Welcome to Back or Bolt, a newsletter highlighting what is happening in the world of early-stage investing/crowdfunding. I’ll provide a curated list of what’s new in the crowdfunding space around the world and one deep dive into a company of interest, then it is up to you whether to BACK OR BOLT!
The DEEP DIVE - BioOra
A New Zealand biotech is building the country's first CAR-T cancer therapy facility, with Phase 1 data that outperforms FDA-approved global competitors. They also have Cincinnati Children's Hospital on the cap table, and an ASX IPO targeted for late 2027. As someone from New Zealand, it is nice to see a homegrown company finding success and making a global impact.
Background context
CAR-T cell therapy is one of the most significant advances in cancer treatment of the past decade. It works by taking a patient's own T-cells, reprogramming them in a laboratory to recognise and destroy cancer cells, and infusing them back. For patients with blood cancers that have stopped responding to standard treatment, it is often the last realistic option.
The problem is access. A single CAR-T infusion costs upwards of NZ$500,000 overseas. New Zealand has no domestic CAR-T manufacturing capability. That means patients who need it must travel to the US, UK or Australia, fund it themselves, and stay for extended periods… or go without. For most New Zealanders, going without is the only realistic option. Around 1,000 New Zealanders are diagnosed with hard-to-treat lymphoma each year. The vast majority cannot access the treatment that gives them the best chance of survival.
BioOra was founded in 2021 specifically to change that. It is building New Zealand's first sovereign CAR-T manufacturing facility in Christchurch, using an automated robotic platform to dramatically cut production costs and turnaround times, and developing its own third-generation therapy - Atla-cel - that the Phase 1 clinical data suggests is meaningfully safer than anything currently approved globally.
This is a functioning clinical programme with real patient data and institutional backing. They are raising NZ$45M on Snowball Effect at a NZ$150M pre-money valuation, with an ASX IPO targeted for Q4 2027 or Q1 2028.
The Good ✅
The Phase 1 ENABLE-1 trial across 30 patients delivered a 52% complete response rate, comparable to or better than FDA-approved global competitors, with 0% severe cytokine release syndrome and 0% severe neurotoxicity. The approved alternatives run 5–15% severe CRS and 10–30% severe ICANS.
Phase 2 ENABLE-2 is now halfway to its 60-patient target across three New Zealand sites as of May 2026, tracking in line with Phase 1. The trial ends Q4 2026.
Cincinnati Children's Hospital, ranked number one in the US for children's hospitals and the second-largest recipient of paediatric NIH research grants, has taken a 10% stake and its CEO has joined the board. This is a strategic partnership, not a passive financial investment, and it opens a joint development programme for paediatric alongside a US clinical pathway which BioOra could not easily access alone.
BioOra holds exclusive, perpetual rights to commercialise Atla-cel in all markets outside China, Taiwan and India, including the US, Europe and the UK. For a company raising NZ$45M, that IP footprint is extraordinary in the context of a CAR-T market projected to grow from US$4B in 2024 to US$60B by 2034.
The valuation discount against peers is real and significant. Phase 2 CAR-T peers trade at NZ$500M to NZ$3.3B. BioOra is raising at NZ$150M, a floor the board has explicitly described as conservative, with Phase 2 completion, Medsafe approval and first commercial revenue all expected within 12–18 months.
The Malaghan Institute is a foundational research partner. New Zealand's leading immunology research centre has been developing this programme since 2017, and the ongoing LCDA ensures BioOra shares in future IP developments from an institution whose work underpins the entire clinical programme.
The automated Cocoon® manufacturing platform has maintained a near-perfect on-time, in-full release record throughout ENABLE-2. Automation is what makes BioOra's cost target, NZ$300k–$500k per dose versus the US equivalent of NZ$667k+, achievable at commercial scale.
BioOra has already secured over NZ$20M in non-dilutive grants and philanthropic funding through the Malaghan Institute programme, and the Christchurch facility positions the company as a natural beneficiary of continued government support for domestic health infrastructure.
The Bad 🚩
NZ$45M is a large raise for a pre-revenue biotech, and the retail investor cap of NZ$1.4M means the overwhelming majority must come from wholesale investors. Retail participants on Snowball Effect may find their allocation scaled back significantly.
New Zealand's drug funding agency, PHARMAC, has a well-documented and entirely intentional record of slow, cautious, and often negative funding decisions for high-cost therapies. Without PHARMAC funding, New Zealand's public health system cannot offer Atla-cel to patients, and BioOra's domestic revenue base is limited to private pay, a small market at NZ$300k–$500k per dose.
Phase 2 must replicate Phase 1. Fifty-two percent complete response with 0% severe toxicity across 30 patients is extraordinary, but 30 patients is a small cohort. Any deterioration in the safety profile, even a single severe adverse event, would materially change the regulatory and commercial outlook. The trial ends Q4 2026 and the IPO is targeted Q4 2027, leaving almost no buffer for remediation if something goes wrong.
The Christchurch facility build-out is a significant execution risk. GMP-certified cell and gene therapy manufacturing is complex, expensive and time-consuming to commission. Delays cascade directly into delays to first revenue and the IPO timeline, and this raise is funding construction, trial completion and regulatory engagement simultaneously.
The global licensing ambition is not funded by this raise. Exercising rights in the US and Europe requires FDA engagement, European regulatory pathways, and either a large pharma partnership or independent clinical infrastructure in multiple jurisdictions, all years away and not fundable from NZ$45M.
The ASX IPO depends on a sequence of events all landing on schedule: Phase 2 completion, Medsafe approval, PHARMAC pathway confirmation, Christchurch facility commissioning, first revenue. A delay to any one compresses or eliminates the Q4 2027 window, extending illiquidity for investors in what is already a five-plus year time horizon.
Management co-investment is not quantified. The board states that "the majority of directors have invested personal capital" but does not disclose the scale of that commitment. For a NZ$150M valuation raise, knowing the degree of insider conviction would be reassuring.
Currency risk is real for non-NZ investors. The raise is denominated in NZD. Any weakening of the NZD between investment and exit erodes returns independent of BioOra's clinical and commercial performance.
Back or Bolt?
⚡ This is one of the most personally meaningful raises, coming from a country where access to this treatment has historically meant either significant wealth or going without.
The investment case rests on three things being true simultaneously: the Phase 2 data holds, the regulatory pathway moves at the pace BioOra's model assumes, and the ASX IPO reprices the company meaningfully against its Phase 2 peers. None of those outcomes is guaranteed, and the sequence has very little tolerance for delay.
But the foundation is unusually solid for a pre-revenue biotech. Phase 1 data with 0% severe toxicity is a remarkable clinical result. Cincinnati Children's Hospital writing a cheque and putting its CEO on the board is a strategic partnership from one of the most credible paediatric oncology institutions in the world. The global IP position is genuinely extraordinary for a company of this size. Plus the NZ$150M valuation against a Phase 2 peer median of NZ$500M–3.3B represents a real discount.
For New Zealand investors who understand the PHARMAC risk and are comfortable with a five-plus year illiquid horizon, this is a credible pre-IPO entry into a company that could matter enormously, both commercially and for New Zealand's role in the global biotech ecosystem. The minimum investment of NZ$5,000 and the retail cap mean this is not a casual commitment, and it should not be treated as one.
My verdict: this is a back for investors who understand what they are buying, can absorb the illiquidity, and are genuinely comfortable with the risks that clinical-stage biotech always carries. For the purposes of Back or Bolt however, which typically invests smaller amounts, this does not sit within a diversified portfolio and as such must be a bolt this week.
(This is my personal view and not investment advice).
The Round Up 🌏
These are also on my radar this week. If you’d like me to analyse any of these in a future Deep Dive, be sure to let me know.
United Kingdom/Europe 🇬🇧 🇪🇺
AMERIA AG - Heidelberg, Germany | Deep Tech / AI Hardware | Gesture-controlled 3D display and AI device platform (STARKIT SRD, MAVERICK AI) with Sony partnership launched Q1 2026, Samsung product in development | €538k revenue 2024, 70+ patents, Rothschild & Co advising on exit | €241M pre-money valuation | Stocks (equity) via Companisto | €3,000 minimum investment
Sixteen44 - St-Sulpice, Switzerland | CleanTech | Patented catalyst technology destroying dilute methane emissions at dairy farms, landfills and coal mines | £600k raised in grants and loans, patent filed at European Patent Office, LOI for deployment at natural gas facilities, Swiss Climate Foundation backed | £4M pre-money valuation | £0.38 per share
PARC AI - Kingston Upon Thames, UK | B2C / B2B SaaS | AI-powered parking management app that automates detection, payment and compliance to eliminate parking fines | Pre-revenue, patent pending, Caroline Shepard OBE (former Chief Adjudicator of Traffic Penalty Tribunal) as NED | £5.165M pre-money valuation | £4.91 per share | SEIS/EIS eligible
QPlay - London, UK | Gaming / Consumer Tech | Hybrid board game and app platform behind Outsmarted, combining physical gameplay with digital content and subscription monetisation | £10.9M revenue 2025, £33M+ lifetime revenue, 7.5M+ players, 4.5M app downloads, 150,000+ five-star reviews, 1.6% monthly subscriber churn (91st percentile for retention), backed by Velocity Capital | £46.5M pre-money valuation | £28.62 per share | EIS eligible
United States 🇺🇸
Canopii - Portland, OR, USA | AgriTech / Deep Tech | Patented autonomous robotic greenhouse (2,500 sq ft) growing certified organic leafy greens for urban local deployment | $725k revenue 2025, New Seasons Market supply contract in final negotiation (40,000 lbs), LOI with Confederated Tribes of Umatilla, $2.3M in USDA/NSF grants, GK Machine manufacturing partnership | SAFE (pre-money) | A$500 minimum investment
Airthium - Bee Cave, TX, USA / France | CleanTech / Deep Tech | Containerised high-temperature industrial heat pump (up to 250°C) targeting fossil fuel replacement in industrial process heat via Heat-as-a-Service | 1kW prototype at 145°C, LOI for paid pilot with large chemical manufacturer (2028), $4.4M ADEME grant, backed by Y Combinator, DCVC, Daphni, Polytechnique Ventures | SAFE | $250 minimum investment
Happiness Insurance Inc. - USA | Travel / Wellbeing / InsurTech | Structured monthly vacation plan ("Happiness Insurance®") positioning prepaid family holidays as a living benefit alternative to life insurance | 60 paying customers, $169k pilot revenue (~$2,800 per customer), USPTO trademark registered, B2C ($9 per day), B2B (employer PTO conversion) and IP licensing revenue streams | SAFE | $250 minimum investment
Australia/New Zealand 🇦🇺 🇳🇿
See the Deep Dive above.
The Scorecard:
Backs: 2 - Bolts: 9 (+1 this week)
The Fund:
That’s all for now, gotta bolt and get back to it! ⚡
DISCLAIMER - This newsletter is not financial advice, and should not be used as such. It is for information purposes only. Every investment has risks and you should do your own due diligence or discuss with a financial advisor before investing. Early-stage investing is higher risk and you may lose everything you put in. It is also highly illiquid, meaning your investment is not easily accessible if you need the funds at short notice.