Contented raises NZD $4.1m to fuel AI expansion

Contented, a Christchurch-based software startup that uses AI to turn recorded workplace conversations into business documents, has raised NZD $4.1 million in seed funding and is preparing to expand into Australia.

The oversubscribed round included Australian venture capital firms Shearwater Capital and Exhort Ventures, and was led by Altered Capital.

Contented is considering opening a Sydney office and building a local team. It is also targeting growth in the UK and the US as it adds customers outside New Zealand.

"We've had really strong interest from a great range of investors and this funding is going to allow us to deepen our feature set, expand our customer base, and push hard into new territories like Australia, the UK and US," said co-founder Hannah Hardy-Jones.

Product focus

Contented captures conversations from meetings, video calls and in-person discussions, then produces structured documentation using templates that can be adjusted for different uses. Outputs can include meeting minutes and reports for internal governance, compliance and operational work.

The product is designed to reduce the time teams spend on post-meeting administration and make knowledge from discussions easier to share across an organisation.

Co-founder Lucy Pink said the company works with a broad range of customers. "We work with businesses of all sizes, from growing SMEs through to big organisations," she said.

Pink cited Alliance Group as an example. The global premium meat exporter uses the software to record meetings and generate documents across parts of its business, including operational and management settings.

Australian clients

Contented already has several Australian customers, including Lorica Partners, Lipman Burgon, Fortitude Wealth, Fowlers, Mancell Group, Capital Partners, RGM Group, Bend Tech, Adapt Way, True Financial and Ambrose Advisory.

The customer list suggests early adoption across professional services and financial advice, as well as engineering and other sectors. The company has seen particularly strong growth in wealth management and broader financial services.

In that sector, a single client meeting can generate a statement of advice and other structured records. Outputs can also include supporting materials such as an assets and liabilities table and a family tree, as well as formats such as an article draft.

Revenue growth

Over the past year, Contented has grown from a handful of customers to more than NZD $1.4 million in annual recurring revenue. It reached that run-rate while bootstrapped and now has more than 200 customers globally across sectors including wealth management, healthcare and government.

Altered Capital described the growth as notable in the local market. "Contented's growth trajectory is remarkable and among the fastest we've seen in New Zealand," said Finn Templeton.

"It's a testament to both the product as well as Lucy and Hannah as founders. Their product generates structured insight and business value out of conversations, effectively turning talk into scalable intellectual assets and unlocking a previously unused source of value. We're delighted to partner with Hannah and Lucy to help fuel Contented's growth."

Hiring plans

Contented plans to grow from five to about 15 staff over the next two months, hiring across product development, go-to-market roles and customer success.

It also plans to add templates for business areas such as HR and recruitment, expand integrations with CRM systems and Microsoft Office, and continue improving its AI systems.

Pink and Hardy-Jones have both founded startups before Contented. Pink previously founded ethical fashion startup Onyou and is a self-taught developer. Hardy-Jones previously founded The Kite Program, a mental health app. They met while working on their earlier ventures and later formed Contented around a shared interest in business applications of AI.

The founders describe conversation data as a largely untapped business resource and say their approach focuses on practical meeting outputs rather than transcripts alone. "We believe conversations are the most underutilised resource in business. We're here to change that," Pink said.

"Our vision is for Contented to power every conversation for the best companies of today and tomorrow. We're building the operating system for conversations, turning them into business-critical outputs," she said.