Startups

Practical legal support from startup to scaleup

Our Lane Neave team advise founders, growing businesses and investors from establishment and early-stage growth through to capital raising, expansion and beyond. We help put the right foundations in place, protect what you’re building and support your business as it grows
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How we can help

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Getting started

Build the right foundations from day one.

Raising capital

Prepare your business for investment and growth

Ownership and employee equity

Create ownership arrangements that support growth

Protecting your ideas and assets

Protect the value you are building

Governance and scaling

Put the right structures around a growing business

Investment and international growth

Connect investment, people and opportunity

Supporting you from startup to scaleup

A startup’s legal needs change quickly. We work with founders from the earliest stages of setting up their business through investment, expansion and beyond, bringing in the right Lane Neave specialists as the business evolves
  1. 1

    Start

    Structure, incorporation and founder arrangements

  2. 2

    Protect

    Intellectual property and key business assets

  3. 3

    Fund

    Capital raising and investor readiness

  4. 4

    Build

    People, equity and governance

  5. 5

    Scale

    Growth, expansion and opportunity

  6. 6

    Realise

    Investment, acquisition and exit

Expertise that grows with you

As your business grows, legal questions can extend well beyond company structure and investment. When needed, we can bring in specialists from across Lane Neave to provide the right expertise at the right time.

  • Corporate and commercial
  • Employment
  • Intellectual property
  • Immigration
  • Property
  • Dispute resolution
  • Privacy and data
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Getting ready to raise capital?

Investors will look beyond the opportunity itself. Ownership, governance, intellectual property, contracts and company records can all influence investment decisions.

We can help identify and address potential issues early and prepare your business for the capital-raising process.

 

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Want to introduce employee equity?

An employee share scheme can be a powerful way to attract, reward and retain key people, but getting the structure right matters.

We can help you develop an equity arrangement that works for your business, your employees, existing shareholders and future investors.

 

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Meet the team...

Alex Stone

Partner, Corporate | Christchurch

Alex is a Partner at Lane Neave and a specialist corporate and commercial lawyer based in Christchurch. He is recognised…

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Andrew Comer

Partner, Corporate | Auckland

Andrew is a Partner in Lane Neave’s Corporate team in Auckland. He advises New Zealand and international businesses across the…

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Mike King

Partner, Litigation | Christchurch

Mike King is a Partner in Lane Neave’s national dispute resolution and litigation team, specialising in commercial, property and shareholder…

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Frequently asked questions

The documents you need will depend on your structure, ownership and plans for growth. For startups, these commonly include incorporation documents, a constitution, founders’ or shareholders’ agreements, employment or contractor agreements, intellectual property arrangements and key customer or supplier contracts. Putting the right documents in place early can also make future investment and due diligence easier.
Potentially both. A founders’ agreement can establish expectations between founders at an early stage, while a shareholders’ agreement typically governs the relationship between shareholders and sets out matters such as decision-making, share transfers and what happens when someone wants to leave. The right approach depends on the stage and ownership structure of your startup.
There is no single structure that works for every startup. Your choice can affect ownership, governance, liability, tax, investment and future growth. If you are planning to bring in other founders or external investment, it is worth considering the structure with those longer-term plans in mind before locking it in.
Start by identifying what intellectual property is important to the business and who legally owns it. This can include your brand, technology, software, designs, content, processes and other proprietary material. Founder, employee and contractor arrangements should also appropriately address ownership of intellectual property created for the business.
Investor readiness involves much more than a pitch deck. Prospective investors may look closely at your ownership structure, company records, intellectual property, material contracts, employment arrangements, governance and potential legal risks. Getting these areas in order before beginning a raise can help make the investment process smoother.
An Employee Share Option Plan (ESOP) can allow eligible employees to acquire an interest in the company and can be used to attract, incentivise and retain key people. There are important decisions to make around eligibility, vesting, valuation, dilution and what happens when an employee leaves. New Zealand employee share schemes also have company law, financial markets and tax considerations, so the structure should be considered carefully before equity is promised to employees.
Consider more than the amount being invested. Important issues can include valuation, the percentage of the business you are giving up, voting and governance rights, board representation, future funding, information rights and what happens if the business is eventually sold. The investment should also be properly documented rather than relying on informal arrangements.
Good governance does not need to wait until you are a large business. As ownership expands, outside investment is introduced or decision-making becomes more complex, clearer governance structures can help define responsibilities and improve accountability. They can also give prospective investors greater confidence in how the business is managed.
Being a business owner can create both business and personal financial considerations. The appropriate approach will depend on your circumstances, including how assets are owned, your business structure and your exposure to business risk. Ideally, personal asset planning should be considered early rather than after an issue arises.
Earlier than many founders think. Key moments include setting up the business, agreeing ownership between founders, protecting intellectual property, bringing in employees, introducing an ESOP, signing significant commercial agreements and preparing to raise capital. Early advice can help establish good business hygiene and avoid issues that become harder or more expensive to resolve later.

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Let’s talk about what’s next

Whether you’re getting started, raising capital or navigating your next stage of growth, tell us what you’re working on and we’ll connect you with the right person in our Startups team.

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We Make The Complex Simple

Ka Huri Te Mahi Whīwhiwhi Ana Ki Te Mahi Māmā