Te Ōhaka Centre for Innovation & Growth

20/02/2023

A few weeks ago founders in the Ministry of Awesome startup community and faculty at Ara Institute of Canterbury came together for a matchmaking session to learn about ways we can connect learners, researchers and startups to collaborate through two innovative programmes: Research Hub and Springboard.

This week our startups are finalising their project pitches and we're about to see some cool collaborations kick off between tertiary and commercial innovators. Learn more about how we're working with Ara | Te Pūkenga to spur productivity.

Read more:
http://ow.ly/tieV50MWAKo

22/12/2022

2022 has been a rewarding year with incredible victories from our Founder Catalyst Incubatees. This wouldn't have been possible without the support and guidance from our global network of mentors, advisors, experts-in-residence, and guest speakers. Here are some highlights that made this year successful!

16/12/2022

A big thank to Dave Allison at Angel HQ for spending your valuable time to help our startups in a Virtual Office Hours. Your input helps our founders augment their fundraising readiness.

Virtual Office Hours are just one of the many ways startup teams in Ministry of Awesome's Founder Catalyst incubator build a stronger business model, go-to-market strategy, and find product-market fit. Our Winter cohort is starting soon - if you want to apply and get your startup going on a strong footing, apply at https://lnkd.in/gkhSEgTn

Ministry of Awesome Ara Institute of Canterbury Callaghan Innovation ChristchurchNZ

13/12/2022

Love seeing our incubator startups land government contracts to trial their innovations.

Congrats to Shutl for being selected by Hon Michael Wood and the Ministry of Transport as a successful applicant for Hoe ki angitū, Waka Kotahi's Innovation Fund. Shutl will receive almost $300k to verify their e-bike subscription service in Christchurch before launching nationwide in 2023.

Follow us to learn more ways that startups in our incubator, accelerator and other founder-focused programmes are advancing their ventures and bringing kiwi innovation to the world.

Ministry of Awesome Ara Institute of Canterbury Callaghan Innovation ChristchurchNZ

12/12/2022

Check out our alumni, Partly, scoring the giant raise! Biggest series A in NZ history. Wowzers!

This incredible team is a knowledge-based venture that will soon be one of our country’s unicorns helping to sustainably grow our economy and attract more talent and investment to the NZ high-growth startup ecosystem. Congratulations team! We're so proud of what you are building!

Startup tackles a simple-sounding but actually fiendishly tricky problem.

11/12/2022

Don't feel like eating out but love dishes created by a professional in the kitchen? One of the many cool companies in our incubator is looking to solve this culinary conundrum.

Meez is an online marketplace with ambitions to transform the food and hospitality industry founded by Arthur Crawford and Joe Scott. They want to give the best chefs and restaurants in New Zealand a platform to sell finish-at-home meals and other food and beverage products to customers nationwide.

Founders like Arthur and Joe are learning how to build strong, robust business models and achieve scale through our incubation programme. We enroll a new cohort of innovators every quarter and applications are now being accepted for our summer cohort. (Link to apply in the comments below!)

Follow us to see what else is cooking for the many startups across New Zealand participating in Ministry of Awesome's Founder Catalyst incubation programme.

Ara Institute of Canterbury Callaghan Innovation ChristchurchNZ

09/12/2022

Looking for a sugar free snack that's keto, diabetic and coeliac friendly? QB's Crunchy Cheese are one of the 30 innovative kiwi companies partaking in our incubator for high-growth startups. QB Snacks was a winner in our 2022 Foodstarter challenge and now is working to scale up.

What was the inspiration for founders Graham Manson & Sonya Thomson? They wanted to make a tasty, low-carbohydrate snack that would work with his keto diet. QB’s Crunchy Cheese is a tasty, crunchy snack with no sugar. It is gluten-free and low in carbs therefore a great option for the 100,000 coeliacs and 250,000 diabetics in New Zealand too. Bonus fact: Their packaging is home-compostable and also made in NZ! (Photo Edited)

Follow us for more posts about what's happening at the Founder Catalyst NZ incubator.
Thank you to our partners
ChristchurchNZ Ara Institute of Canterbury Callaghan Innovation

28/11/2022

Introducing Alimentary Systems Ltd (ASL), a engineering biotechnology startup, focusing on organic waste management solutions. ASL’s proprietary technology intersects life sciences, process engineering and automation. This cutting-edge system, called an intelligent Integrated Waste Treatment Plant (iIWTP), also contains an application layer, which allows real-time data monitoring and informatics. Currently, ASL is engaged in raising capital to build a world-first technology demonstrator (TRL8) of an iIWTP in Aotearoa, ahead of full-scale commercial deployment.

Ara Institute of Canterbury Callaghan Innovation ChristchurchNZ

24/11/2022

Check out this amazing deal from Myovolt, a startup apart of the Founder Catalyst Incubation programme. Grab a Black Friday deal and enjoy 30% off all Wearable Vibration Therapy products. Rehab technology for muscle soreness and stiffness relief anytime, anywhere.
https://myovolt.com/shop-wearable-recovery-products

Ministry of Awesome Ara Institute of Canterbury Callaghan Innovation ChristchurchNZ

24/11/2022

Meet Circlr one of the startups apart of the Founder Catalyst Incubation Programme. Founded by Sara Smeath and Chris Saunders, CiRCLR helps businesses reduce waste going to landfill by connecting them with businesses that could use their waste as a resource. Using blockchain CiRCLR creates a record traceability for waste reduction and rescued product life cycles, providing valuable data for businesses to report and demonstrate their environmental and social impact. CiRCLR makes building circular economies simple and hopes to be the new norm in the way businesses get rid of their waste.

Visit https://circlr.nz/ to learn more.

Ara Institute of Canterbury Callaghan Innovation ChristchurchNZ