The Snowball Effect Team
We’re on a mission to simplify investment into high growth Kiwi companies.
We want to make the capital market work much more efficiently for growth companies, so they can focus on selling their products to the world. We want to provide investors with a simple way to gain exposure to interesting investment opportunities – facilitating the flow of national savings into wealth-creating assets.
We’re driven by the significant positive impact we can make by building a thriving marketplace to connect growth companies with the capital they need.
Along the way we hope to develop the general financial literacy of the New Zealand public, and bring far more meaning, engagement, and excitement to investing.
Simeon Burnett CEO / Co-Founder
BCom, M.Finance
Simeon is passionate about developing New Zealand businesses into successful international ventures. Prior to co-founding Snowball Effect, Simeon held a number of different roles at Fonterra, gaining extensive experience in M&A, external fundraising, international business strategy development and financial portfolio management. He is passionate about building businesses and the New Zealand capital markets, and loves getting away to a remote beach with his family.
Casey Eden Director - Snowball Solutions
BCom
Before Snowball Solutions, Casey was a co-founder of Neighbourly.co.nz and one of the team who created GrabOne.co.nz. Casey is passionate about achieving the maximum result for whatever effort you put into life, and squeezing in as many great experiences as possible along the way. Casey is in his happy place when playing spectacularly inconsistent golf, and can’t help but drive his family up the wall with his ever-growing ‘to do’ lists.
Bill O'Boyle Director - Private Capital
BCom
Bill is a former banker with experience working across a diverse range of industries in New Zealand and abroad. He started his career in BNZ’s institutional banking team before moving to London where he worked in the capital markets team at the Royal Bank of Canada, with responsibility for clients in Europe and Australia. He is involved in a private aquarium development business in South East Asia, and is passionate about helping Kiwi businesses reach their global aspirations. Bill has a strong interest in fintech and its potential to improve the financial services industry.
David Curtis Director - Growth Capital
BCom, LLB
David is a former accountant and banker with extensive international capital markets experience. He started his career as a tax adviser at Ernst & Young, Auckland before transferring to London where he specialised in the capital markets, advising large multinationals and financial institutions. After 10 years with Ernst & Young, he joined Bank of America in a capital markets team structuring and originating cross border structured finance transactions. David returned to New Zealand in 2013 and, after an extensive business search, invested in a New Zealand auto parts business for which he continues to have non-executive involvement. David enjoys learning about business and is passionate about helping New Zealand SMEs access the capital markets so they can reach their growth potential.
Emily Heazlewood Director - Partnerships & Growth
Emily is our resident startup and a partnership enthusiast with an entrepreneurial background of her own. Her passion is helping businesses navigate their capital options by working closely with our extensive network of partners to bring together successful business outcomes. When she's not meeting with the teams behind NZ, she is adventuring abroad or found uncovering NZ's hidden backyard gems with her family and dogs.
Alex Devereux Director - Growth Capital
BCom
Alex Devereux joins the team as director growth capital, from his former role as general manager of Sidekicker, the largest online recruitment platform across Australia and New Zealand. Prior to this, he spent four years at Fonterra in corporate strategy and finance roles, where he was involved in capital projects, mergers and acquisitions, and supported joint ventures and new market entries for the co-operative’s Global Foodservice division. In his spare time he loves playing tennis, spending time on the water and running with his golden retriever.
Matthew Linnecar Director - Growth Capital
MPhil
Matt is passionate about entrepreneurs, entrepreneurship and growing businesses. He's previously founded and grown businesses in sustainable transport & logistics, e-commerce, food and beverage, and software as a service, as well as an international marine conservation organisation. He's raised capital for some of his own ventures so is now enjoying working with founders to help them raise capital. He's from the UK but would never go back to live there again having been blessed to settle here in Aotearoa with his kiwi wife and 3 incredible but exhausting boys. Matt loves kitesurfing, surfing and diving, and very occasionally catches a fish or two.
Ben Tan Head of Product
BE(Hons)
Ben has a degree in Mechatronics Engineering, and started his career working in automation systems before joining Snowball Effect early on to manage the design and build of the platform. Ben also spent some time in Christchurch running the Vodafone xone accelerator programme, working to help find alignment between startups and corporates. During his downtime, Ben has a passion for building and remixing things from antique electronics and publishing cookbooks.
Annie Gabisan Platform Developer
BSc IT
Annie has had 4+ years’ experience building web applications for clients across The Philippines and Japan. She is passionate about simplifying complicated processes and workflows and gets a kick out of solving tricky problems through code. Having moved to New Zealand from the Philippines, Annie is excited by the opportunity to travel around and explore New Zealand. Outside of work, she is a keen swimmer and dancer and is looking to getting into freediving.
Paul Beale Associate - Growth Capital
BCom, CAIA (Level 1)
Paul has skills in relationship management, analytical thinking and funds management, through his roles as an Investment Analyst at a trade finance fund in South Africa, and a Project Manager in commercial property. Since completing his bachelor's degree in commercial law and international business, Paul is now a partner of a youth-led venture fund and has successfully attained his CAIA Level 1 designation. Paul is passionate about helping NZ companies compete on a global scale, while outside of work Paul is a keen sportsman and skier.
Cormac McCullough Associate - Growth Capital
BE(Hons)
Cormac has a degree in Mechanical Engineering and joins Snowball Effect from a global composite materials consultancy where he was involved in the engineering design and project management of primarily marine projects. Prior to this Cormac got experience in an early-stage startup as a design engineer, and worked as a project manager with Rocket Lab in the delivery of their manufacturing facilities. Cormac is passionate about helping private companies access the capital they need to grow, and outside of work loves to get out on the water in any way he can.
Zoe Chen Investor Services Lead
BSc, MBE(Hons)
Zoe has a background in biomedical science, including a Masters in business and research commercialisation. Having previously worked in life sciences consulting, Zoe has gained experience across a wide range of industries, including pharmaceuticals and animal health through to FMCG. Zoe is known for decent restaurant recommendations, a dry sense of humour, and unsolicited but interesting animal facts. In her off time she enjoys dabbling in playing guitar, bullet journaling and typography.
Board and Screening Committee
Richard Allen Co-Founder / Director
BCom, PGDip.BAD
Over the past 14 years, Richard has held multiple senior global roles with Fonterra, New Zealand’s largest company – spanning sales, retail, supply chain management and optimisation. Richard is currently an active Director across a range of New Zealand businesses. Prior to completing his studies, Richard spent over 8 years working in Auckland's hospitality industry, over which time he developed a passion for New Zealand food and wine.
Hayley Buckley Director
BA, LLB (Hons)
Hayley is a partner in the corporate advisory team of law firm Wynn Williams, specialising in mergers and acquisitions. She has considerable experience advising both public and private companies on all aspects of corporate governance including shareholder disputes, capital raising and corporate restructures.
Alastair Lawrence Investor / Screening Committee
BCA
Alastair is a career merchant banker, co-founder of the Antipodes group of companies, and one of the most experienced corporate advisors in the country. Over the past 20 years, he has also been an active investor in emerging SMEs, providing financial and strategic advice to the management teams in those businesses. Alastair was a foundation member and Deputy Chairman of the Takeovers Panel.
Join the Team
We are growing fast so if you are interested in helping re-shape the capital markets in New Zealand, then check out out our careers page and get in touch.
