A record number of entrants were received in 2017, with entries up 30 percent from last year. They also came from far-flung areas around New Zealand, from the far North (Kaitaia) all the way down to the far South (Invercargill).

Crowds of people gathered across Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington last night to hear the finalists announced for the awards.

Chair of the Hi-Tech Trust Wayne Norrie says the breadth and quality of entries shows the hi-tech industry is in great shape in New Zealand.

“This year’s finalists span the full spectrum of the hi-tech sector and the country,” Norrie says.

“It’s great to see so many areas of the country represented. Some amazing new companies have made an appearance in the 2017 Awards and it’s so exciting to see so many entries in the Start-Up and Young Achiever categories.”

Local judges will be joined by a bevvy of international judges that include Gary Hamel, one of the world’s most influential business thinkers, founder of Savvy Millennial Savannah Peterson and former Xero chief marketing officer Andy Lark.

In 2016, video and virtual reality were a key theme to emerge out of the awards, as winning companies included cloud video creation platform 90 seconds for most innovative company, CEO of digital-engineering studio Rush Digital Danushka Abeysuriya for Hi-Tech Young Achiever (see Idealog’s profile on Danu here) and movie marketing company Movio for Innovative Hi-Tech Software Product.

The 2017 finalists vary in industries, from cloud payment software companies, to an eco-friendly wastewater treatment company, to a crowdfunding platform.

Check out the full list of 2017 finalists below:

PwC Hi-Tech Company of the Year

• ARANZ Geo
• Invenco
• Pushpay Holdings
• Serko
• Vend
• Xero 

Coretex Hi-Tech Emerging Company of the Year

• Figured
• Harmoney
• Link Engine Management
• SilverStripe
• Timely

New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF) Hi-Tech Start-Up Company of the Year

• AskNicely
• Dexibit
• Latipay
• Performance Lab
• homes.co.nz

IBM Most Innovative Company 

• Auror
• Pushpay
• RedShield Security
• Simplicity

Callaghan Innovation Maori Innovation Award

• Biolytix
• Navilluso
• Origins Software
• Pango Productions

Duncan Cotterill Innovative Hi-Tech Software Product

• Auror
• Moxion
• RedShield Security
• Spotlight Reporting

Kiwibank Hi-Tech Innovative Services Award

• EROAD
• MyBitcoinSaver
• Navilluso Medical
• RedShield Security
• Snowball Effect

Endace Innovative Hi-Tech Hardware Product

• Adherium
• DARC Technologies
• EROAD
• Shotover Camera Systems 

Quick Circuit Innovative Hi-Tech Mobile Product

• beweb
• oDocs Eye Care
• Motim Technologies

NZTE Innovative Agritech Product

• Compac
• Figured
• PPP Industries
• StockX

Xero Hi-Tech Young Achiever

• Aleisha Amohia
• Jamie Beaton
• Kendall Flutey
• Aleisha Staples

ATEED Best technology for the Creative Sector

• Dexibit
• Moxion
• Shotover Camera Systems
• Shuttlerock

Qual IT Best technology for the Public Sector

• Auror
• Dexibit
• EROAD
• Orion Health

Winners will be announced at the 2017 awards night, which will be held at the ANZ Viaduct Events Centre in Auckland on 12 May.