A digital investment platform where any NZ woman can contribute a slice of her monthly income — build real wealth — direct capital into female-led businesses that struggle to access it elsewhere — and join a community that shops, tests, and advocates for the businesses they own.
NZ's SMEs and startups face a wall when trying to raise. Traditional investors pattern-match to founders who look like them. Banks require collateral women are less likely to hold. The capital gap isn't a pipeline problem — it's bias built into the system.
Lower average incomes, career breaks for caregiving, and a financial system that assumes you need a lump sum to start mean most women never access equity investment. Confidence and exposure matter just as much as income. Investing has historically felt like someone else's world.
When capital flows away from female-led businesses, those businesses can't scale, can't create wealth for their founders and teams, and can't produce the successful women who become the next generation of investors. The cycle compounds — in the wrong direction.
Flip the flywheel: women invest → female-led businesses get capital → businesses grow → wealth created for founders and investors → more women invest. And now add a third loop: women test and buy the products of the businesses they own, giving feedback that makes those businesses stronger — and discounts that reward their loyalty.
Research shows female investors back female founders at nearly twice the rate of male investors. Changing who invests changes where capital flows — automatically.
A Splendid monthly contribution builds equity in a curated portfolio of female-founded and female-led NZ businesses. Simple, transparent, built for her life.
Choose a monthly amount that works right now. Pause or adjust anytime — no penalty, no shame.
Pooled and invested into a curated portfolio of female-led NZ businesses — startups and SMEs.
You hold equity. As portfolio businesses grow, so does your investment. See what you own and why.
Financial returns when businesses exit or distribute. Plus measurable impact: businesses funded, wealth built.
We explored three structural approaches. Each solves part of the problem. Only one stays true to the mission of making wealth creation genuinely accessible to women.
List Splendid on NZX. Public buy shares. Splendid deploys capital into private female-led companies.
Start by investing in NZX/ASX-listed companies with female leadership. Move to private companies later.
Women invest a regular monthly amount into a managed portfolio of private female-led NZ startups and SMEs.
Every business goes through funding stages as it grows. Understanding where Splendid invests — and why — is essential to understanding our risk profile, return timeline, and portfolio construction.
Splendid is built around three interlocking roles: investor, community member, and customer. Each reinforces the other — and each makes the businesses you back more likely to succeed.
Monthly direct debit into a curated portfolio of female-led NZ businesses. No minimum term. Pause when life demands it. A simple dashboard shows your portfolio value and the businesses you own a stake in.
Businesses must meet clear gender criteria — female-founded, female-led, or female-majority owned. Due diligence is handled by Splendid. Investors don't pick individual companies.
Splendid members get early access to products from the businesses they own. Test them, give honest feedback that helps those businesses improve — and receive exclusive discount codes to share with your wider community. Women make 70–80% of household purchasing decisions. That's not a footnote. That's a superpower.
No financial literacy test to invest. Plain language throughout. Splendid explains equity, risk, and exits in context — not in a tutorial you have to complete before you're allowed in the door.
Platforms exist that solve one side of the problem — in the UK, Europe, and ANZ. None combine all four in a single regulated platform.
| Platform | Regular contributions | Real equity returns | Female-led only ★ | Market |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| KiwiSaver | ✓ | — | — | NZ |
| Sharesies | ✓ | ✓ | — | NZ |
| Coralus / SheEO | ✓ | — 0% loans | ✓ | NZ · AU · UK · CA |
| Arc Angels | — HNW only | ✓ | ✓ | NZ |
| Angel Academe | — £10K min | ✓ | ✓ | UK |
| We Are Jane | — institutional | ✓ | ✓ | Belgium |
| Joanna Invests | ~ €2.5K min | ✓ | ✓ | Netherlands |
| Splendid | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | NZ — first of its kind |
Sharesies built a platform with 600,000+ users, many first-time investors. NZ women are ready to invest digitally — they just haven't had a product built for their specific situation and values.
Jenny Rudd and Dame Theresa Gattung's Gender Investment Gap research has put hard numbers on the problem. The conversation has moved from anecdote to evidence. Momentum is building.
Joanna Invests (NL), Angel Academe's EIS Fund (UK), and We Are Jane (Belgium) have proven regulated, women-focused investment platforms work. ANZ has no equivalent.
The Financial Markets Conduct Act provides clear licensing pathways for exactly this kind of platform. The FMA has shown willingness to engage with innovative models.
This is an early concept and I'm not pretending to have all the answers. These are the live questions — and where experienced perspectives matter most.
The data tells us how little they receive — but I want the texture of why. What are the actual barriers: the room dynamics, the questions asked, the terms offered? And where are the genuine opportunities — investors and moments that have worked?
Members testing and buying products from businesses they're invested in is powerful — but it raises questions. How do we ensure feedback is honest and not influenced by ownership? How do discount codes work commercially — who funds them? And how do we avoid the community layer feeling extractive to portfolio companies rather than genuinely valuable?
Our thinking: a 5–7 year lock-up framed like KiwiSaver, a small liquid sleeve, and portfolio staging so earlier investments are producing exits as newer ones are made. What have you seen work in practice?
An MIS licence lets us serve retail investors but costs $150K–$300K+ and takes 12–24 months. A crowdfunding licence is simpler but changes the model. A white-label partnership is faster. What have you seen work for early-stage platforms?
Female-founded, led, or majority-owned — these criteria need to be defensible as leadership changes. What's robust but not so rigid it excludes the right businesses?
A blend is probably right. Earlier stage offers bigger upside but longer waits. Growth-stage may produce earlier returns. What mix creates the right risk profile for retail investors new to private equity?
"I'm not looking for validation. I'm looking for the questions I haven't thought to ask yet."
I'm at the stage where the right conversation is worth more than capital. I want to talk to people who'll poke holes in this — not just tell me it's a great idea.
Especially those who've navigated term sheets, angel networks, or SPV structures. What do founders actually need from a platform investor — and what would be a dealbreaker?
Financial markets lawyers, compliance leads, or founders who've been through licensing. I want the real cost and timeline, not just the theoretical one.
Would you set up a monthly contribution? What would stop you? What would make you trust it? The concept is nothing without honest answers from the people it's built for.
Seriously. What's the killer objection? What have comparable platforms tried and failed at? I'd rather hear it now than in two years.
Women in NZ are ready to invest. Female-led businesses are ready to grow. The gap between them is a structural problem with a structural solution. Splendid is built to be part of that fix — and I'd love to hear what you think.