Pacific Fibre raises $5.5 million

Pacific Fibre, the company with big plans to build a fibre optic cable connecting Australia and New Zealand to the USA, has raised NZ$5.5 million.

Existing external investors all chipped in to the fourth round of funding as well as San Francisco investor Peter Thiel, who recently invested NZ$4 million into Xero.

"Pacific Fibre is strategically significant to the growing technology industries in New Zealand and Australia”, said Thiel. "The company offers a strong proposition to investors, and we look forward to the successful financing of the project.”

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) will also contribute to the cost of feasibility studies evaluating foreign investment. NZTE’s Strategic Investment Fund provides up to $250,000 in matched funding for feasibility studies when the project has good prospects of generating significant economic benefit for New Zealand.

"The capital investment involved with building an undersea cable and the subsequent creation of jobs would have a positive impact on our economy. Having a second cable is also likely to boost the overall competitiveness of our exporters, who increasingly rely on the internet as a channel to global markets,” said Graham Matthews, NZTE’s Director of Investment.

Mark Rushworth, CEO of Pacific Fibre, added, "We are also very grateful for the continued support and confidence from our existing investors, who, like us, are committed to making this happen. We now have highly regarded investors from all three countries of operation, and we are seeing plenty more appetite from a variety of debt and equity investors for the major round.”