Allbirds, Rocket Lab help NZ take flight

It’s amazing to think two of this year’s hottest new Nasdaq listings are likely to be companies founded and steered by New Zealanders. But it shouldn’t come as a surprise given this country’s rapidly evolving technology sector.

News that New Zealand-born shoe brand Allbirds is talking to banks ahead of a possible initial share offer in the US comes hard on the heels of Rocket Lab’s confirmation last month of an upcoming listing.

Both would be huge deals, not only for the founders and other existing shareholders, but also for New Zealand’s reputation for spawning successful tech companies.

Rocket Lab’s planned US$750m capital raise could value the Peter Beck-founded company as high as $4.1 billion ($5.7b), while Allbirds — co-founded by ex-All Whites captain Tim Brown — was last valued at US$1.7b ($2.4b) following its most recent capital raise in October.

Now based in San Francisco, Allbirds sells more than a million pairs of shoes a year.

The company is still a highvolume purchaser of merino wool from sheep stations in the South Island. It has more than 20 retail stores in the US, Europe, Japan and China. Rocket Lab has a much bigger profile, is shooting for the stars with its plan of building bigger rockets capable of carrying people into space. These are fantastic Kiwi success stories that will only get better with the increased access to funding, market discipline and profile that comes with listing on public markets.

The only downside to their global aspirations is perhaps a lost opportunity for the New Zealand sharemarket. But these Kiwi entrepreneurs are putting New Zealand on the global map like never before and interest from investors is spilling over.

March saw two substantial technology companies sold offshore, with Auckland-based retail software firm Vend going to NYSE-listed Lightspeed for $450 million, and Christchurch geologic 3D modelling outfit Seequent acquired by Nasdaq-listed Bentley Systems for $1.45b.

What the likes of Allbirds and Rocket Lab have also done is put further acid on the Government to support innovation and investment in the tech sector. New Zealand’s R&D spend remains woeful at less than half the OECD average. The Government doesn’t necessarily have to spend more. What it can do is encourage and enable investors to come here and set up shop.