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Deal Flow Insights
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Hi there,
Here at NZVC we're seeing lots of interesting, early stage deals in New Zealand and wanted to share them with our LPs and early supporters. The intent is to show the energy of the entrepreneurial ecosystem of New Zealand and also get your thoughts, advice and possible investment into some of these companies. Please note these emails do not constitute an endorsement of these companies by NZVC.
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Metasig
metasig.io
Enterprise crypto wallet solution eliminating seed phrases through threshold cryptography.
Enterprise Cryptocurrency Infrastructure
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The Story
Founded by Paul and Luke, both Edmund Hillary Fellowship fellows who connected through the program's network. Paul brings deep security and cryptocurrency expertise dating back to 2012, while Luke contributes CFO and property services experience. The founding team identified a critical gap in enterprise crypto wallet technology, recognizing that current solutions were built during the 2014-2016 era and haven't evolved to meet modern enterprise security and compliance requirements. The FTX collapse crystallized their thesis. Many Singapore family offices, spooked by centralized exchange risks, retreated to single hardware wallets—ironically creating worse security postures. Metasig saw an opportunity to build purpose-designed infrastructure for businesses, family offices, and high-net-worth individuals who need institutional-grade security without the complexity and cost barriers of existing enterprise solutions.
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Market Opportunity
The enterprise crypto custody market sits between consumer hardware wallets and expensive institutional platforms like Fireblocks (priced at $25k-200k annually). This creates a significant gap for mid-market enterprises, family offices, and growing crypto businesses. Post-FTX, regulatory scrutiny has intensified—Singapore regulators now require proof of approval sequences for crypto transactions, driving demand for compliant infrastructure. The total addressable market includes thousands of family offices, crypto funds, and businesses across APAC who need professional-grade custody without enterprise-tier pricing.
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Traction
- Private beta live on mainnet with ~50 users across key segments
- Early adopters include stablecoin issuers and PwC blockchain teams
- Regulated exchange COO in Singapore actively switching treasury operations to Metasig
- Distribution partnerships developing with corporate service providers (each managing 50-60 customers)
- Big Four accounting firms beginning to recommend as Fireblocks alternative
- Freemium model validated: basic 2-of-3 multisig free, premium features monetized monthly
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Why We're Excited
Metasig addresses a genuine market inefficiency we've observed across our portfolio companies—the custody infrastructure gap between consumer tools and enterprise platforms. Their technical approach is particularly compelling: eliminating seed phrases through a three-key architecture (authentication, encryption, and partial signing) while maintaining user control. This isn't just a UX improvement; it fundamentally solves the enterprise adoption barrier. The regulatory tailwinds are strengthening their position. As compliance requirements tighten across APAC markets, businesses need audit trails and approval workflows that current solutions don't provide elegantly. Metasig's built-in encrypted messaging tied to transactions and verified payee system directly address these emerging regulatory needs. The team's go-to-market strategy through corporate service providers and Big Four partnerships shows sophisticated channel thinking that could accelerate enterprise adoption significantly.
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