Radar · Chemicals and Materials in New Zealand
Best Chemicals and Materials Companies in New Zealand
The 32 best Chemicals and Materials companies in New Zealand in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Liquium.
By Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories
32companies tracked
$2.5Mdisclosed funding
0unicorns
4have raised
Sources & further reading
- Safe and sustainable by design chemicals and materials. Framework for the definition of cr
FLIAR INTELLIGENCE · CHEMICALS AND MATERIALS × NEW ZEALAND
Our analysis of 234 Chemicals and Materials companies
$21.9b in tracked funding; 57% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
234companies analysed
57%cloud-native stacks
2025funding peak (by rounds)
1unicorns
2003median founding year
Ranked: Best Chemicals and Materials companies in New Zealand
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Stage | Founder | Founded | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Liquium Manufacturer of ammonia for cleaning purpose | $2M | 9 mo ago | Seed | — | 2021 | — | — | — |
| 2 | Aspiring Materials Provider of industrialization and implementation strategies for materials | $1M | 60 mo ago | Seed | Christopher Oze Co-Founder | 2019 | Wix eCommerceWixSentry+13 | — | — |
| 3 | DGL Provider of materials manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution services | $17K | 220 mo ago | Public | Simon Henry Founder | 1999 | SkolengoApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+24 | — | — |
| 4 | WoolWorks Provider of wool scouring service | — | 84 mo ago | Funding Raised | Tony Cunningham CEO | 2000 | WordPressApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+9 | — | — |
| 5 | Analytica Chemicals testing laboratory | — | — | Acquired | Terry Cooney Managing Director | 2011 | UmbracoWindows ServerMicrosoft ASP.NET+16 | — | — |
| 6 | andar engineering solutions ANDAR Engineering Solutions is an engineering company that specializes in the maintenance, relocation, and… | — | — | Acquired | — | 1947 | — | — | — |
| 7 | ATEX Fire & Explosion Protection Manufacturer of fire & explosion protection, chemical suppression, and other safety products | — | — | Unfunded | Walter Kaars Managing Director | 2011 | — | — | — |
| 8 | Bondlast Manufacturer of synthetic latex based compounds catering to the carpet, roading and construction industries. | — | — | Acquired | — | 2014 | — | — | — |
Top 4 Chemicals and Materials companies in New Zealand
#1
Seed · Wellington, Wellington · founded 2021 · 5 employees$1.5Mraised▾
Seed · Wellington, Wellington · founded 2021 · 5 employees
Manufacturer of ammonia for cleaning purpose
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 841 LinkedIn followers — 9.5% of this cohort's audience · 60 engagements/post (1.5× cohort median)
Funding rounds
- Feb 2026Seed$1.2M
- Jul 2022Seed$1.5M
Investors
Matū, Booster, Climate Venture Capital Fund
#2
Seed · Christchurch, Canterbury · founded 2019 · 8 employees$1Mraised▾
Seed · Christchurch, Canterbury · founded 2019 · 8 employees
Provider of industrialization and implementation strategies for materials
Funding rounds
- Oct 2021Seed$1M
Founders & team
Investors
Icehouse Ventures, Outset Ventures
Tech stack
BootstrapGoogle CloudGoogle Cloud CdnGsapHstsHttp/3
#3
Public · Auckland, Auckland · founded 1999 · 1 employees$17.4Kraised▾
Public · Auckland, Auckland · founded 1999 · 1 employees
Provider of materials manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution services
LinkedIn Pulse recent public activity · Jul 2026
Audience: 3k LinkedIn followers — 34.6% of this cohort's audience
Hiring: 1 hiring post in 12 mo (public) · hiring: Container Forklift Operator, Storeperson
Activity: 1 expansions announced in 12 mo
Funding rounds
- Jul 2008Grant (prize money)$17.4K
Founders & team
Investors
United States Department of Agriculture
Tech stack
Apache TomcatApple Icloud MailAzureBootstrapCdnjsCloudflare
#4
Funding Raised · Napier, Hawke s Bay · founded 2000—raised▾
Funding Raised · Napier, Hawke s Bay · founded 2000
Woolworks is a wool scouring service provider based in Napier, New Zealand. They operate the largest wool scouring facility in the world and focus on eco-friendly operations.
Funding rounds
- Oct 2019Unattributed—
- 2010Unattributed—
Founders & team
Investors
Tanarra, Direct Capital, Pohutukawa
Tech stack
Apple Icloud MailElementorMicrosoft 365MysqlNginxOpen Graph
Funding & investor landscape
$2.5Mtotal disclosed funding
3companies funded
4disclosed rounds
0rounds last 90 days
Most active investors
Notable founders
Christopher Oze
Co-Founder · Aspiring Materials
Allan Scott
Co-Founder · Aspiring Materials
Simon Henry
Founder · DGL
David Ferrier
Owner · WoolWorks
Tony Cunningham
CEO · WoolWorks
Prism market signals · New Zealand · country-scoped Prism corpus, 854,946 docs
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Chemicals and Materials coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
RESEARCH SIGNALS · New Zealand
How research on Advanced Materials is moving in New Zealand
A read on the academic research around Advanced Materials — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 48 New Zealand-affiliated papers.
top research entities
- Ministry of Education37
- University of Auckland5
- Auckland University of Technology3
- University of Waikato3
- Callaghan Innovation1
leading researchers
Jin Zhai · Xiaodan Zhang · Qing Zhang · Chaoxian Chen · Ye Tian · Xiaojun Lu · Tingbin Wang · Ao Liu
▲
Breakthroughs27 · 56%
▲ 0%→64% share
0 median citations96% since 2021mostly methods-led
Breakthroughs are rising (0%→64% of field), led by Smart material.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Smart material6
- Elastomer6
- Actuator5
- Soft robotics4
- Composite number4
Newly emergingSmart material 0→6 · Elastomer 0→6
Landmark A Multi‐Responsive MXene‐Based Actuator with Integrated Sensing Function · 45 cites
◆
Advancements10 · 21%
▲ 0%→24% share
0 median citations90% since 2021mostly reviews
Advancements are rising (0%→24% of field), led by Smart material.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Smart material6
- Composite material2
- Polymer2
- Nanotechnology2
- Fabrication2
Newly emergingSmart material 0→5
Landmark Liquid Crystalline Composite Stabilized by Epoxy Polymer with Boscage‐Like Morphology for Energy‐Efficient Smart Windows · 16 cites
▼
Concerns3 · 6%
▲ 0%→6% share
3 median citations67% since 2021mostly reviews
Concerns are rising (0%→6% of field), led by Biomimetic materials.
rising sub-themes (early→recent)
- Biomimetic materials2
- Nanotechnology1
- Biomimetics1
- Smart material1
- Ion channel1
Landmark Biomimetic stimuli‐responsive nanochannels and their applications · 24 cites
RESEARCH HOTSPOTS · New Zealand
Where advanced materials is researched across New Zealand
Location clusters by institution affiliation — each city's volume, stance tone, and a quick read on its hot topic, what's advancing, the opening opportunity, and the main concern.
Wellington63 · +0.63
Auckland7 · +0.60
Common questions
How many Chemicals and Materials companies are there in New Zealand?
Radar tracks 32 indexable Chemicals and Materials companies headquartered in New Zealand that meet our profile-completeness bar.
What is the total funding raised by Chemicals and Materials companies in New Zealand?
The Chemicals and Materials companies in New Zealand on this list have raised a combined $2.5M in disclosed equity funding across 3 funded companies.
Which is the highest-funded Chemicals and Materials company in New Zealand?
Liquium is the highest-funded Chemicals and Materials company in New Zealand, with $1.5M in disclosed equity funding.
How many Chemicals and Materials companies in New Zealand are funded?
3 of the 32 Chemicals and Materials companies in New Zealand on this list have disclosed at least one equity funding round.
How many Chemicals and Materials unicorns are there in New Zealand?
None of the Chemicals and Materials companies in New Zealand on this list currently has a disclosed valuation of $1B or more.
Who are the top investors in New Zealand Chemicals and Materials companies?
The most active investors in New Zealand Chemicals and Materials companies on this list include ArcAngels, Booster, Byron Ventures, Climate Venture Capital Fund, Direct Capital.
Rohit KhannaTrends & Stories
Rohit lives in the feed. He covers what's moving right now — the funding rounds, launches and shifts breaking across the trade press — and ties them back to where the sector is heading.