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Home / Venture  / Say hello to K?kiri, the new accelerator for M?ori start-ups

Say hello to K?kiri, the new accelerator for M?ori start-ups

Callaghan Innovation and Te W?nanga o Aotearoa have teamed up with Creative HQ, Robett Hollis, Crowe Horwath and Ernst & Young Tahi to create K?kiri, a unique business accelerator dedicated to speeding up the development of M?ori businesses.

Ten promising, young start-ups from across Aotearoa have been selected to participate in the four-month K?kiri programme, based at Te W?nanga o Aotearoa’s Mangak?tukutuku campus in Hamilton. As part of the programme, K?kiri participants will receive education, funding, mentoring, networking opportunities and engagement with leading business, with the programme running until June.

Te W?nanga o Aotearoa innovation development group director Aisha Ross says prominent business figures will provide intensive mentoring and insights for those participating in K?kiri.

“The industry figures we are engaging with on this programme have been selected because of their experience in delivering successful and recognised business accelerator programmes. They also have a track record of successfully engaging with M?ori participants.”

Ross says the aims of K?kiri align with Te W?nanga o Aotearoa’s mission of tauira success, and adds that Te W?nanga o Aotearoa is the optimal provider for the programme because it has already produced hundreds of small business graduates who have established successful businesses.

Callaghan Innovation – which supports a number of accelerator programmes helping start-ups with the tools, networks, and capabilities they need to turn their idea into a commercial reality – is also pretty thrilled to be able to assist, at least as start-up manager Elena Higgison tells it. “Lots of people have great ideas, but commercialising those ideas and getting them to market is the difficult part,” she says. “K?kiri is unique because it incorporates M?ori values and principles into a business accelerator programme. Here success is defined more broadly than merely attracting investment or growing a business to a point where it can be sold for a profit. Success can also involve nurturing a sustainable business that brings income into a community or employs local people. We think that’s fantastic.”

Ross says K?kiri also recognises that M?ori have strong links to place, which may have been a barrier to participation in mainstream accelerators. “Instead of being based full-time at Te W?nanga o Aotearoa, the entrepreneurs can remain in their regions and travel in once a month for intensive on-site sessions. That way they can carry on with their wh?nau responsibilities and their keep their local community connections while on the accelerator.”

K?kiri is an initiative funded through the M?ori Innovation Fund, in support of the Enterprise pou of He kai kei aku ringa, the Crown-M?ori economic development strategy.

So that’s that. Let’s meet the 10 businesses selected for K?kiri, shall we?

Akudos (Whangarei, Auckland)

Akudos is a cloud-based awards management system designed to streamline the awards process from beginning to end. It has key pilot customers secured for 2018, and its goals stretch far beyond Aotearoa.

Arataki Systems (Tauranga)

Arataki Systems builds solutions that provide unique cultural, geographical, environmental and historical information for people “in location.” Arataki enables users to receive information about sites of cultural significance using a custom mobile application and proximity technology. It currently has an operational system at Mauao and Mt Maunganui with 350+ platform downloads – and no marketing.

Biome (Christchurch)

Biome turns didymo, the pest algae, into high-end fashion materials. These high-quality materials are produced sustainably and strive to improve the New Zealand environment. They are made in sheets, which creates zero waste in production, whilst also providing customers with a range of colours, textures, and patterns.

Hikurangi Enterprises (Ruatoria)

Hikurangi Enterprises is researching bioactive extracts from plants, shellfish, and fungi to develop new medical and health products. It will be the first to take a New Zealand-grown medical cannabis product to clinical trials.

MovingPros (Tauranga, Auckland)

MovingPros makes it easy to compare multiple moving quotes from one place. They aspire to create a $1 billion business by helping to solve the transport and shipping inefficiencies in the residential moving space within New Zealand and globally. MovingPros has a committed network of 120+ moving companies across New Zealand, and have serviced more than 6,500 moving requests since launching.

MYREO (Huntly)

The goal is to provide M?ori millennials with the digital tools and resources they need to learn, practice and grow in Te Reo M?ori. MYREO is creating a series of bilingual digital games and software targeted at school-aged students, but accessible to everyone, in a range of subjects including programming, data sorting, artificial intelligence, math, mythology, history and other STEM subjects. Kiwicode is a bilingual programming education game developed for Aotearoa’s education market. MYREO are also working on a tourism and marketing application and sporting registration app for two M?ori organisations.

Origins Software – ApiTrak (Whakat?ne)

ApiTrak is the first product from Origins Software. It is a cloud-based platform that provides complete visibility of the honey supply chain from land to consumer. Origins have created a digital platform that enhances product data management that is a GS1 compliant “land-to-jar” traceability solution, combining leading-edge technology with user-friendly interfaces. It minimises the opportunity for manipulation of honey data, simplifies disease management and increases food safety compliance.

Papa Taiao Earthcare (Wellington)

Papa Taiao has the vision to become a pan-Iwi youth enterprise enabler. Papa Taiao Earthcare works with rangatahi across Aotearoa and across iwi to guide them into a life focused on social, ecological, economic and cultural regeneration through enterprise in rural and urban communities.

SeeCom (Hamilton)

SeeCom provides sign language education programmes and resources to facilitate multiple communities who benefit from “hands-on” learning. SeeCom is prototyping the world’s first digital interactive sign language game, a virtual game-based experience of learning sign language through means of interaction and movements in front of digital screens. This technology enhancement will track arm, body, hand and finger movements and sense the smallest movements.

The Realness (Auckland)

The Realness is a new way to find owner-operated eateries without having to rely on review sites, advertising platforms, personal option sites, magazines and mainstream media. In a world where money or media can determine who is found first on Google, Demaris is creating a level playing field for owner-operators within the food industry and beyond.

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