Mana Tupu Capital · About Us
Kotahi te Tīma.
One team.
Mana Tupu Capital is a New Zealand registered Financial Services Provider (FSP1010002) and a listed Acceptable Managed Fund under the Invest NZ Active Investor Plus programme. We are headquartered in Queenstown and operate two fund vehicles focused on New Zealand's growth economy.
Who We Are
Built for the work.
Not the brochure.
Mana Tupu Capital was established to address a structural gap in New Zealand's investment landscape: a disciplined, institutionally governed fund manager that could provide high-net-worth international investors with a credible AIP-aligned pathway, while deploying genuine capital into New Zealand's most promising growth companies and established businesses.
We built the infrastructure first. Complete KYC/AML onboarding, Investment Committee governance, investor reporting, and portfolio monitoring — all through our proprietary Myndra platform — before we accepted the first dollar of capital. That sequencing was deliberate.
Mana Tupu Capital is part of the Sapien Group of funds management entities, with a founding network spanning Silicon Valley, Australia, and the Asia-Pacific region. Our principals bring complementary expertise across FinTech, capital markets, enterprise technology, and NZ SME acquisition.
Registered Financial Services Provider in New Zealand — FSP1010002. Venture Fund I is listed as an Acceptable Managed Fund under the Invest NZ Active Investor Plus programme, Growth Category.
Queenstown, New Zealand. Operations across Auckland, Sydney, Singapore, and global capital-raising network spanning Asia-Pacific and North America.
Venture Fund I — NZD 50M target, Series A/B, FinTech · AgriTech · GreenTech. PE/SME Buyout Fund — majority acquisitions of established NZ businesses, launching 2027.
All fund operations, investor onboarding, KYC/AML, portfolio monitoring, and investor reporting managed through Myndra — our proprietary fund management platform.
External legal services provided by Dentons New Zealand through Catriona Grover. Fund documentation, regulatory submissions, and compliance obligations reviewed by one of the world's largest international law firms.
Financial Services Provider
Managed Fund — Listed
members — two independent
investor network
The Principals
The team behind
the investment.
Each principal leads a distinct domain — venture origination, capital raising, and banking strategy. No generalism. Depth in every function.
Colin Weir
FinTech entrepreneur, investor, and digital banking strategist with over 20 years of experience across banking, payments, and financial technology. Founder and CEO of Moroku, a FinTech company leveraging mobile and behavioural science to create game-based financial experiences for banks globally. Leads Venture Fund I origination and portfolio management.
Victor Jiang
Serial entrepreneur and seasoned investor with a 25+ year career across technology, management consulting, and investment management in 12 countries across 4 continents. Has advised or worked with 35 of the Global Fortune 50. Founder and Managing Director of Sapien Group. Keiretsu Forum Australasia Chapter President.
David Bell
C-Suite executive with a proven track record scaling businesses from startups to global enterprises across SaaS, financial services, capital markets, and risk-based business. Former senior roles at ASB, NAB, CBA, and Xero. INFINZ Fellow. Leads the PE/SME Buyout Fund thesis and pipeline development.
Governance
Investment Committee.
Independent oversight.
Every investment decision is made by a five-member Investment Committee — not by any individual principal. Two seats are held by independent members, and no decision can be taken without them in the room.
The IC operates under a formal Charter governed under New Zealand law. Final decision-making authority, fiduciary oversight, and proceedings are all NZ-based. International partners provide strategic networks — control and accountability remain with Mana Tupu Capital.
Full Governance Detail →Three principals plus two independent members: Jason Kerr and John Hanna. Diverse expertise across FinTech, venture capital, data infrastructure, and capital markets.
Quorum requires both independent members present. Every investment decision requires at least one independent affirmative vote. No principal can carry a decision alone.
Every direct investment requires IC majority approval following a comprehensive due diligence report, detailed risk assessment, scenario modelling, and defined exit pathways.
The IC maintains documentation consistent with Invest NZ requirements, oversees ESG frameworks, and ensures every investment meets AIP acceptable investment criteria and the fund's SIPO.
John Hanna
New Zealand director and senior executive with over four decades of experience across technology, infrastructure, and media, with board and executive engagement since 1996. He has led national-scale digital infrastructure organisations through major acquisitions and expansions, founded and scaled a Crown-owned digital network from inception to serve over 99% of the country's schools, and founded and successfully exited a significant technology consultancy.
His career also spans senior executive roles in data centre and managed services, national IT systems integration, and regional leadership for a major global technology corporation. Recognised as one of New Zealand's most innovative ICT leaders (CIO100, 2017), he is a member of the NZ Institute of Directors and the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and has held trustee and advisory roles supporting education and innovation initiatives. He brings deep expertise in board-level governance, M&A strategy and execution, and large-scale organisational transformation.
Jason Kerr
Jason has spent over three decades in the New Zealand startup scene, building and selling four companies that he took offshore to the US. Spanning the aviation, telecommunications, social networking, and recruiting technology sectors, two of these ventures were sold to strategic acquirers, one floated on AIM, and one sold to private equity — where Jason subsequently spent three years working in M&A.
Today, Jason is Co-Founder and CEO of Spoke, the leading mobile communications platform for regulated enterprises. Alongside this role, he serves as Chairman of another New Zealand tech company, and actively invests in New Zealand startups. Jason also holds one of the original patents for two-way SMS, filed before most people even owned a mobile phone.
Ready to work
with our team?
Whether you are an investor exploring the AIP pathway, a founder seeking capital, or a business owner considering your next chapter — our team responds to every enquiry within one business day.