About Aaron Bhatnagar

Aaron, based in Auckland, New Zealand, is an investor in both listed and unlisted companies. He focuses on early-stage, high-growth businesses with a focus on cloud and fintech 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.

Aaron's professional background includes serving on the board of the Real Estate Agents Authority board 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 (Hons) from the University of Auckland. 

During 2007 to 2010, Aaron was an Auckland City Councillor representing the Citizens & Ratepayers ticket, chairing the City Development committee responsible for economic development, town planning, and infrastructure. He was also Deputy Chairman of Finance and a Hearings Commissioner for resource consents. He chose not to run for the new "Supercity" Auckland Council in 2010.
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Aaron Bhatnagar and his family were one of the largest pre-IPO funders of Pushpay, backing the company as it rapidly grew to solve key problems for churches and charities. Pushpay listed on the NZX in August 2014, later co-listed on the ASX, and the Bhatnagar family exited their investment in mid-2020. This success allowed Aaron to reinvest in ventures like Ideally, Timescapes, Valocity, Marsello, Orah, and Designer Wardrobe, focusing on early-stage companies ready to scale, but not angel-level startups.

​Aaron and family also engage in some Auckland based philanthropic projects.
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Christchurch 2022

About the late Sir Roger Bhatnagar

Rajeshwar (anglicised to Roger) Bhatnagar originally hailed from New Delhi, born there in October 1942. His interest in electronics and mechanics saw him travel the world in his younger adult years. He eventually settled on Canada where the economy had opportunities, and where he started a family, marrying a New Zealander in 1974. 

In 1980, the Bhatnagar family moved to New Zealand. Leveraging his time in electronics retail in  British Columbia, he started his own small electronics retail business on Commerce Street in Auckland called Sound Plus. Over the 1980s, 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 of Smiths City Group. 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. He also loved recreational fishing in the Hauraki Gulf on his boat  "Enigma".

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.

​With the onset of poor health, Sir Roger retired from business in 2008, and he passed away in November 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.

Sir Roger Bhatnagar, a keen collector of sports memorabilia