Hey everybody,
Welcome to the first of three instalments of WellyForge: Holiday edition 🏖 To be clear, I’m the one definitely on holiday. If you are hard at work, thanks for holding down the fort!
I am stunned by the breadth of the wins category this week, all kinds of useful and impressive. I’ve been talking to friends and family in Athens this week. The city is going through its own startup renaissance, but it’s quite focussed here, even with a population close to all of Aotearoa. Keep it groovy, Wellington🕺
Rule #1 - Celebrate the Wins
Five of twelve NZ finalists for the Startup World Cup are based in Welly 😎 nicely done Evithe, PAM, Feijoa, Bspkl, and Delightable!
Phil&teds' Mountain Buggy nano urban stroller won 'Best Lightweight Stroller for All Terrains' in the Best of The Bump Awards (USA) 🐥
More accolades for OpenStar, with CEO Ratu Mataira shortlisted in BusinessDesk's CEO Index.
Excellence in Technology and Innovation is just the ticket here, nicely done Pertronic for tackling a sticky industry problem 🔥
The Royal Society Te Apārangi welcomed 13 new Companions, five with strong Welly ties: Congratulations Drs Gill Jolly, Dave Lowe, Rob Murdoch, Prof Ian Town, and friend of the show Peter Griffin 🤝
Rule #2 - Understand Your Environment
Two industry rep summaries to start: BioTechNZ highlights that strong local scientific research continues to face headwinds from slow regulatory and commercial pathways. FinTechNZ notes the momentum in open finance, new AI working groups, and incoming regulatory structures.
There was a lot of fun and games and amazing Tech on display at last week’s Aurora Climate Tech Summit, congratulations to our friends at Creative HQ ✨ One take that piqued my interest was Michelle Polglase’s juxtaposition of Cullbeck's $20 million raise with the winding down of Ara Ake.
Structural Reform, three ways:
Datacom’s Greg Davidson calls for urgent policy focus and local capital deployment toward domestic data and AI sovereignty—get your election bingo cards!
Chris Keal and Maya Pan see system-wide structural reform necessary across our public services to support New Zealand's startup ecosystem.
Skepticism remains among many academics about the deep structural reforms to the science sector, including the idea of “pillars”. Anyone who’s worked in corporate has gagged as an exec annunciated that word with deep conviction. But: while a business can pivot six months in, these generational science system reforms need to choose ‘em pillars wisely.
From across the Tasman, a note on talent and the future of work. The 2026 Hatch Hotlist (2,000 young professionals, 300 companies) shows a Gen Z cohort optimistic about AI adoption (given clear expectations), and no slow-down in hiring juniors. That’s a couple of scary notions dispelled in one survey 📜
Rule #3 - Nothing Falls Thru The Gaps
Exchange platform Catalist is gauging wholesale investor interest ahead of offering a secondary share parcel in Sharesies.
“Our grads are three times less likely than the global average to want to start a company” according to a new global report that polls university graduates and their intention to get a job or start their own thing. I would need to consult with an economist and a sociologist before I can presume to understand how that plays out across all the cultures and economic circumstances represented in the report. But it does seem odd that we would be so close to the bottom🕴
There is a second cohort of Presenting Wisdom open for registration. The objective is to “craft a powerful talk & a speaker reel that sells”.
Sphere New Zealand partnered with Energy Tech Summit Asia to establish a dedicated Kiwi innovation presence at this year's summit in Kuala Lumpur. Get in touch with them if you’re on the energy and climate side.
Rule #4 - Get Inspired, Meet the Locals
Highlighted entries are new from last week.
Coming week:
Wed, Aug 5th, 7-7:45pm, The changing landscape of allergic disease research and treatment by immunology legends Franca Ronchese and Maia Brewerton, online.
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, but no info on the page yet ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Tue, Aug 11th, Digital Trust Hui Taumata at Te Papa.
Tue, Aug 11th, The CEO Table gathers eight leaders under Chatham House Rule to discuss the topic of ‘Governing for the Future: Rethinking the purpose of boards inside growing New Zealand businesses’.
Coming eight weeks:
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.
Thu, Aug 13th, 12–1.30pm, Westpac Smarts: Beyond the AI Hype by Business Central and Welly Chamber, hosted by Asa Cox.
Thu, Aug 13th, 4.30–7pm, WNT in Wellington - Deep Tech Mixer in Kelburn.
Fri, Aug 14th, 2–4pm, GTM Engineering: automate, scale, win by KiwiSaaS.
Wed, Aug 19, 12:30pm, AI and digital transformation in Allied Health Scientific and Technical webinar by Health Informatics NZ.
Aug 24–25, GEN NZ Unconference and Workshops at Rutherford House. I’ll post more about this soon 🙂
Tue, Aug 25th, 7:15–8:30am, Beehive to Business session six by Chamber of Commerce.
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.
Mon, Sep 14th, 5–7pm, Summer of Tech Intern Job Fair at Hnry Stadium ✨
Thu, Sep 24th, SaaSpocalypse Now at Hnry Stadium, Aotearoa’s premier SaaS gathering, hosted by KiwiSaaS.
Much later:
Fri, May 7th 2027, NZ Tech Rally on a Super Early Bird launch.
Recurring events:
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.
Mondays 8–9am, Atom Founder Mentoring online.
Weds 12–1pm, Atom Founder Support drop-in hour.
Thursdays (every other) at 8am, Kapiti Start-Up Network meetups.
Fridays (every other) at 5pm, Wellington ENTrepreneur meetup at Southern Cross.