Innovation nation 2020 – Auckland

Employee feedback visionary, Joyous, has big plans. Founded in 2017 by brothers Philip and Michael Carden, the Kiwi software startup Joyous has doubled both its team and its user base in 2020. Now, with over half of its users located in the USA, the company is setting its sights on the global stage. Joyous makes […]

Local fintech firm Invsta has secured a breakthrough deal and signed its first Australian customer as it expands through New Zealand and beyond. After seeing how their solutions are helping Kiwi financial service businesses navigate digital disruption in the post-pandemic landscape, founders Rachel Strevens and Abhy Singla are excited about the opportunity Australia presents given […]

Technologically enabled virtual pharmacy start-up, ZOOM Health has launched a public capital offer of up to NZ$3m through private equity marketplace Snowball Effect to help rapidly grow the business. Founded in 2017 by Managing Director David Taylor (ex-Radiant Health MD), ZOOM Health is dubbed the ‘Uber Eats’ of prescriptions, delivering medicines direct to your door. […]

COVID-19 hasn’t stopped Kiwi organic drinks maker, Karma Drinks, raising money via online investment platform, Snowball Effect, to accelerate its New Zealand growth plans and ambitions for new product development (NPD).  Co-founded in Grey Lynn, Auckland in 2012, the award-winning, organic and Fairtrade beverage company was formed with the vision to produce ethically sourced drinks […]

Co-Founders: Eric Chuah & Graeme Haddon HQ: Auckland What problems do you solve and what products or services do you sell? Not many people realise that in New Zealand, one in four Kiwis have a disability and their employment rate is only 22%. Their median income is half of those who are non-disabled. The Cookie […]

Auckland-based Good Line NZ is capitalising on the uptick in online and remote working by helping Kiwi SME’s ‘work smarter, not harder’ with their virtual assistant service. When Good Line NZ Founder Sabrina O’Flaherty started in 2016, her mission was simple: she wanted to give back to businesses. Helping businesses grow by providing virtual assistant […]

When lockdown threatened to make it impossible for NZ property owners to have their home professionally valued due to social distancing restrictions, Kiwi tech tool Valocity Connect stepped in. In March, as New Zealand’s COVID-19 Alert Level 4 played whack-a-mole with our economy, fintech company Valocity Global pivoted by introducing the Valocity Connect app. This […]

TreeTime, a new tree planting non-profit enterprise, is developing an innovative app which will utilise new drone software to enable donors to track their tree’s journey from seed to maturity. The app gives the assurance to users that each contribution is truly making a difference. Those who donate $9 NZD to sponsor a tree will […]

The Kiwi tech startup veteran instrumental to the success of Neighbourly and GrabOne, Casey Eden, has come together with private equity marketplace, Snowball Effect, to launch Orchestra – a centralised company investment and stakeholder management platform. Uniquely positioned as the intersection between private companies, their investors and business advisors, Orchestra’s all-in-one platform provides a completely […]

With many New Zealanders facing increased financial hardship as a result of COVID-19, national levels of food insecurity have risen sharply in recent months – and are set to rise further when the wage subsidy scheme concludes in September. Now, a new social enterprise is set to provide much-needed additional support to the hundreds of […]

Auckland-based startup Boxfish is helping Kiwi SME’s find efficiencies and design their business to be lean using a data-driven online platform. Erin Westover explains. Boxfish founder Rowan Teh is well-versed in what it means to be a ‘Lean’ business. As a black belt in Lean Six Sigma, a business improvement method that relies on the […]

Despite the economic pressures of the COVID-19 crisis, Kiwi plant-based food manufacturer, Little Island has confirmed plans to acquire a plant-based yoghurt business to widen its product offering. It has launched a public capital raise of up to NZ$2m to support this acquisition and drive further growth, via online investment platform Snowball Effect.  Co-founded in […]

Founders: Kerry Grass and Dr. Nicholas Gilmour HQ: Auckland During 2019, AML360 completed its goal of developing an end-to-end digital solution for anti-money laundering compliance. Erin Westover talked to the founders to find out more. What problems do you solve and what products or services do you sell? [KG] We sell ‘plug-and-go’ regulatory technology (RegTech) […]

Founders: Greg Harrison and Richard Warburton HQ: Auckland, NZ Erin Westover caught up with Extraorder co-founder Greg Harrison to get the low down on the Kiwi hospo-tech startup with international ambitions. What problems do you solve and what products or services do you sell? I’ve been in the hospitality industry for many years, and one […]

Building any business from scratch is hard enough but imagine doing that in a completely foreign country and having to learn a whole new language first. That was exactly the situation that digital entrepreneur Tatiana Ceballos found herself in, arriving in Auckland from her native Colombia without a word of English, no job and no […]