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Hot Topic Earnings
Hot Topic Earnings
Tech & Innovation
5 mins to read

Do high-growth startups really need venture capital backing?

EcoPortal founder Manuel Seidel on boot-strapping and non-dilutive funding instead of VC.

Manuel Seidel and his wife Helene Seidel-Sterzik.

Key points
  • What’s at stake: EcoPortal has expanded its health and safety risk management software platform into the UK while bootstrapping the business rather than taking on external investment.
  • Background:  The company, started by a bunch of Auckland University students, pivoted from environmental risk to health and safety after legislative changes in 2016. Manuel Seidel and his wife Helene Seidel-Sterzik later bought out the other founders to avoid venture capital investment.
  • Key players: EcoPortal, Manuel Seidel, Helene Seidel-Sterzik, University of Auckland. 

EcoPortal CEO Manuel Siedel says he and his COO wife Helene Seidel-Sterzik have become “masters in cash flow management”.

"Being a bootstrapped company, we’ve had to do that, and the fact we get an annual upfront payment from customers means we can invest ahead of the curve,” Seidel

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Fiona Rotherham Thu, 04 Sep 2025
Contact the Writer: fiona@nbr.co.nz
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Key points
  • What’s at stake: EcoPortal has expanded its health and safety risk management software platform into the UK while bootstrapping the business rather than taking on external investment.
  • Background:  The company, started by a bunch of Auckland University students, pivoted from environmental risk to health and safety after legislative changes in 2016. Manuel Seidel and his wife Helene Seidel-Sterzik later bought out the other founders to avoid venture capital investment.
  • Key players: EcoPortal, Manuel Seidel, Helene Seidel-Sterzik, University of Auckland. 
Do high-growth startups really need venture capital backing?
Tech & Innovation,
110819
true