Tech founders are told there’s one path: raise a pre-seed round, then a seed round, then a Series A. It’s a great path for a small number of companies. But for plenty of Kiwi SaaS and tech businesses — B2B tools with steady subscribers, dev shops, marketplaces, hardware-plus-software businesses — giving away 15–25% of the company every 18 months isn’t the only option, or the best one.
Non-dilutive funding means money that doesn’t cost you equity. Grants are one kind. Business loans and lines of credit are another.
What does the NZ tech funding picture look like in 2026?
Two things stand out from recent data and policy changes:
- Venture money is concentrating. NZ Growth Capital Partners’ Young Company Finance report found $754m was invested across 166 deals in 2025, up 61% on the year before — but follow-on rounds drove the growth, new-company deals were only 29% of activity, and proof-of-concept deals were just 5% of total investment.
- Government innovation support has been reorganised. Callaghan Innovation is being disestablished, and grants like the New to R&D Grant and Project Grants have moved to MBIE. The R&D Tax Incentive support has also transferred.
In practice, that means early-stage founders without a hot story may find equity slow to raise, and grants are tied to R&D projects rather than general growth.
How tech businesses use debt
| Need | Why debt can fit |
|---|---|
| Hiring ahead of signed revenue | Defined cost over a defined period |
| Paid acquisition with proven payback | Scales a known CAC-to-LTV ratio |
| Bridging to a raise or grant payment | Short, planned gap |
| Annual prepaid contracts creating GST spikes | Timing, not viability |
| Hardware inventory for a device business | Classic stock funding |
| Extending runway to hit a milestone | Better valuation when you do raise |
Two ways to access it
Unsecured funding or a line of credit. For businesses trading around six months or more, sized off turnover visible in bank statements. Recurring subscription deposits tend to show up well. Weaker credit is considered and some decisions are same-day.
Property-secured loan. $20,000 to $1m against NZ property owned by a founder or supporting party, as a first or second mortgage. This is the route for pre-revenue or early-revenue companies, because it doesn’t depend on trading history. No financials or tax returns are needed for the initial assessment.
Debt vs equity: a quick gut-check
Debt suits you when:
- your revenue is recurring and reasonably predictable,
- the thing you’re funding has a clear payback (a salesperson, a campaign, a product feature a big customer is waiting on),
- you’d rather keep control and raise later at a stronger valuation.
Equity suits you when:
- the outcome is binary or years away (deep tech, regulatory approvals),
- you need expertise and networks as much as money,
- repayments would squeeze a business that has no revenue yet.
Our guide to bootstrapping vs borrowing vs raising walks through this decision in detail.
Metrics worth bringing to the conversation
Lenders will lead with bank statements, but these help tell the story: MRR and its trend, logo and revenue churn, customer acquisition cost and payback period, gross margin after hosting and support, and your cash runway at current burn.
Example scenario
Example scenario — generic and illustrative only. A Dunedin B2B software company with 14 months of subscription revenue wants to hire a second developer to deliver an integration its biggest prospects keep asking for. The founders don’t want to raise yet. Consistent monthly deposits support an unsecured facility sized to revenue, and they combine it with their own savings to cover the first six months of the hire.
Keep your cap table, fund the next step
Start an enquiry — about 60 seconds, no credit score impact. A lending specialist will talk through the funding shapes that suit where your company is right now.