The first few weeks of 2015 have seen a lot of Wharf42’s time spent on building out the Meteoroid Program. It’s perhaps time though to reflect on some of the context of this activity in terms of the growing central north island entrepreneurial ecosystem. Last year, a number of posts to this blog focused on the success achieved by securing [...]
Last night, I joined a group of Enterprise Angel members and friends at the ‘Angel at my Table’ event at the Tauranga Art Gallery. We were joined by a number of participants taking part in the upcoming Startup Weekend Tauranga. It was a cool gathering. Earlier in the day, I had had the opportunity to spend a couple of hours [...]
Over the past twelve months, the world of angel investment has begun to transform. I have personally witnessed this when talking to angel networks in Silicon Valley. I have also seen similar developments much closer to home. Let’s consider these first and then look at some of the emerging trends. In the Bay of Plenty, Enterprise Angels have just launched [...]
Over the past four years, I have watched, at close quarters, the day to day activities of many of the angel and venture capital networks that make up Silicon Valley. At the Plug and Play Tech Center in Sunnyvale, it was hard to miss them. On the top floor, by the executive team’s offices, sits the Angel and VC Pavilion. [...]
Wharf42 is pleased to announce that it has partnered with VentureCentre and Plenty of Innovation to support the early stage startup training programme; Instigator. VentureCentre is an organisation newly created in Tauranga, Bay of Plenty. Its goal is to connect the people, places, tools, resources, knowledge and support needed for sustainable success. It is the start of a project that [...]
In earlier related posts, I have talked about the role of Local Government and the role of a University in helping build an entrepreneurial eco-system in Tauranga and the wider Bay of Plenty. Today, I am focusing on the role of the investment community and how it too can play a key supporting role. Once again, please note the emphasis. [...]
Last week, I posted a blog entitled, ‘Can Tauranga Replicate Boulder?’ Part of the inspiration for the article has come from Brad Feld’s book, ‘Startup Communities: Building an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem in your City’. "Startup communities" are popping up everywhere, from cities like Boulder and Boston and countries ranging from Israel to Iceland. These types of entrepreneurial ecosystems are driving innovation [...]
