Best Life Sciences Companies in New Zealand
The 122 best Life Sciences companies in New Zealand in 2026, ranked by funding and momentum. Funding, investors, founders, valuation, tech stack and live signals. Top: Pictor.
New Zealand's Life Sciences sector is smaller than most people assume, and that's exactly what makes it interesting. This directory ranks the best Life Sciences companies in New Zealand by disclosed equity funding and recent funding momentum, pulling from 122 tracked companies with $94M in total disclosed capital. Pictor leads the field at $11M raised, with Wellumio at $5M and Scentian Bio at $4M not far behind. The funding is concentrated, the unicorn count sits at zero, and yet the pipeline keeps moving. Backers like New Zealand Growth Capital Partners, Icehouse Ventures and Cure Kids Ventures are the names you'll see repeating across cap tables.
So what's the actual trend? Globally, life sciences is a $167.8B market growing at roughly 10.2% CAGR, driven by an aging population and sustained funding flows. I'd argue the more telling signal locally is momentum: median install growth across health and life sciences apps is running at roughly 43% year-on-year. That's digital adoption catching up to the science. Investors are paying attention, deal flow is tightening around diagnostics and biosensing, and the companies building in New Zealand right now are doing it with lean capital and real ambition.
- Morgan Stanley Ups the Ante on These 2 Life Science Tool Stocks
Our analysis of 576 Life Sciences companies
$91.7b in tracked funding; 70% of the stack-profiled cohort runs cloud-native; funding activity peaked in 2025.
Ranked: Best Life Sciences companies in New Zealand
| # | Company | Disclosed funding | Last round | Employees | Founder | Tech stack | Patents & IP focus | Recent signals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pictor Developer of immunodiagnostic products based on multiplexed assays | $11M | 8 mo ago | 51 | Wanda Mathias Co-Founder | WebflowreCAPTCHAHSTS+10 | 27 patents Multiplex serological immunoassays for detecting antibodies against viruses and bacterial pathogens | 1 award |
| 2 | Toku Eyes Developer of AI-powered retinal image analysis for early disease detection. | $11M | 38 mo ago | 14 | David Squirrell Co-Founder | WordPressApple iCloud MailGoogle Workspace+28 | 13 patents Automated retinal fundus image analysis for eye disease detection and prognosis | — |
| 3 | Amaroq Therapeutics Developer of gene therapies for cancer treatment | $10M | 59 mo ago | — | Phil Kearney CEO | — | — | — |
| 4 | Kitea Health Developer of a medical device for the monitoring of pressure | $10M | 39 mo ago | 18 | — | WixSentryEnvoy+14 | — | 1 partnership |
| 5 | PastoralGenomics Online retailer of premium domain names with multiple payment options | $7M | 132 mo ago | — | Mike Dunbier Chairman & CEO | — | — | — |
| 6 | Therapy Cells Commercializing tissue transplantation technology for regenerative medicine | $6M | 128 mo ago | — | Christopher Glover CEO | — | — | — |
| 7 | Upstream Medical Technologies Diagnostic device based on novel caridac biomarkers | $6M | 101 mo ago | 6 | — | — | 17 patents Diagnostic biomarkers and assays for acute coronary syndrome and unstable angina detection | — |
| 8 | Wellumio Provider of MRI-based device for the diagnosis of stroke | $5M | 4 mo ago | 5 | — | Wix eCommerceWixSentry+13 | 9 patents Low-field NMR devices for portable medical imaging and perfusion measurement. | 2 job openings |
| 9 | Scentian Bio: Developer of biosensor technology using insect odorant receptors for real-time sensing | $4M | 2 mo ago | 7 | Andrew Kralicek Co-Founder & Chief Technology Officer | Cart FunctionalitySquarespace CommerceSquarespace+15 | 9 patents Portable biosensor devices for detecting biological analytes using electrochemical sensing | — |
| 10 | ARANZ Medical 3D scanning applications for wound care and orthotics/prosthetics. | $3M | 90 mo ago | 31 | — | WordPressApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+29 | 5 patents Non‑invasive skin and anatomical surface diagnostics using handheld laser‑camera imaging | 1 award |
| 11 | Kahu AI-based skin cancer diagnosis solutions for dermatologists | $3M | 59 mo ago | 7 | Stuart Dalrymple CEO | — | 4 patents Patents concentrated in computing, sensing & instrumentation | — |
| 12 | MaramaLabs Developer of scatter-free absorption technology for quantifying biomolecules in nanoparticle formulations | $3M | 18 mo ago | 2 | Matthias Meyer Co-Founder & CTO | WebflowjQueryHSTS+6 | — | 1 job opening |
| 13 | Upside Biotechnologies Developer of regenerative medicine for treating burns | $2M | 111 mo ago | 4 | — | — | 3 patents Formulation of specialized cell culture media for bioproduction | — |
| 14 | Genesis Specialty company developing treatment for the treatment of cancer | $2M | 361 mo ago | — | James Douglas Watson Founder | — | — | — |
| 15 | Pacific Edge Provider of diagnostic and prognostic tests for cancer. | $2M | 94 mo ago | 34 | Dave Darling CEO | SilverstripeApple iCloud MailMicrosoft 365+19 | 261 patents Patents concentrated in chemistry & materials | — |
| 16 | Avasa Developer of an implantable device for surgeries | $2M | 9 mo ago | 2 | Nandoun Abeysekera Founder & CEO | — | 5 patents Medical tubular tissue engineering devices for minimally invasive fluid delivery | — |
| 17 | RespirAq Developer of a medical humidification device for respiration | $2M | 52 mo ago | 4 | Sandra Bartual Founder & CEO | — | — | — |
| 18 | Helico Provider of computational modeling tool | $1M | 49 mo ago | 8 | — | — | — | — |
| 19 | Migco Pharmaceuticals Developing drug for migraine headache | $1M | 199 mo ago | — | Larry Stenswick | — | — | — |
| 20 | Breathe Easy Therapeutics Specially formulated therapeutics for cystic fibrosis | $1M | 132 mo ago | — | Andrea Miller CEO | — | — | — |
| 21 | Veriphi Laser verification system to prevent injuries and death caused by IV systems | $737K | 113 mo ago | 12 | Gregory Joseph Shanahan Co-Founder & MD | — | 10 patents Specialized sample containers for spectrophotometric analysis | — |
| 22 | Junofem Developer of a smart device for screening urinary incontinence | $694K | 56 mo ago | 9 | — | Cart FunctionalityShopifySentry+19 | — | — |
| 23 | Tiro Medical Non-invasive, non-radiation based breast scanning system | $571K | 97 mo ago | — | James Chase Co-Founder | — | 8 patents Advanced patient monitoring and respiratory therapy: ventilation guidance, insulin sensitivity, elastography, oxygen measurement. | — |
| 24 | CuroNZ Biotechnology focused startup focused on early phase development of Neural Regeneration Peptides for out… | $540K | 152 mo ago | — | — | — | 43 patents Peptide-based neuroregeneration therapies for epilepsy and optic nerve injury | — |
| 25 | Quantec Developer of immune defence proteins | $500K | 181 mo ago | 9 | Rodney Claycomb Co-Founder | — | 16 patents Multiplex protein quantification assays and antiviral combination therapeutic formulations. | — |
| 26 | MARS Bioimaging Spectral molecular imaging technology | $415K | 5 mo ago | 22 | — | WordPress Block EditorElementorWordPress+31 | 29 patents Advanced multi-energy CT image segmentation and material identification algorithms | 1 expansion |
| 27 | Publons Platform for evaluating academic research | $291K | 152 mo ago | 11 | — | — | — | — |
Top 12 Life Sciences companies in New Zealand
#1
Seed · Auckland, Auckland · founded 2020 · 7 employees$4.4Mraised▾
Developer of biosensor technology using insect odorant receptors for real-time sensing. The company synthesizes insect odorant receptors to create biosensors. These biosensors measure the concentration of compounds. The technology provides insights for food, health, and environmental monitoring. The company combines synthetic biology with artificial intelligence for sensing applications.
- Apr 2026Seed$7M
- Sep 2023Seed$2.1M
- Nov 2022Grant (prize money)$1.7M
- Jan 2021Seed$1M
#2
Seed · Wellington, Wellington · founded 2019 · 5 employees$5.2Mraised▾
Provider of MRI-based device for the diagnosis of stroke. They claim that with their solution people suspected of stroke can be diagnosed in the ambulance in real-time.
- Feb 2026Seed$5.2M
#3
Series A · Auckland, Auckland · founded 2005 · 51 employees$11.1Mraised▾
Developer of immunodiagnostic products based on multiplexed assays. The proprietary PixArray technology has an array of dots that contain the required reagents, with each panel also containing control dots. The assay panel requires only 20 microliters of blood for accurate diagnosis. In addition, the company has also developed an imaging software called Pictimager and analysis software called Pictorial to enable automated immunoassays.
- Sep 2025Series A—
- Dec 2022Series A$5M
- Apr 2022Series A$6.1M
- May 2020Grant (prize money)$300K
#4
Seed · Auckland, Auckland · founded 2018 · 2 employees$1.6Mraised▾
Developer of an implantable device for surgeries. It offers Coupler that allow surgeons to connect both arteries and veins in reconstructive microsurgery.
- Aug 2025Seed$2.8M
- Sep 2023Seed$1.6M
#5
Series A · Christchurch, Canterbury · founded 2007 · 22 employees$414.6Kraised▾
Mars Bioimaging develops spectral molecular imaging technology. Based on the new generation Medipix chip licensed out of CERN, Switzerland and technology developed by the University of Canterbury (UC) and partners. Products include a CT scanner, detector and visualization system.
- Jan 2026Series A$15M
- Feb 2014Series A$414.6K
#6
Seed · Wellington, Wellington · founded 2017 · 2 employees$2.7Mraised▾
Developer of scatter-free absorption technology for quantifying biomolecules in nanoparticle formulations. This technology enables quantification of RNA and other encapsulated biomolecules without lysis or fluorescent assays. The technology facilitates UV quantification methods by measuring the absorption spectrum without scatter. It is designed for samples that scatter light, providing quantitative analysis in the UV or visible region.
- Dec 2024Seed$2.1M
- Sep 2024Seed$311.6K
- Jan 2024Seed$1.9M
- Aug 2021Seed$500K
#7
Acquired · Auckland, Auckland · founded 2018 · 14 employees$10.5Mraised▾
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- Apr 2023Series A$8M
- Jun 2021Seed$2.5M
- Grant (prize money)—
#8
Seed · Auckland, Auckland · founded 2021 · 18 employees$9.7Mraised▾
Developer of a medical device for the monitoring of pressure. It offers an implantable device integrated with software that can receive power and send data to a communication rod through flesh and bone for the management of hydrocephalus.
- 2023Grant (prize money)$14M
- Feb 2023Seed$3.7M
- Sep 2022Seed$6M
#9
Series A · Dunedin, Otago · founded 2021$9.8Mraised▾
Developer of gene therapies for cancer treatment. It offers therapeutics that target long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) that are highly expressed in cancer cells, are highly tumor specific, and drive cancer cell growth.
- Jul 2021Series A$9.8M
#10
Funding Raised · Wellington, Wellington · founded 2002$7Mraised▾
Online retailer of premium domain names with multiple payment options. It provides domain name registration services. It offers a selection of domain names for purchase. The company facilitates domain transfers to registrars. It provides customer support and domain management tools.
- 2015Grant (prize money)$7M
- Grant (prize money)—
#11
Series A · Dunedin, Otago · founded 2015 · 6 employees$5.5Mraised▾
Upstream Medical Technologies is a spin-out from the University of Otago, focused on developing definitive biomarker-based testing for the rapid diagnosis of heart diseases. The company is working towards the development of diagnostic device using their seven patented cardiac biomarkers. The company's The company's lead product BNP-sp will allow accurate diagnosis of unstable angina. Another product, Ghr-sp-Pne diagnoses heart failure in the presence of pneumonia.
- Jan 2018Series A$5M
- Nov 2017Seed$519.6K
#12
Seed · Auckland, Auckland · founded 2021 · 7 employees$3Mraised▾
AI-based skin cancer diagnosis solutions for dermatologists. The platform provides decision-support solutions for doctors using the skin image database that provides diagnoses for a broad range of skin cancers. The technology assists primary care physicians in screening programs and clinical tests.
- Jul 2021Seed$3M
Funding & investor landscape
Notable founders
Market landscape — 10 sub-themes by coverage
Share of Life Sciences coverage by sub-theme.
Regulatory-risk over time rising
Funding & growth over time
funding rising · growth rising
How research on Biotechnology is moving in New Zealand
A read on the academic research around Biotechnology — which themes are gaining ground, the institutions and researchers driving them, and how the tone is shifting. Based on 219 New Zealand-affiliated papers.
- Ministry of Education70
- AgResearch38
- Massey University27
- Ministry of Health25
- University of Otago13
- Gene1→11
- Agriculture5
- Bacteria4
- Yield (engineering)4
- Plant disease3
- Identification (biology)3
- Human health8
- Biological pest control4
- Livestock4
- Agriculture3
- Resistance (ecology)3
Where biotechnology 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.
Common questions
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.