Q: How long have you been CEO at Creative HQ?

A: I’ve been at Creative HQ for six-and-a-half years now and in the Chief Executive role for the last four-and-a-half. Being part of an organisation with such a strong track record of impact over the past 20 years is a joy and a privilege.

Q: What does your role involve?

A: As CEO, my role is to provide strategic direction and leadership to ensure Creative HQ continues to deliver high-impact programmes that support startups and innovators to unleash their potential.

This is important because we’re helping to shape the future of the New Zealand economy.

Creative HQ’s strategy is aligned with the UpStart Nation report presented to Government late last year. This report states that Aotearoa requires 5,000 active, thriving, high-growth startups by 2030 to drive our economy on a global stage. Creative HQ’s goal is to enable 400 of these.

Tech companies are fast becoming the biggest export sector for our nation, and the entrepreneurs and intrapreneurs who will build these companies are everywhere. They live within public and private sectors, universities, and Crown Research Institutes; and they have expertise in sectors such as engineering, manufacturing, agriculture, tourism, education, space, and medicine.

Our expertise lies in teaching them to be entrepreneurs – helping them turn their ideas into scalable and investable businesses. In doing so, they create better economic, environmental, cultural and social outcomes for us all.

At a B2B level, my team spends a lot of time helping organisations create a culture of innovation that is appropriate for the size and type of organisation we are working with, as well as building capability within existing members of that organisation to be able to innovate.

Unlike traditional consultants who will come in and do that work for a business, our speciality is teaching a team to become capable to innovate without us. We know we’ve done our job well when a customer tells us they don’t need us anymore.

I am fortunate to work with an incredible team who form deep, impactful relationships with our customers throughout this process.

Q: How is the Climate Response Accelerator going?

A: Our 2024 Climate Response Accelerator has been hugely successful. We have nine ambitious startups graduating from this 12-week programme. They are working on groundbreaking innovations in areas like renewable energy, sustainable food production, and emissions reduction.

From my conversations with the founders, they are getting immense value from the mentorship, coaching, and access to industry experts. We’re excited to see the impact these ventures will have.

One of the unique aspects of this accelerator is the opportunity for one startup to secure a $100,000 investment from our partner Motion Capital at our showcase event on 20 June. Motion Capital is a hands-on venture fund founded by Lachlan Nixon, who is a former participant in a Creative HQ accelerator.

Having alumni like Lachlan reinvest their time and capital into the next generation of startups is so powerful because it demonstrates the strength and function of the ecosystem we’ve built.

There are a lot of people extending the ladder down to the next generation of entrepreneurs in this hugely important sector for our economy.

Q: What is interest like for this development?

A: There has been strong interest and engagement from the startup ecosystem and the wider industry in the Climate Response Accelerator. Climate tech is an important area of innovation right now, and people recognise the need to support startups working on climate solutions. We’ve had fantastic backing from our partners, who see the value of this and our other accelerators.

Callaghan Innovation recently released its 2024 CleanTech report. That sector is on the brink of rapid expansion. Currently, the New Zealand cleantech sector comprises over 130 companies, with at least $535 million in private investment.

Companies are aiming to raise $440 million by March 2025 and projecting a 29% revenue growth rate between 2023 and 2024. This means new jobs for New Zealanders and the attraction of offshore investment into Kiwi companies.

Q: Over 20 years, what has Creative HQ achieved…you seem to have a remarkable track record with businesses?

A: Over the past 20 years, Creative HQ has supported over 400 startups which have collectively raised $340 million in capital and are now valued at over $1.3 billion. Importantly, these startups have created over 1,300 jobs.

Beyond the numbers, we’re proud to have built a strong and connected startup ecosystem, and to have helped so many founders build world-changing businesses – and then pass their knowledge and resources on to others coming up the ladder.

This work was acknowledged recently when we won the Best Contribution to the NZ Tech Sector Award at the 2024 Hi-Tech Awards. This win reflects the wider recognition of Creative HQ’s impact and the importance of programmes like the Climate Response Accelerator.

The showcase event has generated a huge amount of interest from investors, corporate partners, and climate innovators, and our team is busy working on the next programme in the background. Keep an eye out for more on this soon.

And of course, we can never talk about our own achievements without mentioning those of  the companies who have trusted us with part of their journey:  businesses like Sharesies, Hnry, FTNMotion, Optimal Workshop, Marsello, Tapi, Silverstripe, Publons, Pledge Me, and many more.

They are all out there making an enormous combined impact through their work. There’s also a ripple effect of our alumni going on to reinvest their expertise and capital into the next generation of startups, as we’re seeing with Lachlan Nixon and Motion Capital in the current programme.

Q: How are you finding current business conditions?

A: There’s no question that the current economic environment is challenging for many businesses, including in the tech sector. But we’re observing that the startups we work with are an incredibly resilient and adaptable bunch.

They’re still finding ways to innovate, grow, and attract investment, despite the headwinds. Supporting them through this period is crucial.

At Creative HQ, we focus on running lean, high-impact programmes that deliver real value to the startups and innovators we work with. We’re fortunate to have a diverse range of funding partners and revenue streams that provide resilience for our own existence.

But we’re not complacent and we are always looking for ways to deliver more efficiently and effectively in changing conditions, and with partners who are value-aligned and can help us amplify the impact.

Q: Staff retention – how easy is it?

A: From a Creative HQ perspective, we’re fortunate to have a committed and passionate team which strongly believes in our kaupapa. The length of time staff stay with us varies, but certainly, attracting and retaining top talent is always a focus. The companies we work with deserve the very best by way of service delivery.

Having a strong culture that everyone contributes to and purposeful work is critical for staff engagement here. We have a culture of high performance with a team that works hard and fast to deliver services of extremely high quality.

Q: The NZ economy – why is there no coordinated business plan for moving forward?

A: I believe the tech sector has a critical role to play in the future of New Zealand’s economy. It’s already our second-largest export sector and given the size of its contribution to GDP – around $20 billion annually and growing – there is obviously huge potential still to be realised and a strong case for a more coordinated and focused strategy that ties in every industry.

Realising the full value of tech to the New Zealand economy will require ongoing collaboration and partnership between the public and private sectors to support our innovators.

There’s always more that can be done to create the conditions for startups to thrive – whether that’s through investment, regulatory settings, or capability building – and New Zealand is still relatively early in the maturity of this sector by global comparison.

This untapped potential sector growth makes it an industry of opportunity to work within. At Creative HQ we’ll continue to champion the sector and play our part in building a world-leading startup ecosystem. The number-8-wire-mentality of Aotearoa, necessary for entrepreneurship, already exists.

We need to combine that with heightened ambition levels and continue to grow our own culture of innovation nationally, with connections to capital, combined with ongoing capability training. But through our lens, the future of the New Zealand economy looks bright.