Street Talk

Former Disney chairman’s VC firm backs Kiwi start-up

Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport

Mar 25, 2026 – 6.04pm

The Kiwi start-up scene is kicking goals.

Days after billionaire Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund backed a $2.9 billion New Zealand-based start-up that makes artificial intelligence collars for cows, this column’s caught wind of another star-studded deal across the ditch.

Sarah Thompson has co-edited Street Talk since 2009, specialising in private equity, investment banking, M&A and equity capital markets stories. Prior to that, she spent 10 years in London as a markets and M&A reporter at Bloomberg and Dow Jones.

Kanika Sood is a journalist based in Sydney who writes for the Street Talk column.

Emma Rapaport is a co-editor of the Street Talk column. Prior to that, she was a markets reporter at The Australian Financial Review.

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