It’s been a few weeks now since Emirates Team New Zealand won the America’s Cup. A lot was said at the time about the technology and innovation the team developed and put together to win back the Auld Mug. From the cyclors and foil design, to the remote controlled wingsail, spectators and commentators were in awe of how “brave” the team were to not just think outside the square, but to come up with a totally different shape entirely. All of this with nowhere near the sort of money and funding that the other teams had.
This sort of innovative thinking on a relative penny and dime budget is not something new to Kiwis, the Number 8 wire mentality is something of which we are rightfully proud. What most New Zealanders don’t realise though, is how successful our technology sector is, and sometimes it takes someone from the outside to come in and highlight it for us.
Recently, Garage Technology Ventures’ managing director Bill Reichert spent four weeks in New Zealand as entrepreneur in residents at AUT. He travelled around the country, met with start-ups and produced an Innovation Report on what he found.
Reichert is a renowned member of the technology community in Silicon Valley. As an entrepreneur, venture capitalist, mentor, speaker and advisor, he has been in the industry for decades and understands innovation and what it takes to build a successful tech venture.
He found New Zealand a surprising home of innovation with some clever, talented minds at the helm of some exciting businesses. While there is room for improvement within the innovation space, there were 10 businesses that really impressed him with their products and execution.