Hey everybody,

I’m noticing a healthy tension between election policy (tightening the belt) and advocacy group messaging (urging for spending). At the same time, by some signals there is far more offshore venture capital reaching the motu than most of us realise. Maybe the next few years will lean more on this side. Whatever the direction, there is always something to celebrate here, so we’ll do that in the last WellyForge show of the year! Details coming soon 😃

No specific call-outs this week 🤔 so you know what this means: I’ll get links emailed in response cause Welly is always winning 😎

Hey, there’s a third Technology entry in the RNZ election policy guide! Labour has pledged to ban social media for under-16s “with plan to tackle tech giants”. Capital gains tax, always relevant to investing in innovation, is on the policy table but also on the minds of… BusinessDesk readers? Strange days.

On the healthcare side, Labour and Opportunity pledge to keep funding the current 10-year Health Digital Investment Plan.

On the entrepreneurial side, I was interested to read Rowan Simpson’s Top Three Election Special, reminding that startups have a lot to offer government because "tech is not a sector [...] in 2026 every company is a technology company".

“In 2007, one international VC invested in a Kiwi startup. Since then, 131 have.“ We’re not a capital desert, we’re becoming a big destination for external investment.

Anthropic is committing 20% of its shares to the public good via a new Public Benefit Fund. Guilty conscience or genuine, proactive do-goodery? Does it matter? Applied biomedical research is mentioned specifically: if this is your line of work keep an eye out for more.

Flying tourists to NZ for free is an interesting take on the tourism-backed economy. More locally, WellingtonNZ on The Post make the case for keeping our visitor economy front and centre. The take is that our cultural life and vibrancy are a big part of what makes this city a great innovation centre. It brings to mind the quote attributed to Sir Paul Callaghan: "Make New Zealand a place where talent wants to live".

Anyone building AI applications, have a read at this peek under the hood of local operations at Telos, and how they moved 25% of their AI onto their own hardware. The “brain” they employed (a knowledge graph if I’m reading it right) reduced their LLM spending by roughly $3k a month.

The FinTech NZ Manifesto advocates for long-term thought at the national level (regulatory support and industry collaboration) to boost the sector’s high-growth ventures.

This is the part where you get to fill in a form:

Highlighted entries are new from last week.

Thu, Oct 22nd, Show Me the Money is three events in one day. Choose one, two, or all three of the following startup essentials:

Wed, Oct 28th, 12:30am–1:30pm, The future of clinical workstations: designing secure, seamless and clinician-first access to healthcare technology, online.

Thu, Oct 29th, 3–5pm, CREATIVITY 101, because creativity begets innovation.

Thu, Oct 29th, 3:30–5pm, MedTech iQ: Smarter Clinics & Better Learning, featuring presentations by Gestalt and Propagator, at Taiawa (Level 5, Rutherford House). No online event page ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Thu, Oct 29th, 5:30–8pm, Wellington UniVentures & Booster NZ Showcase at Rutherford House.

Fri, Oct 30th, 4:30–6:30pm, Biotech ‘n’ Beers at Fork and Brewer.

30–31 Oct, Kawaiicon 4 at the Michael Fowler Centre no less.

Tue, 10 Nov, 5:30–6:45pm, Doodle Cafe.

Thu, Nov 12th, 5–6:30 pm, EdTech Community Connect at Taiawa.

Tue, Nov 17th, Superconductor Valley 2026 by Paihau—Robinson Research Institute, at Rutherford House.

Wed, Nov 18th, 4–6pm, Michael Volkerling Lecture: Artificial Intelligence, Memory and Culture: crossroads and cul-de-sacs at Te Papa.

Wed, Nov 18th, 5–7pm, MP Climate Consensus report launch at CHQ.

26-27 Nov, Indigenous Tech Summit at Tākina

9–12 Feb 2027, eResearch NZ comes to Wellington. Submissions now open.

15-17 Mar 2027, Life Sciences Summit at Tākina, early bird member tickets out.

17-18 Mar 2027, FinTech Hui Taumata at Tākina.

22-23 Mar 2027, National Cybersecurity Summit at Tākina.

23 Mar 2027, Digitising Government at Tākina.

Fri, May 7th 2027, NZ Tech Rally on a Super Early Bird launch.

The Atom at Victoria is open for any unfunded Founders (Students, Early Stage, Idea Stage) and is run by Tania Jones, with entrepreneurs in Residence, Parisa Shademan, Jack Shennan, and Alistair St Pierre and investors in residence Dave Moskovitz, Aaron Scott & Ralph Highnam. Email or join the Facebook community.