About Aaron Bhatnagar
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Aaron, based in Auckland, New Zealand, is an investor in both listed and unlisted companies. He specializes in early-stage, high-growth businesses with a focus on cloud and SaaS companies, recurring revenue models, strong management, scalable solutions, and sales-driven teams. He also has investments in the New Zealand, Australian, and global equities markets.
In addition to his investment activities, Aaron's professional background includes serving on the board of the Real Estate Agents Authority from 2013 to 2018, being a committee member of the NZ Shareholders Association Auckland Branch for five years, and formerly holding chartered membership with the Institute of Directors. He holds a Master of Arts degree with Honours from the University of Auckland. From 2007 to 2010, Aaron was an Auckland City Councillor representing the Citizens & Ratepayers ticket. During this time, he chaired the City Development committee responsible for economic development, town planning, and infrastructure. He also served as Deputy Chairman of the Finance Committee and as a Hearings Commissioner for resource consent hearings. He chose not to run for the new Auckland "Supercity" Council in 2010. Among his notable venture capital investments are companies like Pushpay, which successfully listed on the NZX in August 2014, and unlisted companies such as Marsello, Valocity, Orah, and Designer Wardrobe. The Bhatnagar family exited their investment in Pushpay in mid-2020. Aaron's investment strategy primarily targets early-stage companies seeking to scale, either directly or through fund managers. He is not focused on angel-level startups. Aaron and family have also been in the fortunate position of engaging in some Auckland based philanthropic projects. Aaron is often asked about his favourite books and podcasts - you can read a list of them here. |
Christchurch, January 2022
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About the Bhatnagar FamilyIn 1980, the Bhatnagar family immigrated to New Zealand from Canada. Roger (Rajeshwar) Bhatnagar, after working in electronics retail in Canada, started a small electronics retail business on Commerce Street in Auckland called Sound Plus. Over the coming decade, Sound Plus grew to nine stores across Auckland and Hamilton, and became known for aggressive discounting and innovative marketing.
In 1991, with the help of Fisher and Paykel Finance, Roger bought the Noel Leeming electronics retail chain from receivers. After turning the business around, Roger and his team floated Noel Leeming on the NZX in 1993 and the company experienced considerable growth. In 1995, the business merged with competitor Bond and Bond Ltd to create "Pacific Retail Group", which was New Zealand's largest electronics retail business. His interests in Pacific Retail Group were bought out in 1999, and he became a passive investor. Roger also was the cornerstone investor in Burger King New Zealand in 1994 (exiting in 1996), and was also involved in a number of commercial and residential property projects around Auckland. Following his success, Roger engaged in philanthropy, supported NZ sports, and enjoyed the collecting of beautiful objects. Pride of place in his collection for a number of years was a McLaren F1 road car, the first to arrive in New Zealand in 1994. Roger deeply enjoyed his friendships with New Zealand and overseas sports players, especially in the semi-professional days of NZ cricket in the 1980s, supporting a number of top NZ sportsmen with jobs, sponsorship and testimonial benefits. In 2017, Sir Roger's cricket memorabilia collection was displayed at Auckland Cricket. You can read more about Sir Roger Bhatnagar's cricket memorabilia collection here. Roger was knighted by the NZ Government for services to business and charities in the 1998 Queens Birthday honours. Following the onset of poor health, Sir Roger retired from business around 2008, and he passed away in late 2022. Click here to read the family announcement, and the NZ Herald ad. NZ Media also covered his passing at the NZ Herald and Indian Newslink. |
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Sir Roger's images are provided under Copyright Act of 1994 (s42), allowing fair use for media. Please contact if higher resolution photos are required.