Position: Financial Co-Founder (Capital Strategy & Development)

Location: Remote (US, Aotearoa, Canada, or Australia preferred)
Team: Tumeke Innovation
Compensation: Commission-based, Salary + Founding Equity
Capital Goal: $25M USD
Start Date: Q3–Q4 2025

About the Role

Tumeke is seeking a finance-focused co-founder to lead our capital development strategy across grants, investors, and individual contributions. This role is foundational, not advisory. You will own the process of securing $25M USD in mission-aligned funding to support the development and global rollout of two culturally grounded creative technology products:

• Errata – an AI-assisted interactive world built from a Māori design logic

• The Platform – a behavioral systems and worldbuilding platform that embeds Indigenous values into creative software

You must be legally experienced, principled, and meticulous. There is no tolerance here for gray areas, dodgy paperwork, or VC theater. We are building with real cultural responsibility. That means the funding behind it must be just as accountable.

This role is ideal for someone who’s already raised capital (via equity, convertible notes, non-dilutive grants, or philanthropic investment), understands the paperwork and pacing, and knows how to speak to both institutional funders and individual backers.

Core Responsibilities

Develop and execute a capital raise strategy that spans:

• Non-dilutive cultural and innovation grants- Strategic equity investment- High-value donor contributions- Public-sector and Indigenous-aligned funding streams

• Write and manage funding applications, pitch decks, grant narratives, and cap tables

• Identify mission-aligned capital partners, not just generic tech investors

• Lead conversations with funders and present Tumeke’s integrated financial and creative roadmap

• Design and maintain financial compliance systems that reflect Indigenous accountability as well as Western legal norms

• Ensure that all funds raised are tracked, reportable, and aligned with project delivery timelines

• Collaborate with the founding team on business structure, valuation milestones, and investor comms

Minimum Qualifications

• Demonstrated experience raising $1M+ in capital through grants, venture, or philanthropic channels (Video Game industry experience preferred)

• Strong working knowledge of:

  • International corporate structures with an emphasis on NZ and US

  • Securities law (esp. around equity, SAFE, or convertible terms)

  • Public grant compliance and reporting requirements

• Proven ability to write clear, persuasive, legally responsible funding materials

• Familiarity with creative or cultural tech sectors

• Comfort working in a distributed, asynchronous, startup environment

• Strong ethical compass and high tolerance for paperwork

Preferred Attributes

• Experience managing grant compliance in Indigenous or values-driven organizations

• Familiarity with public-sector grant bodies such as Creative New Zealand (CNZ), Callaghan Innovation, Te Puni Kōkiri, NZTE, MBIE, or equivalent agencies abroad

• Knowledge of Māori or Indigenous governance models around IP, equity, and benefit sharing

• Experience securing capital from funders aligned with social wellbeing enterprise, cultural tech, or values-based innovation.

• Ability to balance ambitious funding goals with sober, stepwise operational scaling

What Success Looks Like

This is a results-driven role. We’re not asking for perfect polish or investor glamor. We’re asking for substance, execution, and lawful clarity. Success means:

• Clear, actionable funding roadmap with deliverables and compliance steps

• Raised capital to secure the first three years of R&D, production, and distribution

• No sleepless nights about paperwork

• No funders that compromise kaupapa

We’re not looking for someone chasing an exit. We’re looking for someone who wants to build financial structures that protect and support kaupapa over the long term.

Compensation and Equity

Cash aligned to stage and location. Equity grant in options or restricted stock, with 4-year vesting and a 1-year cliff, vesting monthly thereafter. Full IP assignment. Good-leaver and bad-leaver terms apply.

Performance Top-ups

Additional equity may be tied to objective milestones such as public demo ship, cost and reliability targets, and two senior hires delivered. Top-ups vest on completion and board confirmation.

Optional Investment

Employment and equity are not contingent on any personal investment. This is a shared-risk company build.

Interested?  Apply here with the subject “Financial Co-Founder Inquiry – Tumeke.”

Please include any relevant past funding work, pitch examples, or a short note about your capital strategy approach.