Bay of Plenty Business News February/March 2018

14 BAY OF PLENTY BUSINESS NEWS February/March 2018
Why we need
Techweek
TechweekNZ is happening again from May
19 to 27 and, excitingly, this year Techweek
Tauranga will have some big, international
implications for our region and local
industries, if they can accomodate change.
Mark Wilcox, senior product manager at Nyriad shares his knowledge of how
organisations need to evolve to survive and thrive in the future at Techweek.
TechweekNZ, a national
event, was launched by
NZTech, an overarching
body which represents over
100 technology associations
and institutes around New
Zealand. TechweekNZ started
in Auckland, but Tauranga got
involved three years ago, via
Venture Centre.
“NZTech represents a community
that spans the whole
country and the relationship
regularly brings people to
Tauranga to meet with locals at
Basestation, and the opportunity
to get involved in national
events,” Venture Centre director
and co-founder Jo Allum
says.
This year Techweek will
include 300 events nationally,
with headline events focused
on four different regions
across the country. Due to previous
involvement, Tauranga
will host the ‘marquee’ event
around Food, Agriculture
and Horticulture technology.
Named ‘10 Billion Mouths’,
this conference will focus on
Bay of Plenty’s competitive
advantage, showcasing how
our region can contribute to
feeding the world.
The conference, over one
full day, will ask the questions
needed to work out how we
may feed the world’s population
into the future. It is being
held on Wednesday, May 23,
at ASB Arena, but Tauranga
will also host a full five days
of events for Techweek.
“This year Techweek has
made a more concerted effort
to bring international visitors
to NZ to see our country’s centres
of technology, featuring
Tauranga” Jo says.
This is a chance for
Tauranga to create
a name for itself
globally as a centre of
excellence for agritech
and foodtech,”
- Peter Wren-Hilton
Techweek Tauranga starts
with GrowPlenty, a two day
learn-by-doing ideation challenge
event to explore use
of platform technologies
important to the sustainability
and traceability of food.
Entrepreneurs of all ages are
encouraged to attend and build
their sector network, they’ll be
mentored by local and national
experts in food and agritech,
will create concepts for solutions
to areas of significant
impact on food and agritech in
the future.
The ideation challenge,
centres around four themes.
The first is energy, then earth,
air and water, followed by
what we grow, and finally how
we produce and distribute it.
Concepts will be showcased
at the end of two days to other
participants and potentially
international visitors.
GrowPlenty on Monday
21 and Tuesday 22 May is
followed by the 10 Billion
Mouths conference on
Wednesday. Following that a
Waikato University session
about regional development on
Thursday includes an international
speaker who will talk
about how innovation and
entrepreneurship can assist
regional development.
The week rounds off on
Friday 25 with an Impact
Investing Network event which
will unpack how socially conscious
investors can contribute
and benefit from investing in
our people and planet through
long term social enterprise
investments.
“They’re coming to meet
with local, individual investors
and community funders to discuss
how impact investments
could be made locally to get
more social enterprises up and
running, realising the potential
of the resources and talent we
already have here,” Jo says.
“The whole week plays
very nicely into the theme
for Techweek, which is about
innovators who do good for
the world, and our local focus
on food, agritech, environment
and socio-economic sustainability
because those are key
themes for our region,” she
concludes.
Wharf42 founder and director,
Peter Wren-Hilton who
regularly connects local entrepreneurs
to his network of contacts
in Sunnyvale, one of the
major cities comprising Silicon
Valley, California says hosting
10 Billion Mouths is a big coup
for the region.
“Where we are, geographically,
plays an important part
in our opportunity to host this
event. As a horticultural centre
it’s not simply the amount
and advances in the fruit we’re
growing, but the technology
that enables growers to do it
- which is quite incredible and
a draw card for international
investors and venture funds.”
We’re determined to
show how well New
Zealand, and the Bay,
does collaboration,”
He says Tauranga needs to
continue to be creative in how
it solves food and agriculture
challenges to attract significant
international investment, and
working together is a key part
of that.
10 Billion Mouths will have
sessions on collaboration and
Plantech - the state-of-the-art
research institute which will
open in Tauranga in future.
Plantech is a collaboration
between MBIE and the private
sector. “We’re determined to
show how well New Zealand,
and the Bay, does collaboration,”
Peter says.
“We’re looking at sessions
on alternative plant-based proteins,
traceability and bio-security.
There will also be a
business showcase, including
a feature demonstration from
Robotics Plus.”
Peter says Techweek is
looking to bring eight to 10
Silicon Valley venture funders
into the city, which represents
a huge opportunity for local
entrepreneurs and businesses.
Yamaha Ventures, a Silicon
Valley-based company is a
major sponsor of the event,
the first sponsorship in New
Zealand from a Silicon Valley
company. Peter says: “It’s a
major coup for the event, for
Tauranga and New Zealand.”
Also of note is Finistere
Ventures - a $140b agritech
fund which is looking for
investment opportunities in
New Zealand. Their CEO,
Arama Kukutai, is a Kiwi
and is coming to 10 Billion
Mouths.
Techweek will also see the
launch of AgritechNZ on May
23. It is a new cluster which
provides a framework to allow
New Zealand’s agritech sector
to become a lot more collaborative
in nature, share information
and resources. “It will
make it easier to take our story
offshore and grow our sector,”
Peter says.
“This is a chance for
Tauranga and Bay of Plenty to
promote itself… to international
businesses and investors. We
already have confirmed visitors
from Singapore, San Francisco,
Sydney and Melbourne,” he
says.
Jo sums up saying:
“Everyone from youth to
investors can spend this week
in May addressing food and
agritech, alongside national
and international visitors who
will spend that time exploring
what we have going on here in
that space and showcasing the
international competitiveness
of our city.”
Peter has the final word saying
the region’s people and
companies should jump at the
opportunity Techweek offers
by getting fully involved and
committed to the whole week
of events. “This is a chance
for Tauranga to create a name
for itself globally as a centre
of excellence for agritech and
foodtech.”