Hello Everyone:
Firstly, WellyForge7 is on Weds March 18th, 7pm, Undercurrent. We’re going to follow our established pattern of getting Wellington newsmakers on-stage with an eclectic mix of people covering science/tech and young/old. So, first main speaker is Andrew Morrow from Parts Trader who announced in December 2025 an agreement to be acquired by Enlyte in what is likely to be one of the biggest deals of the year. Tickets.
Secondly, our good friends at The Atom and What Founders Want have declared war on apathy, The Founders Games is on - “if you’re building something real - you belong in the Arena” this Saturday 1-4pm, Lower Hutt, paintball.
Thirdly, Wellington Gold Awards entries are now open, deadline is March 31st. This is always a good night, and a great way to give your team a buzz.
Fourthly, we are starting to update the ecosystem map, welcome to service provider Somar Digital and spin out TransitDash (“unlock the future of public transport information”); DCentrica Solutions (“agency risk” - see below) up on the Kapiti Coast; Sendd from Adiraj Gupta, entrepreneur in residence at the Atom:
Finally, AngelHQ’s 2026 is starting with an investment lunch next Weds where a few start-ups seeking money present to small groups. Join AngelHQ to meet a great bunch of local investors who really care, and you get to see a range of interesting start-ups up close.
Rule #1 - Celebrate the Wins
Inhibit Coatings meets first close target of $1.4m [Catalist] - the spin-out from Vic is a world-leader in antimicrobial technology, and we noted in Dec they were approaching first close - the final close will be 1st March, details from Eldon Tate (or email [email protected])
The Fission Project “Night Market” at the Atom, Colm Kearney’s photos of the final event for The Fission Project which saw founders and teams form and then work hard for 8 weeks to test drive their ideas forward before showcasing them at the “Night Market” - Palpable energy & excitement, more please!
And other recent media coverage of local interest:
Sir Stephen Tindall’s Wellington speech summary [The Post] - more tech hubs, collaborate more, and exploit the region’s science strength, “university, politicians, influencers, roll your sleeves up and go harder at this”
Atomic.io’s Jo Haanstra talking with Jenny Morel on the latest Morgo podcast.
DCentrica launches Metaport for agency risk, in eCommerce news, Metaport tracks maintenance and security risk for digital agency’s.
Vidya Dinamani made Honorary Adjunct Professor of Practice of Entrepreneurship & Innovation at Victoria, recently returned from the US, and heavily involved at the Atom and other innovation ecosystem initiatives across the region.
Chamber of Commerce welcomes Mayor’s pro-business plans, the new CEO at the Chamber (Hayley Horan) is looking forward to helping “grow investment, support jobs and make Wellington a more dynamic and competitive city.”
Creative Tech Activate, more details from CreativeHQ about the 8 week long pre-accelerator running from 19th March - 14th May.
Taiawa Tech Hub profiles, following on from last weeks event, here’s a profile of all 14 companies at Taiawa Tech Hub for Scale-Ups.
Wellington Moa Point article in The Post, towards the bottom there’s some good quotes from the Mayor, Andrew Little, about what is positive about Wellington: “Firstly, there’s the tech sector. We have this incredibly successful, thriving tech sector. There’s FinTech, GamingTech, and would you believe a sector now called GovTech which is providing services and software and technology to the government,” says Little. “This is the best place to be a tech startup because everybody you need to deal with and talk to to get a business going, you can get to within 10 minutes. “There's no other city in the world where that happens. We have a lot going for us, and there's a lot of energy and dynamism,” Little says.
Rule #2 - Understand Your Environment
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Rule #3 - Nothing Falls Thru The Gaps
Aurora Climate Lab by CreativeHQ is looking for the next wave of CleanTechs, apply by Feb 23rd.
TEDxVUW returns in May, express interest at that link.
Play by Play wants local speakers for the “cosy games conference”, deadline is 28th Feb, and the conference is 8th/9th May at the Michael Fowler
Enter the NZ Hi-Tech Awards, entries close 2nd March, one of NZ’s highest profile events and great fun to be part of.
Creative Tech Activate, run by CreativeHQ, apply by 3rd March, for 19th March-14th May programme.
Rule #4 - Get Inspired, Meet the Locals
Highlighted entries are new from last week.
NEXT 10 DAYS:
Weds Feb 18th, 12.30-2pm, Blackbird Foundry Roadshow (learn about VC), and, at some point later in the day Blackbird and Talent Army are hosting “Lessons from the AI Boom”
Thu Feb 19th, 3.30-5pm Morgo “Managing Up”, 5-6.30pm Morgo Networking Drinks
Fri Feb 20th, 12-1pm, “It’s all science, if you want it to be”, Dr Hercules Konstantopoulos at the Malaghan (or online) talking about the cross over of science/engineering/tech/maths and how it’s the combination that translates things into impact.
Tue-Wed, Feb 24-25th, Capital City Complex Systems at the National Library, this includes Prof Carl Bergstrom (RNZ interview).
Thu Feb 26th, 5pm, Women of Poneke, at the National Library - “What could our Capital become if we dared to dream bigger - together?”
Thu Feb 26th, 4.30-6pm, AI Tools for Investors, Parisha Shademan at the brand new Tiemann & Co Offices on Clyde Quay Wharf - waiting list open.
Fri Feb 27th, 4-5.30pm, “What’s new in AI and AI Governance in 2026?”, talk by Ali Knott at Victoria.
Fri Feb 27th, 4.30-6.30pm, Welly Biotech ‘n’ Beers, at the Fork & Brewer
KNOWN EVENTS NEXT 4 WEEKS
Wed Mar 4th, 5-7pm, Hutt Tech & Innovation Forum, features COUNT, The Better SMB and “I’m In and Your Sales Engine”, at the Hutt Valley Chamber of Commerce.
Wed Mar 4th, 6-7.30pm, The 1855 Wairarapa Earthquake, what have we learnt? Public talk from experts from Massey & Vic, at The Pit at Massey.
Thu Mar 5th, 5.30pm, “Thinking with your head and your heart: emotions as core functions of mind”, inaugural lecture by Prof Gina Grimshaw, who is using lots of virtual reality to study emotions.
Fri Mar 6th, 4-5.30pm, Can NZ Develop a “Sovereign Large Language Model"?, Vic AI Society Seminar Series, run by Ali Knott.
Mon-Wed, Mar 9-11th, Life Sciences NZ at Takina
Tue Mar 10th, 5pm, “Vibe Coding - Introducing vulnerabilities at pace”, Simon Howard from Bastion talking at “Sec for Devs” at InternetNZ, 18 Willis St.
Wed-Thu, Mar 11-12th, FinTechNZ Hui Tamata at Takina
Tue-Wed, Mar 17-18th, National Cyber Security Summit at Takina
Tue Mar 17th, 5-7pm, The Waiting Room - Cyber Risk in Healthcare, hosted at Talent Army with the digital health community.
Wed Mar 18th, Digitising Government Conference at Takina
Wed Mar 18th, 7pm, WellyForge7 at Undercurrent, full details
Thu Mar 19th, 5-8pm, Tech for Good with the French Embassy - Liquium, Kelvius, Farm Medix and along with Pierre Malou, CEO of Vic Univentures.
Sat Mar 21st, Code Camp Wellington hosted at Xero and Trade Me.
RECURRING EVENTS
The Atom at Victoria is open for any unfunded Founders (Students, Early Stage, Idea Stage) and is run by Entrepreneur in Residence, Adiraj Gupta - Email [email protected] , or join the Facebook community.
Mondays 8-9am, Atom - Founder Mentoring ON-LINE
Weds 12-1pm, Atom - Founder Support Drop-In Hour
Thursdays (every other), 26th Feb 8am, Kapiti Start-Up Network Meet-Ups
Fridays (every other), 27th Feb, 5-6pm, Founders Meet Up at Southern Cross hosted by Jack Shennan, Alistair St Pierre and Adiraj Gupta.