Welcome

Nelson company Chia Sisters is a leader in sustainable practices in New Zealand. Now, a rebrand shows just what makes their drinks ‘functional beverages’. When Chloe van Dyke, who has a background in neuroscience, began creating a nutritious drink that could fuel her athletic family members, she might have never thought the result would turn […]

Without Covid-19 interrupting the typical workflow of Hannah and Nick Ippolito’s web design business at the start of 2020, the two may never have had the opportunity to create SquareKicker – and life would certainly look very different right now for the Nelson-based couple. As one of the world’s largest online website building platforms, Squarespace […]

In 2019, a multinational company worth hundreds of millions of dollars came knocking in Nelson. Descartes Systems Group was looking for Core Transport Technologies (CTT) – whose reputation had preceded them when it came to cargo tracking technology – and made them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Now this team of 12 is working alongside […]

INTRODUCTION: RICHARD LIEW ROLE: EDITOR ORGANISATION: NZ ENTREPRENEUR MAGAZINE Welcome to Innovation Nation 2021, celebrating Global Entrepreneurship Week! Innovation Nation is a series celebrating stories of innovation and entrepreneurship from around New Zealand. Innovation Nation proudly supported by: Supporter Spotlight: Offers and services from NZ Entrepreneur supporters!

When Richard McLeod dropped out of University in 2004 and purchased the infamous Captain Cook pub in Dunedin with his childhood ski-racing friend James Arnott, he never imagined that one day he would have co-founded a software-as-a-service company. Now, 17 years later, he believes it’s the right time to take his company, Loaded, to the […]

At just three years old, a Nelson family-owned business that makes snacks from unique New Zealand fruit has doubled its turnover each year, and now employs more than 20 staff across its operations. Dried fruit may sound somewhat boring, but Little Beauties is making it exciting. The startup makes specialty dried snacks from unique New […]

If you’re looking for a different way to experience Queenstown, you’ll find people, places and hospitality on the Check In platform that you would never find from a Google search. Sisters Karmela and Maria Rapata have over 27 years of shared tourism and hospitality experience. In 2012, Maria started a business helping people manage their […]

Educated guesswork isn’t foolproof when it comes to diagnosing a dairy cow with contagious and difficult-to-treat Staphylococcus aureus mastitis – and missing the infection can put the rest of the herd at risk. Thankfully, it was a bit of serendipity that led to founding the company that would develop a novel solution to help combat […]

Facing a lack of satisfaction in his previous role as a teacher, Chris Rodley decided he wanted to build something of his own. So, he sat down with his brother, his dad and a piece of paper. After discarding many ideas, he is now running Snap Information Technologies (SnapIT) which makes cameras and AI hardware […]

After 15 years working in energy sector support, followed by a two-year venture into starting a medicinal cannabis company, Queenstown entrepreneur Owen Darby created Phytrac, a company using cannabis, sunflowers, wood chips, compost, microbes and various plants to restore contaminated land and manage waste streams. Michael Botur reports. In New Zealand, contaminated land is commonly […]

It was a late night ‘what am I doing with my life’ moment that set Sarah McGuinness on a path to lead a group of revolutionaries out into the business world. Their mission? To be the champions of change when it comes to embracing all aspects of wellbeing in the workforce. But it wasn’t quite […]

In the two years since Sarah and Jason Johnson started their entrepreneurial journey, they’ve been on a steep learning curve. With a pandemic, a pivot and a back injury in the mix, the couple have proven that remaining agile is key to business success. Husband and wife team Sarah and Jason are crazy about craft […]