Angus Blair is a General Partner at Outset Ventures, New Zealand’s leading deep-tech incubator with an active seed fund. He’s backed 25+ science-led spinouts in aerospace, advanced materials, med-tech, and fusion — writing first cheques from $100k to $2m and following through scale-up.

This guide distils those lessons into a roadmap for researchers and PhDs turning breakthroughs into venture-fundable companies. From navigating IP and university negotiations to framing research as traction, Angus shares founder-tested insights to help New Zealand scientists build startups for global impact.

Angus Blair | Outset Ventures

builds The Deep Tech Spinout Guide for New Zealand Researchers

A founder-tested roadmap for New Zealand researchers and PhDs, from IP and university negotiations to framing research as fundable traction on the path to global impact.

****🆕 Global Scalers

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Volpara Health: The Algorithm, the Breast, and the Belief

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From Science to Seed

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Part 1: Is My Research Venture-Backable?

Part 2- Patents & IP — Think Globally from Day One

Part 3: Universities, TTOs, Investor Expectations and Spinout Terms

Part 4: Showing Traction & Preparing for the Fundraise

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Deep Tech Seed Round Fundraising Pack

Prepare these materials before you start fundraising properly. Having them ready demonstrates professionalism and accelerates diligence.

Don't over-engineer these outputs though; investors expect seed-stage documentation to answer their questions but not perfect.

• Governance & Investment Tip
• Data Room Tip
• Common Validation Pitfalls & Fixes

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Main Pitch Deck

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IP Pack

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Data Pack

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Execution Pack

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Market Validation

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Governance Basics

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:what-founders-want-logo--1-:Global Scalers

New Zealand is a small market. If you want to build something truly impactful, you have to build beyond it.

But taking a science-led company global? That’s hard on another level. It’s easy to say “go offshore,” “raise capital,” or “scale the tech”. The real difficulty is in doing it.

Global Scalers follows New Zealand’s deep-tech founders as they take their toughest ideas to the world — navigating timing traps, regulatory hurdles, capital sequencing, distribution complexity, and the emotional load of scaling frontier technology.

🆕 Volpara Health: The Algorithm, the Breast, and the Belief

Volpara Health began with a simple but unfashionable insight: before you “do AI,” you standardise the physics. That decision became the backbone of a global med-tech platform built from Wellington to the world.

In this Global Scalers episode, **Angus Blair (Outset Ventures**) sits down with Ralph Highnam — the physicist-turned-founder who built Volpara from research into a twice-acquired med-tech platform trusted in clinics worldwide.

Featuring:

:volparahealth: The Volpara Health Top 10 — hard-won insights for NZ deep-tech founders.

:what-founders-want-logo--1-:New Zealand Deep Tech Hubs & Commercialisation Departments

The only way to access the full scope of NZ’s deep tech support without building your own tracker.

• Innovation Hubs
• Incubators & Accelerators
• Commercialisation Departments