The role of capital

Access to capital plays a crucial role in creating world-class, innovation-led healthtech businesses.

Innovation needs to be funded in the right way at the right time so it can be scaled in a manner that most effectively captures the market opportunity.

This is especially true in healthtech, where the path to market is often more complex due to strict regulatory and clinical requirements and, typically, longer commercialisation pathways.

Importantly, raising capital isn’t only about gaining funding. The right investors can also bring new skills, experience and networks to your team – crucial for many healthtech ventures.

Where to start?

For many healthtech start-ups or entrepreneurs – especially those from clinical or research backgrounds – it’s not always clear where or how to begin when looking to raise capital, or what they need to do for a successful capital raise.

That’s why Callaghan Innovation created a library of Capital Education resources. Through a series of videos delivered by industry experts and a workshop to bring the learning together, the programme offers insights on everything from where to begin and how to identify (and avoid) critical fishhooks, to what investors want and how to pitch.

Find out what investors look for from Caroline Quay of Cure Kids Ventures, which invests in innovation with potential to benefit child health, for example. Or learn more about founder wellness from Marshall Couper, serial entrepreneur and CEO of mental health technology firm Loffty.

The HealthTech Activator has created some sector-specific content to address the unique needs of healthtech when it comes to capital raising. You can watch the September 2023 recording of the HTA's Capital Planning workshop on the Webinars page.

A scientist running an experiment with a laser.
Raising capital for healthtech
Covid-19 capital challenges for healthtech (2020/21)

Find out more

When looking to raise capital it’s important to understand the investment landscape and to stay up to date with market trends and issues related to healthtech.

Funding Explorer from Business.govt.nz is another great tool to help understand the funding sources that might be right for you – from bootstrapping or borrowing to a capital raise - and you can also explore the HTA Directory page for links to healthtech funders. The HTA Your Journey page also provides a snapshot of some of the bodies that offer funding.

A selection of useful articles and reports covering capital education in healthtech are provided below.

Latest Resources

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