Punakaiki reboot, Vodafone UFB, Hawaiki, HP channel boost

Lance Wiggs’ says the Punakaiki Fund will cut the proposed fees and extend the deadline by three weeks until October 25.

He says the fee cut was a response to investor feedback.

Punakaiki aims to raise as much as $50 million to invest in early stage New Zealand start-ups. The initial public offering was 20 million $1 shares. That offer was due to close yesterday, but has been extended because it may have missed the minimum $5 million target.

Wiggs says raising the fund proved harder than he anticipated. He also says the time was unfortunate with the government’s cut price Meridian Energy sale hitting the market during the period.

• Vodafone has finally moved on ultrafast broadband adding fibre options to a new series of business broadband plans. Vodafone previously said its residential UFB plans will be launched soon.  Vodafone’s $119 per month Ultrafast Small Office plan includes installation, a modem, one landline at 50 GB of data at 30 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up. A 100 GB data cap and 100 Mbps speed is better value at $139 a month.
• Maintaining a regular flow of customer sign-up news is an important part of building momentum on a submarine cable project. This week’s announcement from Hawaiki Cable says the planned trans-Pacific network has won a letter of intent from Australia’s iiNet. The ISP aims to buy capacity between Sydney and Hawaii.
• Hewlett-Packard’s says its PartnerOne channel programme means more money for resellers as the technology giant looks to win market share from rivals such as Cisco and Dell. From next month the programme adds back-end rebates which HP says will boost partner competitive advantage and profitability. It also says the programme is easier and more predictable. That last word is crucial, in recent years HP has gained a reputation in the channel for repeatedly changing the rules of engagement.
• Compuware says it is working with Gen-i and Emulex to deliver new performance management services. The partnership brings together Compuware’s application performance management software, Emulex’s Endace network visibility products and Gen-i specialist consulting. Together they aim to give customers the ability to respond faster to changing marketing conditions.
• Icehouse graduate Livelink Connect has become Rocketseed Asia-Pacific after merging with the Australian arm of Rocketseed. The business handles brand compliance, link tracking and personalised content delivery mainly for companies in financial services, real estate and tourism. Livelink Connect founders Jason Roberts is the CEO while Craig Pownall is CTO.