Five Taranaki startups set to pitch at PowerUp Showcase
The PowerUp Accelerator is now underway, with five ambitious startups progressing through a focused 10-week journey to grow their ventures into investable, scalable businesses.
Taranaki is building a reputation as a region where startups don’t just start, they scale with purpose. Founders are solving real-world problems and building ventures grounded in practical thinking and commercial intent.
That momentum comes to life at Showcase Night on 13 May at The Devon Hotel, New Plymouth, where each participant will pitch to investors, industry experts and potential collaborators. The Showcase marks the culmination of months of work and the next wave of Taranaki innovation stepping forward. Purchase tickets here, to attend in-person or online.
From idea to pitch-ready:
The PowerUp Accelerator, an initiative of Te Puna Umanga Venture Taranaki, offers a hands-on, founder-focused experience that blends expert mentoring, practical workshops, peer learning, and direct exposure to investors.
“It’s a programme built around doing, not theory,” says Jennifer Patterson, Venture Taranaki’s General Manager of Economic Development. “We pair founders with experienced mentors and specialists who understand the realities of growing a business. Over ten weeks, they validate their markets, sharpen their story, and learn how to communicate their value with confidence.”
Participants also access co-working space, weekly peer check-ins, and specialist support from legal, financial and people-capability partners including Auld Brewer Mazengarb & McEwen, Parry Field Lawyers, Baker Tilly Staples Rodway, BDO, Unlimit, and People Passion. This wrap-around support helps founders build both capability and momentum as they prepare for growth.
“As founders, we spend most of our time building,” says Shivani Nardekar, founder of Rooted Harmony. “The PowerUp programme forces you to step back and really clarify what you’re building and why it matters. Preparing for the Showcase has been a big part of that, getting clear on the opportunity and how to communicate it.”
The 2026 cohort reflects the diversity and ingenuity of the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, rooted in real-world problem-solving, with ventures spanning wellness, food systems, digital payments, product innovation and logistics. The startups and their hand-picked mentors include:
Rooted Harmony
Developing whole-plant wellness drink blends powered by Ayurvedic adaptogens and botanicals to support hormonal balance and nervous system health. Already in market, with early customers secured and a focus on scaling distribution.
Mentor: Rachel Perrett – Co-founder of Green School Taranaki
Green Loop
Diverting commercial food waste from landfill and converting it into nutrient-rich compost that boosts soil health. The venture has already established early customers, secured grant backing, and built operational traction within its first year.
Mentor: Malcolm Rands – Co-founder of Ecostore
Kermit Shade & Shelter
Engineered innovative modular shade and shelter systems suitable for homes, schools and hospitality environments that are designed with challenging environments in mind. Moving quickly from concept to commercialisation, Kermit has filed patents across New Zealand and Australia.
Mentor: Sonia Kiser – CEO of Carac Group
TipJar
SaaS micropayments platform focused on simplifying transactions, is enabling organisations and community groups to collect payments instantly via digital channels, reducing friction and gaining early user uptake.
Mentor: Kitty Stevenson – Edtech founder and angel investor
Flytte
Addressing inefficiencies in a fragmented industry, Flytte is building an online logistics marketplace designed to simplify how moving and transport services are booked.
Mentor: Kevin Best – Co-founder of Trackitportal
“The PowerUp Accelerator is part of our wider mahi to strengthen the region’s innovation ecosystem,” says Patterson. “We’re seeing founders build around real needs and turning those into viable businesses.”
Meet the startups:
Get a closer look at the founders and what they’re building:
A night for innovators, investors and industry
Showcase Night is designed to connect founders with the people who can help take their ventures further.
Attendees will hear live pitches, explore the startup expo space to experience the startups’ products and services firsthand, and connect directly with founders and the wider innovation community.
The event will be hosted by New Zealand Story Group CEO David Downs, with guest speaker Iain Hosie, a Taranaki-born deep-tech entrepreneur who founded and led Nanolayr (Revolution Fibres). He will share his start-up journey, his vision for Taranaki Applied Innovation Centre (TAIC) which he leads, in partnership with Venture Taranaki, and why continued investment in innovation matters for Taranaki.
For investors and business leaders, it offers a front-row view of emerging opportunities grounded in real-world application.
📅 Date: Wednesday 13 May 2026
🕕 Time: 6:00pm – 8:30pm
📍 Venue: The Devon Hotel, New Plymouth
🎟️ Tickets: $50 to attend in-person, or $20 to view the online stream.
Purchase tickets here
A region powering ahead
PowerUp continues to demonstrate how coordinated support can accelerate early-stage innovation in Taranaki, a region known for energy, engineering and agriculture, now applying that same practical mindset to new sectors.
Graduates from the 2025 programme are already scaling. BO TALLOW has begun exporting its cosmetic-grade tallow products and recently secured a New Zealand Story FernMark Licence, strengthening its global provenance and credibility with international partners. Elshaw has expanded distribution of its health tech patches through medical suppliers across Aotearoa.
These stories show how ideas developed in the region can gain national traction, and why investors can look to Taranaki for new opportunities.
About PowerUp
PowerUp is a Venture Taranaki initiative focused on strengthening the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Taranaki. It delivers a coordinated programme of events, services and partnerships, working alongside regional organisations, businesses and mentors to support founders at different stages of their journey. By improving visibility of available support and enabling stronger connections across the ecosystem, PowerUp helps more ventures start, grow and scale in the region. Learn more.
Learn more at venture.org.nz
Insights from the team at Venture Taranaki
