M\u0101ori entrepreneurs are behind some of New Zealand’s most innovative companies, from fintech firm BlinkPay to fusion energy startup OpenStar.<\/p>\n
But those behind the Tupu Accelerator say creating the next generation of high-growth M\u0101ori businesses will require backing founders much earlier in their journey.<\/p>\n
“I’ve sat in the venture capital space as an investor for years, and I would often ask, ‘Where are all the M\u0101ori founders?'” programme lead Te P\u016boho Katene said.<\/p>\n
“We don’t think it’s an innovation problem. It’s an access question that we’re stepping in to solve.”<\/p>\n
The Tupu Accelerator is an eight-week programme designed to connect M\u0101ori founders with experienced entrepreneurs, investors and mentors, while helping them navigate the challenges of building a startup.<\/p>\n
The Tupu Accelerator programme connects M\u0101ori entrepreneurs with investors and mentors. (Source: BNZ Business Breakfast)<\/p>\n
Katene said many participants had never had the opportunity to work alongside other founders facing similar challenges.<\/p>\n
“For a lot of them, it’s the first chance they’ve had to sit side by side with people who understand the loneliness, the uncertainty and the stress of building a business,” he said.<\/p>\n
Among those founders is Renei Kingi, who joined the programme before launching her wellness company, Bhone Beauty.<\/p>\n
She said the accelerator gave her access to networks and knowledge that would otherwise have taken years to build.<\/p>\n
“Tupu really helped demystify that investment world, helping me understand the mindset of an investor,” Kingi said.<\/p>\n
“Those connections may have taken years to access otherwise.”<\/p>\n
The morning\u2019s headlines in 90 seconds include wild weather in the South Island, China’s missile testing in the Pacific and Donald Trump’s interference with the FIFA world cup. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n
She said the programme also changed the way she thought about growing her business.<\/p>\n
“Tupu took me from thinking small and safe to thinking about how we can win big.”<\/p>\n
While investment is an important part of building a startup, Kingi said the biggest benefit was becoming part of a wider community of founders.<\/p>\n
“It’s all about having that ecosystem around you to really bring that success,” she said.<\/p>\n
Katene believes the benefits of supporting M\u0101ori entrepreneurship extend well beyond individual businesses.<\/p>\n
“We see entrepreneurship as a key pathway to grow economic resilience,” he said.<\/p>\n
“When M\u0101ori businesses do well, they hire more M\u0101ori, they’re investing locally and we’re helping communities take control of their own futures.”<\/p>\n
The programme’s organisers hope that by improving access to capital, connections and mentorship, more M\u0101ori founders will be able to build businesses capable of competing on the global stage.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"M\u0101ori entrepreneurs are behind some of New Zealand’s most innovative companies, from fintech firm BlinkPay to fusion energy…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":683243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[84,4203,158732,162384,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-683242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entrepreneurship","tag-business","tag-entrepreneurship","tag-maori-issues","tag-ohanga","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=683242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/683242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/683243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=683242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=683242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=683242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}