A summit led by Invest New Zealand, part of New Zealand Trade & Enterprise, at SailGP in San Francisco, highlighted the important role businesses must play in balancing profit and planet.
InvestNZ has engaged with SailGP to launch the next round of its “Do Good, Do Well” global investment strategy in San Francisco - helping foster a sustainable, inclusive, and innovative business culture that delivers both societal and financial benefits.
The government agency staged the event to bring together prospective investor migrants with some of New Zealand’s leading companies, managed funds, and charities.
It is the first major piece of international marketing by InvestNZ under the Active Investor Migrant Program and is designed to attract active investment to deliver more significant economic impact for the good of New Zealand - offering investors options in direct investments, managed funds, listed equities or philanthropy.
The event featured a panel discussion with SailGP CEO Sir Russell Coutts, Live Ocean CEO Sally Paterson, and NewFish Co-Founder Alex Worker (see photo), on the topic: “Do modern businesses have a responsibility to protect our oceans and our planet?”
NZTE General Manager Dylan Lawrence commented: “We’ve teamed up with SailGP to highlight the many opportunities to invest in New Zealand sustainability-minded businesses, especially in relation to the ocean. We're a nation founded by the great Polynesian voyagers. We have the fourth largest ocean space on the planet and a love of sailing. This heritage means New Zealand produces many innovative businesses focused on helping the ocean, some of which were at the event today. Our future wellbeing and prosperity lie in growing such businesses, which is why NZTE is seeking investment from people who want to do well by doing good.”
One of the businesses at the event is the nutrition venture NewFish, which is a biotechnology company creating non-GMO microalgae proteins and other specialised food ingredients that offer a sustainable alternative to traditional animal proteins.
More than 50% of New Zealand’s GHG emissions are from agriculture, and businesses like NewFish play an important role in reducing this figure.
NewFish Co-Founder Alex Worker said: “We believe that abundant protein production from microalgae technology is not only good for the environment but also good for business. Consumers are seeking delicious nutrition choices that do not cost our earth nor marine life, and we saw an opportunity to meet that demand while protecting our waters and ocean.”
Also at the event was the marine conservation charity Live Ocean Foundation, which supports science and innovation that can be scaled up to help reverse the ocean's degradation.
Investors wanting to move to New Zealand under the Active Investor Plus category can also support their application and do good by making philanthropic investments in such organisations.
Live Ocean Chief Executive Sally Paterson added: “A healthy ocean is our greatest ally in the fight for a healthy planet. The ocean is the life support system of the planet, it produces more than half the world's oxygen and is a powerful carbon sink. It’s vitally important that we invest in the knowledge to inform good decisions for the future and New Zealand as guardians to one of the largest and most significant ocean spaces on the planet can play an outsized role here.”
Under the Active Investor Plus program, people can earn the right to live in Aotearoa New Zealand by making a significant business or philanthropic investment, with more information available here: All you need to know about Active Investor Plus
