Hey everybody,

Lots of good news this week for local tech companies and also the standing of the wider NZ technology sector in the economy. I’m getting the impression that more and more people across Aotearoa see innovation as something we do well as a matter of course, that tech and science are becoming a part of our identity beyond the number 8 wire styling of Kiwi innovation. It’s a real buzz!

Investing directly in startup IP is critical to keeping Kiwi tech leaders grounded in Aotearoa, argue Faith Jeremiah and Paul Spence. Meanwhile, “why not me?” is the only question that matters: Lane Litz reflects on Year 1 of What Founders Want, emphasising the massive advantage of a closely knit community. Totes 👏

I liked Rod McNaughton’s summary of science communication as a vital feedback loop to refine research questions and real-world impact. FWIW as a PhD student I averaged about one public talk a month (largely at schools all over SE England), and that’s how I know what I did for my Phd 🤣

Australia’s announcement of a dedicated Cabinet Office of AI has prompted a few people to call for such a coordinated approach here. Andrew Lensen urges political leaders to get on it, Chris Keall breaks down Australia’s proactive push on AI governance and data infrastructure rules relative to New Zealand’s policy landscape.

WellingtonNZ hails our creative industry as a key to diversifying the economy 📽 I mean, how many of your techie friends came to these shores on a WētāFX relocation package? 🤚

Sharesies retail investor numbers for Rocket Lab have surged past Air NZ as public and KiwiSaver market confidence in deep tech reaches new heights. Not local, but a cool NZ deep tech note to mark and celebrate 🚀

Applications are open for Student Entrepreneur of the Year (SEOTY) 2026. That’s $20k in non-dilutive cash for student builders, backed by seasoned Kiwi founders.

NZ Tech Rally has opened talk submissions for their 2027 developer conference. Early bird tickets are out, too.

There is a new made-in-Welly product out there: Arca is a learning platform where people can understand the foundational work behind the practical tools and knowledge they use every day.

“We are excited to be deploying our first AI Factory in New Zealand" says the CEO of (US-based) SharonAI after signing a 5yr / USD 1.32B cloud contract with a “global AI lab” to run in data centres here. SharonAI is not to be confused with My or anyone’s Sharona, and I do wonder if it will still be generating revenue in the year 2073 🤔 🪗

Opportunities for students “in everything” was a theme at WellyForge #9: OpenStar is inviting applications from the next generation of tech talent for internships.

Highlighted entries are new from last week.

Wed, Jul 22nd, 7:15–8:30am, Beehive to Business with Qiulae Wong at Wellington Chamber of Commerce.

Wed, Jul 22nd, APHANZ Annual Conference, shaping smarter rules for plants, animals, and biosecurity.

Fri, Jul 24th, 1:30–2:30pm, Growth NZ All Hands, online.

Fri, Jul 24th, 4–5:30pm, AI in Court: How will we handle AI-Derived Evidence?

Mon, Jul 27th, 12-1pm, 2026 emissions reduction monitoring report, online.

Mon, Jul 27th, 11am–12pm A brief history of the models in Animal Breeding and Genetics.

Wed, Jul 29th, 5:45–7pm, Café Scientifique: Life at the (plate) boundary, at Southern Cross.

Wed, Jul 29th, 6–7:30pm, John Lekner Royal Society Lecture: Electroporation in Cancer Therapy, and Beauty in Physics.

Wed, Jul 29th, 6–8pm, NZ Tech Rally Meetup: AI assisted coding: Productivity, fatigue or tech debt.

Thu, Jul 30th, Aurora Climate Tech Summit.

Thu, Jul 30th, 12–2pm, Supercharge your Business Productivity with AI at Rutherford House.

Thu, Jul 30th, 5–6.30pm, Showcasing insurance-related data projects and insurtechs in Wellington.

Fri, Jul 31st, 4–5:30pm, John Daniel Trask at AI and Society.

Mon, Aug 3rd, Building world-class Fintech from Wellington.

Tue, Aug 4th, 7:30–8:30pm, Subterranean Critters: Understanding Biodiversity Aotearoa.

Wed, Aug 5th, 7-7:45pm, The changing landscape of allergic disease research and treatment by immunology legends Franca Ronchese and Maia Brewerton, online. ICS link here, Teams link is dodgy.

6–7 Aug, the AI Hackathon is back at AWS 🛠

Fri, Aug 7th, 4–5:30pm, Putting Human Rights at the Centre panel at AI and Society—ticketed, look for info later.

Tue, Aug 11th, Digital Trust Hui Taumata at Te Papa.

Tue, Aug 11th, The CEO Table gathers eight leaders under Chatham House to discuss the topic of ‘Governing for the Future: Rethinking the purpose of boards inside growing New Zealand businesses’.

Wed, Aug 12th, Shadow Tech offers girls in years 9-11 an opportunity to discover the world of tech, spark their curiosity and explore career pathways.

Fri, Aug 14th, 2—4pm, GTM Engineering: automate, scale, win by KiwiSaaS.

Aug 24–25, GEN NZ Unconference and Workshops at Rutherford House. I’ll post more about this soon 🙂

Fri, Sep 4th, 4–5:30pm, The AI-driven future of biotechnology in New Zealand at AI and Society.

8–9 Sep, Aotearoa AI Summit at Tākina.

Fri, Sep 11th, 4–5:30pm, All the time in the world: AI-driven computation hones lab work and frees human hands and brains for creative work at AI and Society.

Thu, Sep 24th, SaaSpocalypse Now at Hnry Stadium, early bird to Aotearoa’s premier SaaS gathering by hosted by KiwiSaaS.

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.