Vend raises $8 million from ANZ investors

Vend has raised NZ$8 million of new capital, with half of the funds committed from new investors in New Zealand and Australia.

The online point of sale software company says new investors from New Zealand include The Milford Active Growth Fund and The Milford KiwiSaver Active Growth Fund, both managed by Brian Gaynor.

A third of new funds raised have come from Australian investors, including Craig Winkler, MYOB founder and Paul Bassett and Matt Rockman, co-founders of Seek.com.au.

“We’re delighted to secure this second round of funding, not only from our existing investors, but from our new partners, which reflects our growing success in Australia," says Vaughan Rowsell, CEO and founder, Vend.

"We are focused on significantly expanding our operations in Melbourne and San Francisco and achieving our goal to be the POS platform of choice for small businesses worldwide."

Winkler, also an investor in cloud based software company Xero, sees a huge opportunity for Vend.

“Most of the best innovation in business software today is happening in the move to the cloud," he says.

"Vend is at the forefront of that move, with tools to help literally millions of small and medium retail businesses serve their customers more efficiently.

"Given that Vend has excellent technology and a strong team combined with a drive to help retail businesses shine, it’s a great investment.”

Launched in late 2010, Vend powers 6500 stores in over 100 countries with the company raising $3 million between the first two capital rounds in 2011 and 2012, with this round being sought to further invest in the product and expand operations in New Zealand, Australia and the U.S.

Milford Asset Management's senior analyst Brooke Bone said he was pleased to be backing Vend, a fast growing local tech company.

"Vend is an young exciting cloud based business with a strong management team and significant future growth potential," he said.

"We are actively looking for investments in established businesses with the ability to deliver high growth rates."

Further investment has also been secured from the founders of NZ Jobs, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, Rowan Simpson, Lance Wiggs and Miki Szikszai while Point 9 Capital from Berlin, Germany has also reinvested.

Vend opened its first Australian office in Melbourne earlier this year, and also has an office in San Francisco.