Entrepreneur ecosystem contributors acknowledged at GEN NZ AWARDS

Category winners at the 2022 GEN NZ Entrepreneur Ecosystem Awards at GridAKLD on September 5 2022.

Contributors to the New Zealand Entrepreneur Ecosystem were celebrated and recognised this week at the inaugural GEN NZ Entrepreneur Ecosystem Awards held at GridAKL in Auckland.

Attended by a buoyant crowd of entrepreneurs, investors, mentors and entrepreneur support organisations on the evening of 5 September, the awards recognised individuals and organisations noted for their outstanding contributions to the New Zealand entrepreneur community.

Winners across nine categories accepted awards presented by GEN NZ Chair Dave Moskovitz and Managing Director Katherine Blaney.

Christchurch based Ministry of Awesome took out Entrepreneur Support Organisation of the Year with the newly formed Startup Advisors Council named Government Initiative of the Year. Sarah Colcord of pandemic-inspired Chooice was named Social Entrepreneur of the Year with Lauren Peate, founder of team wellbeing and collaboration app Multitudes named Entrepreneur of the Year.

A buoyant crowd of entrepreneurs, investors, mentors and entrepreneur support organisations attended the GEN NZ Entrepreneur Ecosystem Awards in Auckland.

Blaney said that people could expect the awards to continue as an annual GEN NZ celebration, part of the Global Entrepreneurship Network which operates in over 180 countries. “Although it was the first awards hosted by GEN NZ, we see a real fit for it in our activities as an event where authentic connection can grow from,” she explained.

“It was heartening to see so many people attend the event to support their colleagues, collaborators and friends. We had a wonderful celebration of entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship – people being creative and taking risks, people going from zero to one, people throwing everything they have at solving business and societal problems… helping to create the next iconic businesses of Aotearoa New Zealand.”

When asked about this year’s cohort of winners, Dave Moskovitz observed, “There were a couple of surprises for me: first, that you couldn’t really distinguish the entrepreneurs from the social entrepreneurs. So many of our businesses in Aotearoa have a social purpose – and this was reflected in the finalists.

“Second, that nearly all of the awards were won by women or women-led businesses. Speaking as one of the judges, this was not at all intentional and I didn’t even realise it until I was going through the list of winners. It’s great to see our wahine entrepreneurs getting the recognition they deserve for their amazing ventures.”