Marian Johnson: The Influencers
The last week of May was TechWeek 2019 and what a juggernaut of a week it was!
From Monday’s ‘Canterbury Tech’ event showcasing our city’s world class heathtech/medtech sector through to the launch event for Te Ōhaka – Centre for Growth and Innovation, TechWeek 2019 really showed how quickly our tech sector is growing and maturing.
The Te Ōhaka launch was officiated by the Honourable Dr. Megan Woods, Minister of Science and Innovation and we were particularly grateful to be joined by a few distinguished guests from across the ditch and as far away as Silicon Valley.
Te Ōhaka is based on the SETsquared business incubator shared by five universities in Southern England. In 2015, it was ranked as the top university-based business incubator in the world by UBI Global and by 2016, it had assisted over 1,000 startups and directly contributed roughly $11 billion NZD to the UK economy.
Like SETsquared, Te Ōhaka hosts and supports high growth startup companies, promotes intellectual transfer from learning institution to business, and guides tertiary students into successful entrepreneurship. It is based on Ara’s city centre campus and is strengthened by the 17,000 ambitious Ara students who are now poised to be part of this community.
Te Ōhaka is open to anyone working on a high growth business with potential global impact. If this sounds like you, check out the website www.teohaka.co.nz and find out a little bit more about the community.
