About Nuance
Nuance is a venture capital firm founded in 2021. It is primarily based out of Takapuna, New Zealand. As of Jul 2026, Nuance is an active investor, having invested in 8 companies, with 1 new investment in the last 12 months. It primarily invests in Seed round in New Zealand based startups. Its investments are spread across a wide range of sectors from Enterprise Applications to High Tech and Food and Agriculture Tech. Most recently it participated in the $***** Seed round of Wellumio Overall, Nuance portfolio has seen 2 acquisitions, namely Quantifi Photonics and Easy Crypto. A lot of funds co-invest with Nuance, with names like Icehouse Ventures sharing a substantial percentage of its portfolio. Nuance has team of 4 people including 2 partners.Key Metrics
Team Members
Portfolio Count
Portfolio Sectors
Portfolio Locations
Rounds of Entry
Seed, Series B & 1 more
Portfolio Acquisitions
Nuance's List of Top Investments
Nuance has a portfolio of 8 companies. Their most notable investments are in Zenno Astronautics and Wellumio.Their portfolio spans across New Zealand and United States. They have invested in Enterprise Applications, High Tech, Food and Agriculture Tech and 10 other sectors, across stages such as Seed, Series B and 1 more. Here is the list of top investments by Nuance:
1. Wellumio
Provider of MRI-based device for the diagnosis of stroke. They claim that with their solution people suspected of stroke can be diagnosed in the ambulance in real-time.
Key facts about Wellumio
- Founded Year: 2019
- Location: Wellington (New Zealand)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $14.9M
- Employee Count: 22 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Flying Kiwi Angels, Icehouse Ventures and 13 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Jul 23, 2026, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Provider of satellite and software for the management of satellites. It provides users with a fuel free satellite engine and has the feature of close proximity formation flight,responsive orbital structures,decentralized architecture,unparalleled collision avoidance and lifetime extension.
Key facts about Zenno Astronautics
- Founded Year: 2017
- Location: Auckland (New Zealand)
- Stage: Seed
- Total Funding till date: $6.61M
- Employee Count: 15 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Shasta Ventures, Mitsubishielectric and 13 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Seed, Nov 28, 2024, $*****
- Highlight: Editors' Pick
Provider of photonics test and measurement equipment and integrated solutions. The company offers instruments supporting development, validation, characterization, and manufacturing. Product platforms include PXI, MATRIQ, and EPIQ. These platforms serve applications such as coherent communications, optical transceivers, and photonic Doppler velocimetry. The company also provides resources like application notes, software, and calibration services.
Key facts about Quantifi Photonics
- Founded Year: 2012
- Location: Auckland (New Zealand)
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $43M
- Employee Count: 62 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Nuance, K1W1 and 11 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series C, Jul 21, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
4. Hectre
Provider of orchard management solutions using sensor-based devices. The software platform allows digital record-keeping for daily operations as well as inventory management. The data for pests, diseases, hazards, and diseases. The software also has a digital bin card system for working offline. The platform provides a graphical and tabular representation of historical data for performance benchmarking purposes.
Key facts about Hectre
- Founded Year: 2015
- Location: Auckland (New Zealand)
- Stage: Series A
- Total Funding till date: $12.7M
- Employee Count: 55 as on Aug 31, 2026
- Investors: Nuance, Punakaiki Fund and 6 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series A, Feb 12, 2026, $*****
5. Easy Crypto
Cryptocurrency trading platform for business, trusts, and self-managed super funds. It enables users to buy, sell, and swap cryptocurrency. It offers trading data tracking solutions. It supports cryptocurrency including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Tron, and many more.
Key facts about Easy Crypto
- Founded Year: 2013
- Location: Auckland (New Zealand)
- Stage: Acquired
- Total Funding till date: $28.8M
- Employee Count: 21 as on Sep 30, 2026
- Investors: Seven Peaks Ventures, Icehouse Ventures and 9 Others
- Latest Funding Round: Series B, Jul 28, 2022, $*****
- Highlight: Acquired
Nuance's Year-on-Year Investment Trends
Nuance has invested in 8 companies over the last 5 years, with an average of 1 new investment annually in the last 5 years. As of Jul 2026, it has made 3 investments in this year. Its most recent first time investment was in Wellumio and most recent follow-on round was in Wellumio.Year | No. of Investments | ||
|---|---|---|---|
1st Round | Follow-on | Total | |
2026 (YTD) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
2024 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2023 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
2022 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
2021 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
Nuance's Investments by Stage
Nuance has made 4 investments in Seed stage with an average round size of $5.19M, 2 investments in Series B stage with an average round size of $12.5M and 1 investment in Series A stage with an average round size of $11.8M.Stage of entry | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Seed | 4 |
Series B | 2 |
Series A | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Nuance's Investments by Sector
Nuance has a diverse portfolio, with companies operating in the Enterprise Applications, Environment Tech, High Tech, Sustainability Tech and Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech. Notably, it has invested in 8 Tech companies, 7 Enterprise (B2B) companies, 7 Tech hardware companies and at least 4 companies focusing on Software.Sector | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
Enterprise Applications | 3 |
Environment Tech | 2 |
High Tech | 2 |
Sustainability Tech | 2 |
Aerospace, Maritime and Defense Tech | 1 |
Others | 11 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Nuance's Investments by Geography
Nuance has made most investments in New Zealand (6), followed by United States where it has made 1 investment.Country | No. of Investments |
|---|---|
New Zealand | 6 |
United States | 1 |
Note: We have considered here, only first round of investments
Nuance's recent investments
Nuance has made 3 investments in 2026 so far. Wellumio and Hectre are the latest among them.Here are the most recent investments by Nuance:
Filter this listDate | Company | Location | Round Details | Round Amount | Co-Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Jul 23, 2026 | New Zealand | Seed | 1215 | [+13] | |
Feb 12, 2026 | New Zealand | Series A | 5370 | [+1] | |
Feb 11, 2026 | New Zealand | Seed | 1059 | [+4] | |
Jan 26, 2024 | New Zealand | Seed | 6034 | [+2] | |
Oct 10, 2023 | New Zealand | Seed | 3342 | - |
Acquired companies in Nuance's Portfolio
2 companies from Nuance's portfolio have been acquired. The most recent acquisition was Easy Crypto in Mar 2025 by Swyftx for $*****.Here are Nuance's portfolio companies that got acquired most recently:
Company | Acquisition Date | First Invested on | First Round of Investment | Round Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Mar 18, 2025 | Oct 06, 2021 | Series A | 6585 | |
Mar 10, 2025 | Jul 09, 2021 | Series B | 9833 |
Team profile of Nuance
Nuance has a team of 4 members including 2 Partners and 1 Principal located in New Zealand. Nuance's team does not sit on the board of any company as of now.Here is a list of all team members in Nuance:
Name | Designation | Location | Board Memberships | Contact Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Partner | New Zealand | - | ||
Partner | New Zealand | - | ||
Principal | New Zealand | - |
Co-investors of Nuance
Over the past 5 years, 42 investors have co-invested in Nuance's portfolio companies. This includes funds and angels.
- Invested before Nuance: Punakaiki Fund, K1W1 and 2 others have invested in rounds before Nuance. There is 1 company where Punakaiki Fund has invested before Nuance and 1 company where K1W1 has invested before Nuance.
- Top Co-investors of Nuance: 24 investors entered a company along with Nuance. These include investors like Icehouse Ventures (2 companies).
- Invested after Nuance: A total of 14 investors have invested in Nuance's portfolio after their investments. Top Investors include Jumpspace Ventures (1 company), Flying Kiwi Angels (1 company) and Snowball Effect (1 company).
Recent News related to Nuance
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Wellumio Secures $9.75M to Launch Portable Brain Imaging DeviceHIT Consultant•Jul 24, 2026•Wellumio, Nuance
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Hectre plans to invest 12 million dollars in AI solutionsPortalfruticola•Feb 17, 2026•Punakaiki Fund, Nuance, Hectre, Cultivate
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Wellumio Secures $6.2m in Pre-Series A Funding for Portable Stroke DiagnosticsStartup Daily•Feb 12, 2026•Wellumio, Nuance, Icehouse Ventures
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Wellumio Secures $7.28M in Pre-Series A Funding for Portable Stroke Detection DeviceIdealog•Feb 11, 2026•Wellumio, Nuance, Icehouse Ventures
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Zenno Astronautics Secures Investment From Global Brain, One Of The Largest VCs In JapanScoop•Nov 28, 2024•Zenno Astronautics, Global From Day One, Shasta Ventures, Nuance and 9 others
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NZ Crypto Marketplace Gets $17m from InvestorsCryptoGlobe•Jul 28, 2022•Easy Crypto, Nuance, Icehouse Ventures, Pathfinder
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Electric utility bike company Ubco scores $10M strategic investment with TPKTechCrunch+•Sep 22, 2021•Ubco Bikes, TPK Holding, Seven Peaks Ventures, Nuance Investments and 4 others
