Rocket Lab backer Outset raises $25M to fund New Zealand’s deep tech moonshots

New Zealand’s deep tech ambitions just got a $25 million boost. Outset Ventures, the Auckland-based venture firm and incubator that spun out unicorns like Rocket Lab and LanzaTech, has closed its second fund at an oversubscribed $41.5 million NZD. The fund’s mission is to back startups working on hard science and engineering breakthroughs – technologies its partners believe New Zealand is uniquely suited to lead. That includes everything from aerospace to medical technology, though Outset is especially focused on energy generation and storage. The firm is betting that New Zealand, while too small to play on the frontlines of AI, can tackle the downstream energy and infrastructure problems that AI is already starting to strain. “We know that the biggest constraint for AI growth all comes down to who can get the most installed energy the fastest, and so that’s where we’ve ended up concentrating more of our attention,” Angus Blair, partner at Outset, told TechCrunch. Many of the start ... Read full article.