NZ Venture Summit speakers

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NZ Venture Summit Speakers

Building a thriving, innovative, venture capital community

Tuesday 31 March 2026

Waiheke Island, New Zealand

Mahsa McCauley, Chair - AI Forum New Zealand

Dr. Mahsa McCauley is Chair of the AI Forum New Zealand and a leading expert in artificial intelligence whose work bridges technology, education and policy. She is an Associate Professor of AI at Auckland University of Technology and a Fulbright Scholar, with research spanning AI, machine learning, IoT and cybersecurity in partnership with industry and government.

She is the Founder and Director of She Sharp Charitable Trust, a volunteer-led organisation supporting women in technology and inspiring secondary school girls into digital careers, reaching thousands through events and industry partnerships. Mahsa also serves on the boards of NZTech, EdTechNZ and the World Summit Awards, where she contributes to AI strategy, education initiatives and projects aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.

In January 2026, she was appointed Communication and Information Commissioner for the New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO, providing strategic leadership to advance communication and information, champion freedom of expression and access to information, and strengthen inclusive, ethical information ecosystems in Aotearoa New Zealand. She is a recognised public speaker and commentator on AI, cybersecurity and the future of work, and has received numerous national and international honours for her leadership, innovation and advocacy for diversity in technology.

Nicky Styris

Nicky Styris is an experienced MC with over 20 years’ experience hosting conferences, awards evenings, and corporate events. Known for her confident, polished, and engaging style, she brings a warm, professional presence to every stage. With a strong background in broadcasting and television journalism, Nicky ensures events run smoothly while keeping audiences informed, connected, and engaged.

Lachlan Nixon - Founding Partner, Motion Capital

Lachlan Nixon is a New Zealand-based venture capitalist and founding partner at Motion Capital, a fund investing in technology companies enabling decarbonisation, the energy transition and resilience.

Robbie Paul , Managing Director - Icehouse Ventures

Robbie is Managing Director of Icehouse Ventures, an active investor in New Zealand technology companies. Icehouse Ventures has invested >$470m into 337 companies and was among the earliest investors in Halter, Hnry, Tracksuit, Dawn Aerospace, Tradify, Partly, and Crimson Education.

McGregor Fea, Managing Partner, Altered Capital

McGregor is the Managing Partner and co-founder of Altered Capital, a New Zealand based Venture Capital and Private Equity firm.

Altered was founded in 2022 as a management spin-out from a global venture fund, and backs companies with proven product market fit to reach their greatest ambitions.

Vignesh Kumar, Co-Managing Partner, GD1

Vigesh is a Co-Managing Partner at GD1, a New Zealand based generalist venture capital firm, which invests in companies across deep tech, connected hardware, health tech, SaaS and Internet 2.0 verticals. GD1's most recent fund was launched in 2021 with c.$150M in committed capital and through this Vignesh is an investor and board member of portfolio companies such as Basis, Foundry Lab, Alimetry, Dawn Aerospace, Zenno Astronautics, Type One Energy, among others.

Before GD1, and after overcoming cancer, Vignesh co-founded Journey Health, a digital health oncology platform. Prior to this, while based in California he led engineering execution at Apple across the US and Asia, and before that worked as a design engineer at Fisher & Paykel Healthcare, where he developed neonatal resuscitation technologies for the NICU.

Vignesh is a Kauffman Fellow (Class 28), Fulbright Scholar, and holds an MBA from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) degree in Biomedical Engineering and a Master of Engineering Studies (Hons) from The University of Auckland.

Dr Ellen Joan Ford

Dr Ellen Joan Ford is terrifyingly ambitious about improving the working world for people and for organisations. New Zealand media have described her as an “extraordinary leader” and a “change-the-freaking-world person”.

As an award-winning leader, researcher, military veteran, international speaker, TEDx speaker, facilitator, consultant and parent, Ellen draws on her research and practical experiences to drive organisational outcomes such as improved retention, productivity, engagement, well-being and ultimately, profit, by enhancing inclusive leadership capabilities and workplace culture.

Colin McKinnon - Executive Director of New Zealand Private Capital Association

In the role since May 2008, Colin is responsible for driving the strategy for development of the New Zealand private equity and venture capital industry, communications with members, sponsors and industry participants, coordinating the NZ Private Capital active government lobbying programme and supporting the Council Chairman and members.

Previous roles included Chief Advisor for government involved with policy development for capital markets, issues of “access to finance” for fast-growth businesses and the commercialisation of innovation. With a background in corporate banking and strategic marketing for National Australia Bank and Bank of New Zealand, Colin has held leadership roles in business development, digital transaction management tools and institutional banking relationships with many of New Zealand’s largest corporations.

An advocate for inclusiveness, Colin has encouraged the private capital industry to engage DEI and ESG principles.

Colin is an Economics graduate of Canterbury University and holds a master’s degree in management from Auckland University.

James Pinner - Executive Director of New Zealand Private Capital Association

New Zealand Growth Capital Partners (NZGCP) was established by the New Zealand Government to help build a vibrant start-up and venture capital market in New Zealand.

NZGCP operate two investment vehicles; Elevate (a $400m+ fund of funds investing into venture capital funds - aimed at filing the Series A and B capital gap) and the Aspire Seed Fund. Aspire is a generalist direct investment fund, investing into high-growth technology-based Kiwi start-ups at the proof of concept, seed and early expansion stages – with a focus on deep-tech and emerging sectors that are currently relatively under-served by private sector investors.

NZGCP also performs a market development role to help build the base and develop investor capability, to build connections across the investor sector (both locally and internationally), to introduce international capital, create collaboration, and increase talent introduction.