A Christchurch based artificial intelligence startup has raised $4.1 million in seed funding as it prepares to expand into overseas markets.

Contented has closed an oversubscribed funding round led by Altered Capital, with backing from Shearwater Capital in Australia, K1W1, Icehouse Ventures, Aspire NZ Seed Fund, Phase One Ventures, and Exhort Ventures.

Co founder Hannah Hardy Jones said the investment would accelerate the company’s growth across new industries and international markets.

“We’ve had really strong interest from a great range of investors and this funding is going to allow us to deepen our feature set, expand our customer base, and push hard into new territories like the United Kingdom and United States,” Hardy Jones said.

Contented was founded by Hardy Jones and Lucy Pink, who met while building their previous startups and bonded over a shared interest in the potential of artificial intelligence for business.

Pink is a self taught developer and former founder of ethical fashion startup Onyou, while Hardy Jones previously founded The Kite Program, a mental health app.

The platform captures conversations in meetings, video calls, and in person discussions, then converts them into structured documentation and business insights using customisable templates.

“We work with businesses of all sizes, from growing SMEs through to some of New Zealand’s biggest organisations,” Pink said.

She said Alliance Group used the platform to record meetings across its operations, from plant floors to the boardroom, generating key documents such as meeting minutes and health and safety reports.

Over the past year, Contented has grown from a small customer base to more than $1.4 million in annual recurring revenue, achieved without external investment.

The company now works with more than 200 customers globally across wealth management, healthcare, government, and enterprise sectors. Customers include Synlait, Craigs Investment Partners, Alliance Group, Awanui Group, Christchurch Airport, Apollo Projects, and a large number of small and medium sized businesses.

Altered Capital investment manager Finn Templeton said the company’s growth was among the fastest he had seen in New Zealand.

“Contented’s growth trajectory is remarkable and it’s a testament to both the product and to Lucy and Hannah as founders,” Templeton said.

“Contented generates structured insight and business value out of conversations, effectively turning talk into scalable intellectual assets. We’re delighted to partner with them to support the next phase of growth.”

Pink said conversations remained one of the most underutilised resources in business.

“We believe conversations are the most underutilised resource in business. We’re here to change that,” she said.

The company is experiencing particularly strong growth in financial services, where a single client meeting can generate documents such as statements of advice, assets and liabilities tables, and other business outputs.

Contented plans to use the funding to expand its template library across areas such as human resources and recruitment, strengthen integrations with customer relationship management systems and Microsoft Office, and further develop its artificial intelligence technology.

The startup also plans to grow its team from five to about 15 staff within the next two months, with new roles across development, market expansion, and customer success.