcase: As mentioned, I had great night at this event last week and now our friends over at Icehouse Ventures have released some new data off the back, celebrating how far our ecosystem has come.
The first ever Icehouse Ventures’ Showcase took place in 2011, where sixteen startups pitched to 180+ investors, raising $3.8m on the night. Amongst those emerging names was Aroa Biosurgery, Adherium, Snakk Media, and Martin Aircraft.
They were followed by Parrot Analytics, now a global player in entertainment, PowerbyProxi, which later sold to Apple, and Crimson Education, which pitched the first funding round of the now billion dollar company.
To mark the 15th Showcase, Icehouse Ventures have released some numbers showing the incredible success and flow on benefits to our economy of the many companies who have graced the stage in subsequent showcases.
Prior to the Thursday event, Showcase had featured 156 companies, with $93m invested across 14 showcases into 120 of the best startups.
120 of the startups to pitch over the first 14 Showcases have:
Raised $1.98b since their Showcase pitch (for a total of $2.2 billion, including before the night)
That total includes over $1 billion from offshore investors bringing fresh capital into New Zealand
Added $750 million in new revenue since pitching at Showcase
Created 2,000+ jobs, more than half of them in New Zealand
Delivered 13 successful exits
Icehouse Ventures CEO Robbie Paul says Icehouse Ventures portfolio companies are now bringing in roughly $700,000 a day into New Zealand through equity investment and export revenue.While the general mood of the economy can be fairly grim these days, it was extremely gratifying to be in a room filled with so much energy and optimism. It’s even better to have some hard data to back up that optimism.
Third bi-annual AI forum report shows real A.I impacts: Its felt for a while like we’re in an accelerating phase of A.I adoption and now the third bi-annual AI in Action survey from the A.I forum provides some clear numbers to back that up.
Key findings:
91% of businesses report efficiency gains from AI.
50% cite positive financial impact
77% report cost savings on operations.
55% consistent level of new roles being created
An underpinning factor seems to be the plummeting cost of AI tools, seventy-five percent of organisations now report setup costs under $5,000 (58% under $1,000), compared to nearly 30% spending over $50,000 a year ago. The proportion of organisations spending more than $50,000 per year has dropped markedly from 12% to just 4%.
AI-driven job losses have increased with 14% of organisations now attributing job losses to AI, up from 7% in the previous two surveys. Of course there is a danger of mixing up causation and corelation here and this appears to be linked to wider economic pressures, with many businesses choosing to bank savings rather than expand headcount.
The number which stuck out most to me was the fact 45% of AI adopters report a reduction in new hires, a trend that has steadily increased over the past year. While the ‘A.I bubble is about to burst’ conversation is heating up currently, I think it’s crucial to keep in view numbers like this which show businesses are finding enough value in relatively low cost tools to stave off hiring new employees.
Yes, this does seem to be balanced by new roles being created based on this data but I doubt those roles are 1 to 1 replacements and are more likely redeploying existing talent within the organisation.
The worry I’ve had for a while is that the place AI impacts will be most keenly felt in the short term is in the entry level jobs taken by new hires and fresh grads. If the trend continues like this, I fear we could start seeing the ladder be pulled up on employment as it once was on housing.
Avasa secures first close of its Pre-Series-A capital raise: I’ve had my eye on medical device startup Avasa since last year and it seems I wasn’t the only one. The Auckland based startup just announced the first close of its pre-series A capital raise earlier this week. The round was significantly oversubscribed and is expected to close at NZD$4.75 million. The round was led by Movac and drew strong participation from existing investors, including Bridgewest Ventures, which led Avasa's seed round, and several new backers.
I like Avasa because while I spend so much time in the squishy world of SaaS products and AI, it’s cool seeing someone at the other end of the spectrum solving a very tangible, specific and physical problem with a specific, tangible and well designed product. Founded in 2018, the company is nearing the launch of its first product, the Avasa Coupler, which standardizes and simplifies the process of arterial reconnections. It addresses a critical unmet need by enabling safe, fast, and standardized reconnection of micro-arteries.
Do I completely understand how arteries and micro-arteries reconnection works? No. But am I glad some is simplifying them the process of reconnecting them? Yes.
I am no doctor but I can confidently say that whenever anyone’s arteries are unconnected they would like them stop being that way as quickly and easily as possible and will pay essentially any amount of money to make that happen.
Litmaps closes NZ$1.4m oversubscribed raise: Speaking of spending time in the AI and software space, some other great raise news came across my desk this morning. While Litmaps might sound like a cartography firm targeted at Gen Z it’s actually an AI-powered research discovery platform which has closed its latest fundraising round on a high note, oversubscribed at NZ$1.4 million.
It has over two million users and helps scientists, academics and R&D teams explore prior research through interactive visual maps, trusted citation data and validated insights. I have a warm spot in my heart for these guys. While watching what AI is doing to our general information ecosystem is often horrifying, its great to see someone turning those same tools towards making facts more legible, accessible and impactful.
Congrats to the team and can’t wait to see what they do next.
Pod pick: NBR Podcast with Simon Shepherd unpacks Productivity vs Jobs - A very timely podcast episode has dropped from Simon Shepherd at the NBR unpacking the results of this survey. It includes interviews with AI forum chair Madeline Newman and some businesses at the forefront of AI adoption, like recently unveiled AI powered startup Aether and the more established AI business solution provider, Supahuman. This episode is behind the paywall for those with a subscription but will be available to all from next week on Spotify.
‘I Wish I Knew’ With Lara Henderson from PURE MAMA: Straight off the back of our sold out event tonight in Auckland, Caffeine is stoked to announce the next in our ‘I Wish I Knew’ series, proudly powered by +MORE, Chartered Accountants + Business Advisors
Building a company isn’t a single event – it’s a long game. One with messy middles, unexpected pivots, and the odd “what now?” at 2am.
Join us for our ‘I Wish I Knew’ series, featuring raw and real conversations with successful Kiwi founders who’ve taken the hits, made the calls, and kept showing up. This is about the stuff they wish they knew earlier – the kind of lessons that only come from doing the work (and a few things going sideways).
This event is for founders, early-stage teams and leaders who are serious about growing. We screen all registrations to make sure appropriate criteria is met.
Secure your ticket here or check back in tomorrow’s newsletter for more details.
Remember, this event is FREE for Caffeinators - make sure you use CAFFEINEFRIENDS promo code at checkout.
Date and time
Tue, 28 Oct 2025 5:15 PM - 7:00 PM NZDT
Location
+MORE offices, Mount Maunganui
155 Maunganui Road Tauranga, Bay of Plenty Region 3116
Want to get in touch with a news tip, a slice of feedback or just to chat? Email hello@caffeinedaily.co