Nelson Wang

Nelson Wang is the CEO and one of the co-founders of Zino Ventures, an Auckland-based investment fund established in September 2016 that bills itself as the first Chinese angel fund in New Zealand. He founded the firm alongside George Gong, David Wang and Ferris Lu, with the mission of empowering New Zealand technology-based, expansion-stage companies to enter Chinese-speaking markets. At Zino he is responsible for the fund's strategic direction and corporate governance, and the wider "Zino" ecosystem includes an innovation hub, advisory clinics, the New Kiwis Challenge startup competition and a growth fund.

Before Zino, Nelson built his career in accounting and business advisory. He is the founder and Managing Director of Number Wise, a chartered accountancy and business-advisory firm specialising in cloud-based (Xero) solutions for SMEs and in helping multinational clients from China and Taiwan invest and operate in New Zealand. He is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants (FCA) with a Certificate of Public Practice, holds a Master of Commerce in Accounting & Finance from the University of Sydney (1998) and a Bachelor of Commerce in Accounting from the University of Auckland (1997), and earlier worked at Ernst & Young (as an Assistant Manager, c.2006). He was awarded Fellowship of Chartered Accountants for "outstanding career achievement and contribution to businesses, community and the profession."

Beyond running the fund, Nelson sits on the boards of portfolio and partner companies including Fuel50 (an enterprise talent-marketplace/skills platform) and Parcelport (a freight-aggregation platform). He is also a committee member of the Angel Association New Zealand, reflecting his active role in the country's early-stage investment community, and he is a regular presenter to Chinese business-community groups and is frequently interviewed by local Chinese media on tax and business topics.

• Invests roughly NZ$1–2m into NZ-domiciled companies, typically at the expansion stage (Series A/B), while also operating as an angel/seed fund and running a separate Growth Fund.
• Core screen: a product or service that has already been validated in New Zealand and that offers a unique proposition for Chinese-speaking / Asian markets — Zino's edge is providing capital *plus* networks and local knowledge to help Kiwi companies expand into China.
• Sector lean toward B2B and technology — SaaS, business productivity software, and cloud-based platforms.
• Thesis rooted in the belief that "migrants have enormous value to add to New Zealand" — Zino deliberately connects migrant investors' capital and international connections with high-growth NZ tech founders targeting Asian expansion.
• Backs founders through structured programs (New Kiwis Challenge, advisory clinics, monthly workshops, and an annual China trip) rather than capital alone.