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What Founders Want is a founder-first platform from Founder VC — the single source of truth for New Zealand startup founders, built on what they’re actively searching for but can’t find.
We analysed real founder search data — funding, compliance, accelerators, grants, templates — and built one place to access the answers.
This is not another content site. It’s a living, data-driven toolkit designed to help founders:
Save Money
High-value perks and ready-made templates that reduce costs.
Make Money
Set up your company, hire smarter, and go to market efficiently.
Raise Money
Grants, VC, accelerators, and angel investors in one place.
About What Founders Want
Built by founders, operators, and investors, this platform removes the noise from starting and scaling a business in Aotearoa New Zealand. Every page is designed around what founders actually search for: startup funding, R&D tax credits, hiring playbooks, verified accelerators, trusted startup tools, AI-powered solutions, and clear legal templates.
Every resource has been triple-checked, ecosystem-validated, and prioritized for NZ relevance. Where local resources are thin, we've benchmarked the best global insights to save you time and guesswork. This is not a content aggregator or pay-to-play directory. It's a working founder’s toolkit, maintained by Founder VC and continuously updated to keep pace with what founders need most.
What You'll Find Inside
Start a Startup
Your setup hub for company registration, choosing the right business structure, tax and GST setup, IRD numbers, and visa pathways for founders and investors in New Zealand.
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Start a StartupGet Funded
Your funding hub for New Zealand startup founders. Access up-to-date grants, angel investor networks, VC funds, alternative financing, and our curated funding directory for NZ startups.
Get Funded Accelerators
The full landscape of NZ accelerators and incubators, with our Program Finder to filter by sector, funding model, program type, and upfront investment terms.
AcceleratorsFree Templates
Cap tables, shareholder agreements, business plans, legal templates, and financial models — all startup-ready and NZ-verified for critical milestones like fundraising, hiring, and compliance.
Free TemplatesStartup Perks Library
Cloud credits, SaaS discounts, and partner perks for NZ startups. Cross-referenced with the Startup Tools Stack to maximize founder savings.
Startup Perks NZ Startup Tools Stack
The tools New Zealand startups actually run on — verified by founder usage, cross-referenced with perks, and built from sources like the Startmate Open Source Founder Playbook and Icehouse Ventures portfolio insights.
ToolsGenerative AI Power Stack for Founders
AI-powered tools designed to help founders automate, build, and grow faster — curated specifically for New Zealand startups.
Generative AI Power Stack for FoundersNZ Startup Ecosystem Directory
Fast answers to common founder questions, including fundraising playbooks, R&D tax credit guides, hiring strategies, ecosystem insights, and NZ startup trends.
NZ Startup Ecosystem DirectoryNZ Startup Founder Toolkit
What Founders Want is not just a resource hub — it’s your working toolkit, built exclusively for New Zealand startup founders.
These founder-first tools are built for speed and real-world use — covering setup, funding, growth, and operations.
The Founder’s Checklist: Your Single Source of Truth for Starting a Startup in New Zealand
A verified, founder-first checklist for starting and scaling a NZ startup — covering company setup, tax, compliance, and go-to-market.
The New Zealand Startup Program Finder
Instantly filter and compare every known NZ accelerator, incubator, and startup program — by stage, industry, or funding type, with verified links.
The real tools NZ founders actually use — cross-verified with perks, templates, and insights from top playbooks and operator communities.
Access over $800K in curated startup perks and platform discounts — cloud, CRM, legal, and ops — all available to NZ founders.
Generative AI Power Stack for Founders
A handpicked AI toolkit to automate founder workflows and scale smarter — tailored for NZ startup use cases like fundraising, ops, and GTM.
NZ Startup Ecosystem Directory
The fastest way to navigate NZ’s startup ecosystem — investors, regional hubs, events, and support orgs in one up-to-date tracker.
Updates or suggestions? We’d love to hear from you.
It’s hard to keep track of an ever-changing ecosystem.
We appreciate your contribution to What Founders Want. Together we can make starting a startup easier for founders in New Zealand.
→ Submit an update or share feedback
Powered by Founder VC
Traditional VC chases unicorns. We engineer high-value exits.
Founder VC bridges the gap between venture capital and private equity, backing capital-efficient startups with clear M&A potential. We invest in companies with $1M+ ARR and proven product-market fit, putting them on a structured path to a $300M–$500M exit.
Founder VC isn’t just about funding — we’re changing how founders navigate the fundraising process. By integrating technology, automation, and data transparency, we make fundraising faster, more efficient, and founder-friendly, ensuring startups spend more time building and less time chasing capital.
What Founders Want — NZ startup tools, templates, grants & funding in one place
Pages — Start a Startup · Get Funded · Accelerators · Templates · Perks · Tools · NZ Startup Ecosystem Directory
Know something we don’t? Submit an update or share feedback