Outset Ventures
Status
ACTIVE
Global HQ
Auckland, New Zealand
Countries of investment
- New Zealand
Investment stages
- Pre-Seed
- Seed
- Series A
- Series B
Industries
- Deep Tech
- Aerospace
- Energy
- Energy Storage
- Clean Energy
- Circular Economy
- Industrial Tech
- Manufacturing
- MedTech
- Defense Tech
About
Outset Ventures is an Auckland-based deep tech venture builder and investor that combines specialised laboratory space at its Future House campus in Parnell, a venture fund platform and a founder community, and counts Rocket Lab, LanzaTech and Mint Innovation among the companies that started in its facilities. After a first fund of about $6.8M launched in 2021 and a $23.6M Fund II closed oversubscribed in 2025, Outset has now raised roughly $14M for Momentum Fund I, about halfway to its $28.4M target. The new vehicle is its first growth fund and invests in New Zealand deep tech companies at Series A and B, with tickets of up to $5.7M. Government-owned NZ Growth Capital Partners anchored the fund with $5.7M, and the vehicle is structured to qualify under New Zealand's Active Investor Plus visa framework.
Outset Ventures is an Auckland-based deep tech venture builder and investor that combines specialised laboratory space at its Future House campus in Parnell, a venture fund platform and a founder community, and counts Rocket Lab, LanzaTech and Mint Innovation among the companies that started in its facilities. After a first fund of about $6.8M launched in 2021 and a $23.6M Fund II closed oversubscribed in 2025, Outset has now raised roughly $14M for Momentum Fund I, about halfway to its $28.4M target. The new vehicle is its first growth fund and invests in New Zealand deep tech companies at Series A and B, with tickets of up to $5.7M. Government-owned NZ Growth Capital Partners anchored the fund with $5.7M, and the vehicle is structured to qualify under New Zealand's Active Investor Plus visa framework.
Investment Thesis
Outset Ventures backs New Zealand deep tech companies built on hard science and engineering, with focus areas including energy generation and storage, resource recovery and circular economy, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, autonomy and sovereign capability, and medical technologies. Its earlier funds invest from pre-seed to Series A, while the new Momentum Fund targets post-revenue Series A and B companies whose technical risk has largely been retired, taking 6 to 10 high-conviction positions with reserves for follow-ons. Its edge is the Future House campus in Auckland, a lab and engineering facility that incubates startups and feeds proprietary deal flow, a model that produced Rocket Lab and LanzaTech.
Manager's Experience
General Partner Angus Blair led the investment activity of Outset's first fund and the oversubscribed Fund II, which together have deployed about $30M into roughly 40 early-stage New Zealand deep tech companies. General Partner Jess Gilbert was previously Portfolio Manager for direct investments at the NZ Super Fund, and co-founder Mat Rowe also co-founded Mint Innovation and Dotterel. The investment committee includes LanzaTech co-founder Sean Simpson, and Rocket Lab founder Sir Peter Beck sits on the Fund II committee and advises Momentum.
Team
Angus Blair - General Partner
Jess Gilbert - General Partner
Mat Rowe - Co-Founder and Executive Director
Olivia Wensley - Partner Investor Relations
Isay Acenas - Principal
Sean Simpson - Investment Committee Member and Advisor
Peter Beck - Investment Committee Member Fund II and Advisor Momentum Fund
Portfolio
Kwetta
OpenStar Technologies
Rocket Lab
LanzaTech
Mint Innovation
Ternary Kinetics
Zincovery
HeartLab
Toku Eyes
Zenno Astronautics