Photo credit; Elliott Brown on Flickr

The Icehouse, a business growth centre, and its angel investment network known as the Ice Angels have announced a record year, investing more than $7.8 million into 26 New Zealand companies in 2013.

More than half of the 39 companies that pitched their ideas at Ice Angels investment events successfully attracted investment.

The Angels include more than 200 global CEOs, entrepreneurs, and professional investors.

The director of the Ice Angels Ken Erskine says there are a number of reasons behind last year’s success.

“To begin with, greater coordination with other investment groups around New Zealand has worked well to enable more startups to raise more money.”

The Ice Angels’ collective investment of $7,890,819 in 2013, is almost double the amount invested in the previous two years.

“Last year, Ice Angel’s portfolio companies including Booktrack, Stolen Rum, and Nexus6 secured significant amounts of venture capital, launched new products, and successfully broke into overseas markets,” said Erskine.

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