The Companies Office register records Hydroxsys as being backed by a number of well-known venture capital investors: Sir Stephen Tindall’s K1W1 (7.94%), Icehouse Ventures (4.35%) and Aspire NZ Seed Fund (4.08%) are listed as shareholders in the holding company.

Many of these investors had come on board more than a decade ago. Reports from 2014 said the company had raised $2.1m in seed funding, followed by another $3m in 2023.

Shepherd and Kellow’s report says employees were owed $80,975, but an ongoing Employment Relations Authority case was likely to see another $110,501 added to this.

The earlier effort to find a solution through voluntary administration comes into sharp focus when assessing the sums owed to Inland Revenue, the single largest creditor.

The taxation authority is owed $1.76m, but the bulk of this ($1.74m) relates to R&D tax credits, which crystallised into a liability once liquidation occurred.

The liquidators’ report also records a $409,862 loan is owed to the recently shuttered government-funded Callaghan Innovation.

The secured creditor, recorded in securities filings as BNZ, is owed $428,174.

The company’s website, which is still live, says: “Founded by engineers and scientists, and tested and proven by leading food processors and exporters, Hydroxsys is a privately-owned New Zealand company with headquarters, manufacturing, and research and development facilities in Auckland, New Zealand.”

Matt Nippert is an Auckland-based investigations reporter covering white-collar and transnational crimes and the intersection of politics and business. He has won more than a dozen awards for his journalism – including twice being named Reporter of the Year – and joined the Herald in 2014 after having spent the decade prior reporting for business newspapers and national magazines.