GD1 (Global From Day One) is an Auckland-based venture capital firm backing New Zealand technology companies from pre-seed through Series B and supporting them in scaling into global markets. The firm operates as a generalist fund with specialist partners across hardware, health, frontier technology, software, and financial infrastructure, and every member of its investment team has previously built, operated, or scaled a company.
GD1 invests across five core theses: frontier energy and industrial technology, the new space economy, human health re-engineered through biology and medical devices, next-generation AI-native vertical software, and financial infrastructure.
The firm writes first checks at pre-seed, leads rounds at Series A, and follows on through Series B, positioning itself as a long-term partner across a company's full lifecycle rather than a round-by-round investor.
GD1's central thesis is that New Zealand's small domestic market, distance from capital, and lean talent pool push successful companies toward capital efficiency, discipline, and genuine global ambition from the outset.
GD1 announced the first close of Core Fund II at $33.4 million in August 2026, against a $88.4 million target that would match the size of the firm's earlier Core Fund I.
Around 20% of the capital raised so far has come from New Zealand's Active Investor Plus ("golden visa") scheme, including investors who are current or former leaders and early employees at companies such as Google, Apple, TSMC, Nvidia, and SpaceX.
Returning anchor investors JB Were and Harbour Asset Management also contributed substantial commitments. GD1 has already begun deploying capital from the first close and expects to continue raising toward the full target.
Leadership
GD1 is led by Co-Managing Partners Vignesh Kumar and John Kells. Nawaz Ahmed and Aaron Small serve as General Partners; Small was promoted to Partner alongside the Core Fund II announcement, having joined GD1 three years earlier and led the firm's investments into Atomic Tessellator and other still-undisclosed companies, with a focus on climate tech, frontier technologies, and materials science.
The broader team includes Doug Bohaboy (Go-To-Market Principal), Jonathan Tan (Senior Investment Analyst), Catherine Young (Operations Manager), Tracy Han (Operations Coordinator), and Jin Budelmann (Head of Data + AI).
Investment Strategy
GD1 positions itself as an operator-led fund: every member of its investment team has previously built, operated, or scaled a company.
The firm makes independent investment decisions rather than following market consensus, and aims to back the founder relationship across a company's full lifecycle, from a first pre-seed check through to the round that takes a company global, rather than investing round by round.
Notable Investments
Vignesh Kumar — Co-Managing Partner
John Kells — Co-Managing Partner
john@gd1.vc
Aaron Small — Partner
aaron@gd1.vc
Catherine Young — Operations Manager
cat@gd1.vc
New Zealand
