Most of the 20 firms appealing for funds are in information and communications technology (ICT) with others representing the medical, biotechnology, heavy engineering, construction and retail sectors.

Kmatrix New Zealand office director Mark Copsey was always confident of finding good projects and was surprised only by receiving more than 50 enquiries in a short space of time.

“The $1.6 billion is for projects that we’ve received so far that I think have legs. It doesn’t include any of the stuff we wanted to target around PPPs (public-private partnerships). If I added those in, it would take the funding required to over $2 billion of immediate projects which could seriously be taken forward.”

A meat industry/biodiesel product and a drug active ingredient company are among the 8 projects that have already gone for assessment by Kmatrix’s head office in London before being forwarded to iMatrix’s more than 30 high-net-worth individuals.

Many of the firms aren’t investment ready yet, but will be soon. And some, particularly those in the ICT sector, are simply undervaluing how much investment they need says Copsey. “I’m telling them to come back and tell me what they need to go cash-flow positive, over what timeframe and what the milestones are along the way.”