Hey everybody,
Stop what you’re doing and pencil in 20 May at 7pm for the next WellyForge Show at Undercurrent!! TechWeek is going to be a cracker and we want to be part of it. We want to add the specific brand of innovation that comes from scientific research—the commercially viable science that changes people’s lives. We’ll have the usual lineup of two long talks and three lightning talks.
Welcome to the Ecosystem Map Trillium 🗺
Rule #1 - Celebrate the Wins
Eightwire acquired by Manawanui, with Surely spinning out 🥳
Congratulations to Marloo for their $10M raise!
RIBB brings a very elegant solution to vaccine transport (cold chain logistics) from Massey Uni to create a Welly company.
Te Rua is one of the most sophisticated digital twin models ever deployed in the Southern Hemisphere. This '“allowed architects, engineers and contractors to coordinate every element before work began on site” and reportedly led to an 80% emission reduction 👏
Rule #2 - Understand Your Environment
Friend of the Show Peter Griffin interviews Satya Nadella. Kind of a big deal!
NZ women tested the RSV vaccine – now they can’t get it is Eric Crampton’s take on the regulatory, errr… situation in New Zealand today. We can innovate but we cannot deploy our innovation. Put your public outreach hats on.
What’s it like hunting for a job in a Wellington tech company? by Creative HQ.
Also by Creative HQ, all the cool kid groups you can get involved with in Welly.
MBIE is pausing the 2026 Endeavour Fund contestable round and granting 12-month extensions to 64 “high-performing” projects from the current pool.
We’re not actively choosing an AI future, we’re just clicking accept writes Alexander Richter of UoA on Newsroom (free article).
The India FTA is now signed: no tariffs on 95% of New Zealand's exports to India. This means cross-border services, talent flow, and more useful provisions for our research and tech sectors.
Google unveils their eighth generation TPUs to compete with NVIDIA in the inference and agentic AI market. Blackwell cards seems to have surged 60% since release, so that’s some welcome competition!
AI, hyperscalers and NIMBYs: the real power and water backlash explained, opinion on Business Desk.
Reactions to the science system overhaul keep coming in. I’ve still to find a sanguine one. Buy your scientist friend a beer this week.
Rule #3 - Nothing Falls Thru The Gaps
KiwiNet is accepting entries for the 2026 Research Commercialisation Awards.
I just have a paper to link to right now, but the promise of a VUW on Chitosan-based biodegradable piezoelectric films is pretty yuge. This is a way to crack the coatings that enable sensors to sense out of a set of environmentally iffy materials (fluoropolymers).
If your work entails “innovations and achievements in New Zealand’s natural and built environment” why not nominate for a RICS Award?
If you’re in the data centre game, wild times ahead: Climate Commission warns carbon prices could spike by 2028.
Some good coverage on the good fight against FIS’ action against Montoux.
What Founders Want monthly for April is in.
Dave Shoemack reflects on six years with Goodnature.
Critical Signals will be back for 2026.
Women in Health Tech NZ introduces Wellington speakers.
Reminders:
Come to TEDxVUW! Nine speakers and plenty of time to chat with them over the course of the afternoon and evening. Promo codes VICUNI gets Vic students 40% off; TEDX26 gets everybody 20% off the Cable Car ride.
Applications to MBIE’s New Zealand–China Strategic Research Alliance 2026 round open on 4 May.
Rule #4 - Get Inspired, Meet the Locals
Highlighted entries are new from last week.
Coming week:
Wed Apr 29th, 5–7:30pm, Aurora Climate Lab launch at Creative HQ.
Thu Apr 30th, 5pm, Network on Your Terms by Powrsuit and Wāhine Fuelled Tech.
Thu Apr 30th, 4.30–6.30pm, Biotech ‘n’ Beers at Garage Project (Leeds St).
Fri May 1st, 4-5.30pm, Gen AI and copyright is the next part of the AI and Society series at Rutherford House.
Sat May 2nd, TEDxVUW, with a theme of THRESHOLD, hosted at Victoria in Kelburn. Still a few tickets left!
Fri 1st to Sun 3rd May, VESA Hackathon at The Atom.
Coming eight weeks:
Mon May 4th, 5:30–7:30pm, May the Fourth be with you so you can get great at Gathering humans effectively.
Tue May 5th, 4:30pm–7:30pm, Photonics: The Two-Way Street by Te Whai Ao Dodd-Walls, hosted at BNZ.
Wed May 6th, AI and Creativity Summit, Wellington edition at Datacom.
May 7th–8th, ANZ Digital Twin 2026 somewhere in Wellington.
Thu May 7th, R Exchange 2026 for open-source data science enthusiasts at the National Library.
Tue May 12th, Digital Health Leadership Forum at the InterContinental.
May 12th–14th, DrupalSouth Wellington 2026 at Harbourside. We have five free passes to the Industry Connect event on the 13th, see above.
Tue May 12th, 8:30am–6:30pm, Gloves off – Getting Serious with AI for SaaS businesses by Taiawa and NZTE, at Rutherford House.
Tue May 12th, 5:30–8pm, NetTalks Te Whanganui-a-Tara promises short talks with big impact.
Thu May 14th, 5:15–7:30pm, AI for Good New Zealand at The Atom—Interested in speaking? Register your interest here.
Thu May 14th, 5:30–7:30pm, AI for Good - Wellington at The Atom
Fri May 15th, 7:30–9:30am, The CEO Table gathers eight people under Chatham House Rule on the theme of People Intelligence.
Fri May 15th, NZ Tech Rally brings all devs together at Tākina.
Mon 18th to Sun 24th May, Techweek26 all over Welly.
Fri May 22nd, 1–4:30pm, Seeds Impact Conference 2026 will be online, with Entrepreneurship as a focus area for positive change.
Fri May 22nd, 4-5.30pm Morally Repugnant AI? An Alternative Lens for Predicting The Future of Work (AI and Society series) at Rutherford House.
Tue May 19th, 12–6pm, Hutt Valley Manufacturing & Innovation Expo.
The May 21st, 2–7pm, Movac Growth Jam Epic Fails Edition at Public Trust Hall.
Recurring events:
The Atom at Victoria is open for any unfunded Founders (Students, Early Stage, Idea Stage) and is run by Entrepreneur in Residence, Parisa Shademan - 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 Mar 8am, Kapiti Start-Up Network Meet-Ups
Fridays (every other), 27th Mar 5pm, Founders Meet Up at Southern Cross hosted by Jack Shennan, Alistair St Pierre and Adiraj Gupta.