NZTech Inform – celebrating local tech

In case you didn’t catch it in the news, last week, Wellington based Weta Digital sold their digital business unit to Unity (the platform used by game developers throughout the world) for NZ$2.3 billion! This is yet another proof point that high value tech is being made in New Zealand and follows several recent exits including; 

• Christchurch based Seequent, geoscience big data analysis software, $1.05 billion
• Dunedin based Education Perfect education technology leader, $435 million
• Cloud based retail point of sale system, Vend, $455 million
• Mobile gaming firm, Ninja Kiwi, $203 million
• and last year, Transaction Global Services (now called Xplor), a transaction and business management software system for gyms and child care, for over $1 billion.

These investments in New Zealand tech firms are a sign of a healthy and growing domestic tech ecosystem. As firms grow and ownership changes, investment flows back into the ecosystem stimulating a faster rate of new development and job creation. Check out Scale-Up for the latest data on investments in New Zealand tech firms.

It is almost time for entries into next year’s Hi-Tech Awards, the time we all come together each year to celebrate these successes. Join Morris Pita, previous winner of Hi-Tech Kamupene Māori o te Tau, plus Sir Ian Taylor and Grant Straker at a free virtual Q&A session on 9 December. The 45 minute kōrero will highlight the benefits of entering and provide useful how-to advice, including which category to enter.

Meanwhile, this week we are focusing on the many opportunities to contribute to the Government process and have a say. We are currently working on the following submissions. If any of these are important for you please share your views:

Electricity and tech – Electricity Industry Amendment Bill (17 November)
Cybersecurity policy – National Security Long-term Insights (18 November)
Participatory democracy – DIA Long-term Insights – Participatory Democracy (18 November)

Then, the next opportunities include:
Emissions Reduction Plan (24 November)
Digital Identity Trust Framework (2 December)

Stay well.

Ngā mihi,

Graeme Muller
CEO
NZTech