In 1974, 17-year-old Mark Bregman visited New Zealand. His father was exploring the possibilities of relocating the family down under, but ultimately took a job in California leading sales and marketing for the world’s largest winery. For Mark, it launched a lifelong interest in Aotearoa.

Then, in the 1990s, Mark was an executive at IBM and traveled to New Zealand regularly to call on customers for work, building a strong network there. In 1997, the IBM New Zealand team enlisted Mark’s help to see if IBM would be a corporate technology sponsor for Team New Zealand. Finally, in 1999, Mark invested in a vineyard property in Central Otago, further cementing his connection to New Zealand.

Meanwhile, Mark purchased a home in the town of Quidnet, on the island of Nantucket. He subsequently learned about the whaling industry in the early 1800s, which occurred heavily in Nantucket. Mark then discovered the deep connection to New Zealand: many voyages began in Nantucket and made landfall in New Zealand before spending time in the Pacific Fishery. In fact, several Maori who had joined Nantucket whaling ships as crew chose to return with the crew and became part of Nantucket history in the 1820s.

Over the next several years, Mark met with many Kiwi founders and entrepreneurs during their visits to San Francisco and Silicon Valley. Mark was impressed immediately by the creativity and boldness of these entrepreneurs, but saw a gap between their expectations and the realities of entering the U.S. market. It became clear to Mark that New Zealand had come very far as an innovation nation, and that Kiwi entrepreneurs could achieve success with the right help in entering and growing in the U.S. market.

In 2018, after 30+ years as a global technology executive and completing his role in the transformation of NetApp, the world’s leading data storage company, Mark decided to focus on venture capital as a way to get further involved in innovation and early-stage companies. Building on 20+ years of involvement in New Zealand, Mark launched Quidnet Ventures, named for the town in Nantucket where global venture capital was born in the 1800s.

Today, Quidnet Ventures focuses on identifying bold founders in New Zealand, who have a vision to build companies with global impact. Built on Kiwi ingenuity, grit, and determination, these companies are ready to launch themselves into offshore markets, but require early capital to do so and advice and counsel to help them succeed. Quidnet Ventures can provide that through a set of advisors with 150+ years of combined experience in the global technology business. The team can connect portfolio companies to key customers, investors, service providers, and others in the U.S. market.

The overarching goal that Mark has in launching the fund is to help accelerate the growth of a vibrant entrepreneurial technology ecosystem that can help strengthen New Zealand’s Twenty-First Century economy, while maintaining and leveraging those things that make Aotearoa a special place.

About Mark:

During his more than 30 years as a global technology executive with large companies and startups, Mark has focused on innovation and worked closely with many early-stage companies.  In start-ups, he learned the lessons of fundraising, ruthless prioritization, and focus on the customer. As a chief technology officer, Mark led international businesses in Europe and Asia and was the leading executive for a joint venture between Symantec and Huawei based in China that grew from $32M to more than $750M in revenue in three years.  He also focused on corporate venture investing by the larger companies for which he worked.