I am excited to announce that Critical. have officially closed our $1.5M Seed investment round (lead by Soul Capital) as we embark to end plastic pollution and lower carbon emissions for the built environment in Aotearoa and for the rest of the world.
Watch Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1noZPTujzMfE_8DTDv29Z74iTI0F-iFec/view?usp=sharing
It is an ambitious goal but it is absolutely necessary. In te ao Māori is this whakatauki (proverb) that 'we don't inherit the land from our ancestors, but borrow it from our children'. When our time comes to an end, our legacy is simply: have we been a good ancestor for our mokopuna (grandchildren) and their mokopuna? Have we cared for and extended aroha to those who are less privileged than we are?
As a growing startup, we never journey alone. As we row our waka towards that destination we encounter new shores where we experience the manaakitanga of new friends. And like the investors in this round who have taken a risk to back us early, these new friends chosen to become a part of the Critical. whānau. They have chose to jump into our waka, to help us row faster, to help us row further and to help us to improve our vessel!
Most importantly, every investor in this round care about the same things we do. They invested not just for commercial returns but want to see genuine impact and will hold us to higher level of accountability. Stone sharpens stone and I am very grateful for this. If you are a startup founder who have raised capital - having backers who are values aligned is fundamental.
And in that spirit, I'd love to acknowledge our new investors:
❤️ Jamie Newth from Soul Capital/ Te Pae ki te Rangi Limited Partnership. Thanks for leading bro. Alex Dallas, Rachel Benitez and Ben Seto
👊 Robbie Tindall and Damon Crowe from K1W1 - thank you for backing us.
🙌 Anglican Care Waiapu Limited - kia ora!
🎁 The Clare Foundation - Alice Montague and Anna Stuck grateful to have your fullas' backing.
🌿 Whakatupu Aotearoa Foundation/ TMNZ - Carl Vink - chur bro!
⚡ VOW Foundation/ Rebecca Turner - tēnā koe!
and 🚀 Startmate, Michael Batko and Niki Scevak - thank you for the follow on and backing us when everyone thought we were crazy and keep backing us.
A lot of people help make this happen I cannot list, I will thank individually offline.
Bring on 2024!!!!!
Shot Nine Islands Media whānau for yet another great video!