New accelerator is born

Coulthard Barnes Ventures is delighted to announce that it has entered into a partnership with Sydney based 'fintech' investor H2 Ventures to support early stage 'fintech'

H2 Ventures will assist CB Ventures to establish a co-working space in Auckland for early stage technology ventures, to be launched in October 2015.

In early 2016, Coulthard Ventures will assist H2 Ventures to launch a dedicated 'fintech' accelerator in Auckland. This will be the first time the H2 Ventures has taken its H2 Accelerator model to an international market.

H2 Ventures is led by its founders, brothers Ben and Toby Heap, and has invested in a range of early stage fintech ventures including Equitise, the recently launched Auckland based crowd funding platform, and Stockspot, Australia's leading robo-advice platform.

Andrew Barnes, chairman of Coulthard Ventures, said "New Zealand is a hot bed of technology innovation. This is a wonderful opportunity to support this innovation and to back New Zealand entrepreneurs to build new businesses. We have a close association with Ben and Toby over many years and we believe that together we can offer a solution that is genuinely compelling to 'fintech' entrepreneurs here in New Zealand."

Ben Heap, Chairman of H2 Ventures, said “we are delighted to be working with Andrew and his team at CB Ventures. We see terrific potential in New Zealand and we know we can provide a platform and infrastructure that supports 'fintech' entrepreneurs to develop their business models and to build the financial services businesses of the future. Our expertise, together with the experience of the CB Ventures team, will give these ventures a massive advantage."

In conjunction with the establishment of this partnership, Andrew Barnes will also join the advisory board of H2 Ventures, while Ben and Toby Heap will join the advisory board of Coulthard Ventures.

Coulthard Ventures and H2 Ventures, New Zealand, will be co-located at Level 14, 191 Queen Street, Auckland.