One of the great things about being based in Silicon Valley is seeing all the amazing global start-ups that have chosen to call this place ‘home’. That’s at least how the local media see it. Time then to re-wind. Even though I am surrounded by over 350 tech start-ups and a highly motivated and energetic group of entrepreneurs here at [...]
This morning, I joined Steve Saunders for brunch in San Francisco. Steve is founder of The Plus Group of companies, based at the horticulture innovation hub that is Newnham Park. These companies operate at the cutting edge of best practices and new technology, offering everything from advanced orchard management, to soil health analysis and pollination services. There is also a [...]
Last night I joined Mayor Celia Wade Brown and a delegation from both Wellington and San Francisco for dinner. The purpose of the gathering was to discuss developing connections between Wellington and San Francisco with the purpose of progressing a sister city relationship. Last month, I was invited by Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) to join a lunch [...]
It was great to see yesterday’s Bay of Plenty Times confirm the line-up of speakers for this year’s TEDx Tauranga. I know the enormous effort and time that Sheldon and the organising team go into making this event the success it is. This year’s line-up reflects that passion. Sadly, I am for the third year running, going to be out [...]
I was not too sure how to introduce Simon. His list of ministerial portfolios is rather long. I chose therefore the easiest option, ‘Simon Bridges, elected Member of Parliament for Tauranga and Minister with a large portfolio of ministerial responsibilities’. Simon shot back that that epitaph (the Ministerial bit) belonged to his colleague, Steven Joyce. Touché. Hon Simon Bridges [...]
Of all the Wharf42 highlights of the past year, the announcement by Steven Joyce, New Zealand ICT Minister, that WNT Ventures had been selected as one of Callaghan Innovation's three new Technology-focused incubators back in July, was a standout achievement. The selection was the result of six months intense collaboration with our fellow Bay of Plenty-based innovation partners, Newnham Park [...]
As we continue to focus on Wharf42's highlights of the year, we check out the partnership announcement we first posted back in June with Venture Centre and Plenty of Innovation . This announcement was a great illustration of just how far the Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty entrepreneurial ecosystem had developed over the previous eighteen months. Today, the Instigator [...]
I am spending the next three days in Auckland. When Wharf42 announced the launch of the Meteoroid Program earlier this month, one of the key aims was to set up conversations with a number of potential stakeholders. Over the next three days, I therefore have 16 meetings lined up. This includes two breakfast meetings, two lunch meetings and two dinners. [...]
Applications close at 5.00pm on 30 November 2014 WNT Ventures is looking for an energetic professional with a strong science or engineering background who can build long term relationships with New Zealand Universities, Crown Research Institutes and other research organizations and identify and evaluate IP and novel technologies with commercial potential. WNT Ventures is one three new technology-focused incubators for [...]
WNT Ventures is looking for an energetic professional with a strong science or engineering background who can build long term relationships with New Zealand Universities, Crown Research Institutes and other research organizations and identify and evaluate IP and novel technologies with commercial potential. WNT Ventures is one three new technology-focused incubators for high growth early stage firms that will be [...]
