Welcome

In Founder Focus we introduce entrepreneurs and change-makers working on innovative startups, social enterprises and SME’s around Aotearoa New Zealand. At a glance Founders: Trevor Topfer, Paul Jason Young, Riley Malins, Marquis Shepherd and Ruslan Saitov Business: Avatars Global Founded: 2023 HQ: Auckland Can you tell us a bit about your business? We build exceptional […]

Enjoy a lighter look at entrepreneurial life with NZ Entrepreneur Media Lead Brendan Boughen, creator of Cartoons by Jim.  Keep an eye out for new cartoons appearing on a semi-regular basis here on NZ Entrepreneur, and in the meantime, check out Jim’s web site: https://cartoonsbyjim.com. To license the above cartoon for your own use, click […]

In Founder Focus we introduce entrepreneurs and change-makers working on innovative startups, social enterprises and SME’s around Aotearoa New Zealand. At a glance Founder: Kathryn McGarvey Business: NosyHQ Founded: 2024 HQ: Hawke’s Bay Can you tell us a bit about your business? NosyHQ, a Napier-based strategic human research agency is on a mission to get […]

The science backing up the facts of global climate change has long been beyond dispute – but the warnings that come with those facts have never been clearer, more present, or more urgent. To address the long-term impacts of a warming planet, humans must reduce our collective carbon emissions by weaning ourselves off fossil fuels. […]

In Founder Focus we introduce entrepreneurs and change-makers working on innovative startups, social enterprises and SME’s around Aotearoa New Zealand. At a glance Founder: Ken Sinclair Business: Mariners Log Founded: 2021 HQ: Auckland Can you tell us a bit about your business? Mariners Log is a maritime software solution that leverages predictive maintenance and AI […]

A former executive with global experience at a multinational telecommunication company says leadership is seeing a shift from traditional authoritative leadership to a more empathetic, servant-based model pointing to “holistic leadership” being the gateway to being a good effective leader. Ashish Saxena has worked across multiple continents for global giants like Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, Nokia and […]

In Founder Focus we introduce entrepreneurs and change-makers working on innovative startups, social enterprises and SME’s around Aotearoa New Zealand. At a glance Founders: Lizzi Whaley and Anna Johnson Business: CircularBuild Founded: 2023 HQ: Auckland Can you tell us a bit about your business? CircularBuild is on a mission to transform the design and construction […]

When Zoë Reece completed her Engineering degree, she never imagined that she would one day be using those skills to establish and lead an innovative New Zealand company specialising in medicinal cannabis products, called Ora Pharm. Zoë’s story is one of both hard work and good luck, a journey with decisions made at pivotal points […]

In Founder Focus we introduce entrepreneurs and change-makers working on innovative startups, social enterprises and SME’s around Aotearoa New Zealand. At a glance Founders: Bruce Jackson and Ronel Schodt Business: Kai’s Education Founded: 2019 HQ: Auckland Can you tell us a bit about your business? Kai’s Education is shaping the future of learning through innovative […]

In Founder Focus we introduce entrepreneurs and change-makers working on innovative startups, social enterprises and SME’s around Aotearoa New Zealand. At a glance Founder: Olivia Dyet Business: Empathix Founded: 2023 HQ: Auckland Can you tell us a bit about your business? Empathix is changing the recruitment game by creating a new market category: human-centric, advanced […]

NZ startup Shutterspeed has been selected as part of the 2024 Techstars Sydney accelerator, accompanied by $US120,000 funding. 4,400 companies have worked with the US global startup network Techstars, with a US$116B portfolio market cap.   Shutterspeed is developing a cutting-edge AI-powered business assistant for content creators and creative professionals. This investment highlights the growing recognition […]

In Founder Focus we introduce entrepreneurs and change-makers working on innovative startups, social enterprises and SME’s around Aotearoa New Zealand. At a glance Founders: Rob Stirling and Gene Dower Business: Scannable Founded: 2020 HQ: Otago Can you tell us a bit about your business? Scannable exists to streamline safety equipment management for ‘work-at-height’ industries, such […]