News

NZ Herald (paywalled): Executives at Xero, Datacom, Gallagher (CEO Kahl Betham pictured) and many rising software firms call for public funding of kiwiSaaS to continue.

Newstalk ZB: Nick Whitehead, Serko Chief Marketing Officer, says the tech industry is seeking "engagement' not just to talk "funding" on what the Government’s plans are for the sector going forward.

NZ Herald (paywalled): Some of New Zealand’s tech industry’s biggest names have sent a letter to Technology Minister Judith Collins - in the context of millions in public funding to boost the cloud software sector being about to expire.

Orchestra.io is teaming up with Sharesies — a move that aligns with their vision and purpose of enabling more investor confidence to support businesses to succeed.

VoiceQ, owned by Kiwa Digital, appoints Grey Willow Music and Production Studios to represent the localisation software to grow its presence in indigenous markets in the USA.

Southern SaaS 2024 speaker Lovina McMurchy told the large audience that startup founders need to believe the artificial intelligence (AI) hype. The former Amazon and Microsoft executive, Movac venture capitalist, and Pushpay director is now Chief Operating Officer of one of NZ's most promising young software-as-a-service companies, Kry10.

Southern SaaS 2024 speaker Aaron Ward (Ngāti Maru), co-founder of AskNicely, is one of the few Māori working in the tech industry. He believes tangata whenua could help combat a pressing shortage of staff in Aotearoa.

As the only Māori in his company, AskNicely, Aaron Ward raises the issue of including more indigenous people in the tech sector. Aaron will speak at Southern SaaS 2024 on 12 March.

A New Zealand tech startup has secured a multi-million dollar funding boost from Silicon Valley.

Sean O’Brien and Jason Ennor are North Shore entrepreneurs with global ambitions for their hybrid HR service. Having established a strong presence across New Zealand and Australia, they’re now working hard to take MyHR even further afield.

Auror, a business providing crime-fighting software to retailers and police forces around the world, has been crowned Supreme Winner at the New Zealand International Business Awards 2023. The kiwiSaaS member company also won the Best Medium Business Award earlier in the night.

The fast-growing startup had no trouble securing capital, with healthtech a hot sector for investors.

Accountancy firm Hnry is adding a debit card to its arsenal to help sole traders manage their expenses in real-time.

Clarinspect was nominated for, and won, the FireNZ award for Innovative Product & Design for 2023, announced at the FireNZ conference.

Company-X text-to-speech platform Voxcoda was a part of the winning solution lauded as the best fleet safety product at the 2023.

Primary sector exporters to benefit from easier access to carbon removals in their supply chain, enabling low-carbon exports

The agritech startup will use the funds to further extend into the Latin American and European markets.

Microsoft's Dan Walker shares his journey into tech and discusses how the sector shouldn't leave Māori and Pasifika behind.

Kiwi payroll company PaySauce is now handling about 60% of all wage payments on the country’s dairy farms, and plans to target the construction sector next.

In the latest episode of the WFLS podcast, ⁠Harry Wilde⁠ joins who is the Co-Founder and Co-CEO of ⁠Cotiss⁠.

Last week, Ben Gleisner featured on one of New Zealand's most closely followed podcasts about how we transition to a low carbon economy.

Developed in-house by Beca, FranklyAI is now available worldwide on the Microsoft Teams store.

Datacom is partnering with workforce management company Humanforce to help businesses unify and streamline their workforce and payroll systems.

SaaS companies among finalists for the 25th Wellington Gold Awards.

Serato, an Auckland-based maker of software for professional and at-home DJs, has been sold to Japan’s AlphaTheta Corporation.

NZX listed Black Pearl is aspiring to become the next New Zealand SaaS company to help thousands of small and medium-sized businesses internationally.

Microsoft has announced Kiwi health tech firm Volpara as its New Zealand partner of the year for 2023 and for healthcare and life sciences globally.

Tech commentator, Peter Griffin, shares his key takeaways from the 2023 Hi-Tech awards.

Māori entrepreneur Aaron Ward’s company AskNicely has won Hi-Tech Kamupene Māori o te Tau – Māori Company of the Year at a 2023 New Zealand Hi-Tech Awards.

SaaS company Cin7 takes out the Hi-Tech Company of the Year award, with judges referencing the company’s ability to crack into tough international markets as a deciding factor.

Productiv, the SaaS management specialist, has unveiled its 2023 State of SaaS Series which outlines trends and insights into the SaaS sector.

From e-commerce to AI to space, the NZ Hi-Tech Awards celebrated a wide range of big winners this year.

SaaS company Levno receives second nomination at the NZ Hi-Tech awards for its contribution to the agriculture sector.

Seequent chief executive Graham Grant tells Q+A about the geological tech company's remarkable growth into being a globally important firm.

Local and global tech companies, including Education Perfect, are collaborating to provide tamariki from low decile intermediate schools with STEM skills training.

Roi-AI, a kiwi SaaS company, receives investment from Scalare.

New Zealand-based SaaS company Education Perfect has acquired Australian education technology company Essential Assessment.

Auckland Cybersecurity startup Onwardly bolsters its SecOps SaaS platform through four-way partnership.

The New Zealand Tech Marketers Group today announced the winners of their inaugural NZ Tech Marketing Awards.

The Digital Technologies Industry Transformation Plan (ITP) has been published and SaaS has been highlighted as a real opportunity for New Zealand's export growth.

Join Paul Spain as he discusses the future of New Zealand's software sector with Bruce Jarvis, Head of Kiwi SaaS, Bernard Hickey, Commentator and Podcaster, and Graham Grant, CEO of Seequent.

Formus Labs, a New Zealand-founded company, has received US FDA clearance for its Hip System platform, a software tool that uses artificial intelligence to assist in planning and executing hip replacement surgeries.

kiwiSaaS company Sharesies is expanding its savings offerings with a new no-fees savings account. The online investment platform will allow investors to deposit money into their Sharesies wallet, with the option to either invest it or transfer it to their savings account.

Congratulations to a number of member companies who have been nominated for 2023 Hi-Tech Awards! It’s great to see SaaS companies in the mix for this prestigious night - Pushpay, Serko, LawVU, Innocraft, Lumin, CarbonCrop, Formus Labs, Tracksuit, AskNicely, Tend Health, Levno, Ignite Aotearoa, Paysauce!

Volpara Health's chief science and innovation officer, Ralph Highnam, received Wellingtonian of the Year and picked up an award for the company in the business category.

The world's first pay it forward Shopify app, GoGenerosity, has just hit the market. CEO Rohan McCloskey joined Mike Hosking to discuss the app and how they've already raised more than $1800 worth of donations for Cyclone Gabrielle relief.

Congratulations to kiwiSaaS member company ADInstruments. The Dunedin-based business has landed another international award. Lt, its education technology solution, received the Reimagine Education Award administered by QS Quacquarelli Symonds.

Hnry, a successful Kiwi SaaS company that tripled its revenue in the past 12 months, has secured a substantial investment, allowing them to expand their reach to more sole traders across the Tasman.

Joyous co-founder, Michael Carden, shares his thoughts on how to solve New Zealand's tech skills shortage in the latest issue of his newsletter Work is___.

kiwiSaaS member Cam Richardson, the Invercargill-based CEO of PaySquad, has developed a product that enables a group of people to split the cost of an item at checkout.

kiwiSaaS member Greg Beehre, CEO of Auckland's Centrapay, is driving a global revolution to overhaul how New Zealanders pay for goods and services.

Mission Ready's 'Mission Sponsorship' programme helps to develop Aotearoa's SaaS talent. Read their article below to find out more.

Microsoft's Hayley Horan explains why software marketplaces have become a key sales channel for SaaS companies in recent years. Leveraging the power of partnership in the global marketplace is a hugely valuable approach for Australian and Kiwi SaaS businesses hungry to scale to the world.

Three action-packed days at SaaStr Annual 2022

Rowan Simpson: How do we build on Paul Callaghan’s vision for New Zealand, and update it for our current reality?

As the demand for tech skills grows, particularly in SaaS, so too are those deciding to change careers to take advantage of the higher-paid industry and its flexible working conditions. Watch TVNZ's coverage of Mission Ready's tech boot camp.

Steven Renata (Managing Director of KIWA Digital) is encouraging Māori looking for a career, whether it's their first one or a career switch, to consider the technology or Software-as-a-service (SaaS) sector. Māori are underrepresented in the tech workforce, making up only 4%.

New Zealand is 11th out of 34 countries for average hours worked, but its productivity is below the OECD average, when measured in GDP per hour worked. It’s partially about our failure to adopt the technological tools - SaaS tools like Xero - to keep up.

New Zealand's software-as-a-service (SaaS) sector is growing fast and in need of talent. Short training courses offered by organisations such as Dev Academy and Mission Ready HQ offer school leavers, or Kiwis looking for a job change as part of the 'Great Resignation', a promising SaaS career. Bruce Jarvis from kiwiSaaS talks to TVNZ's Breakfast.

Bruce Jarvis, Head of SaaS for the Digital Industry Transformation Plan, explains on Today FM why New Zealand's SaaS sector could eventually rival industries like tourism and agriculture.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met with AWS CEO Adam Selipsky on her US tour, sending the message that New Zealand was open for business after the end of COVID-19 lockdowns and other restrictions.

Microsoft has announced a new initiative to encourage Software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups in New Zealand. The initiative will see Microsoft partnering and providing a marketing and sales channel for New Zealand SaaS companies to promote their products in overseas markets. Auror, LawVu​ and Volpara have already signed up to the initiative.

A high wage, low-emission economy is what New Zealand needs and the Government is investing in digital technologies to reach the goal. New funding could give the SaaS community momentum to further and expand its network. It will also support the delivery of short courses for digital skills development.

Joyous co-chief executive Ruby Kolesky says she’s not seeing the increase in diversity in the industry that many were hoping for. She wants to encourage tech organisations to open their doors to non-university graduates.

New Zealand Firm PikPok can’t find staff it needs locally, so it's headed to South America.

It shouldn’t really come as a surprise to employers that employees are choosing rewarding work, pay, and a flexible schedule, over freebie perks - according to kiwiSaaS members Kirsti Grant (Auror) and Ben Gracewood (The SpinOff).

Phoebe Harrop, principal of venture capital company Blackbird Aotearoa, believes New Zealand's SaaS businesses are crucial to weaning our economy off “the grass”.

Mission Ready HQ have 8 FEE FREE spaces left on their accelerator that starts on 18th April.

The second webinar in our Kicking SaaS! series on 23 March 2022 provided thought-provoking insights into the hiring process, onboarding, creating a strong recruitment brand, building a diverse SaaS team and culture, structuring career ladders… and much more! The full recording of the webinar can be found below.

Frustrated with useless software that didn’t allow efficient sharing of financial data, two Kiwis revolutionalised accounting around the world by creating Xero, a Wellington startup now worth $15 billion.

Technology stocks have had a bit of a battering on the local sharemarket so far this year as rising interest rates prompt investors to re-evaluate the prospects of high-growth companies. Serko founder Darrin Grafton argues that local investor support for these companies is more important now than ever.

Communications Minister David Clark might see “no reason New Zealand can’t be the Silicon Valley of the Southern Hemisphere”, but others are more than happy to point out some potential problems.

Today’s headlines are full of technology companies raising capital, and reaching eye-watering valuations every time they do so. Stuff's Dileepa Fonseka investigates.

News from 'across the ditch:' Federal Labor has adopted the Technology Council of Australia’s target of increasing the number of Australians employed in tech-related jobs by 340,000 to 1.2 million by the end of the decade.

The Prime Minister will lead a trade delegation to the US in May that will largely focus on the west coast and on pushing our high-tech exports. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) products will no doubt be a large part of the mix.

Here's a chance for SaaS businesses to provide their thoughts on new NZ courses - to ensure this training is well aligned with the SaaS sector's current skill requirements. Workforce Development Council Toi Mai is requesting feedback by 20 March 2022 on proposed new qualifications in Machine Learning and Applied Software Development, before they are submitted to NZQA for approval to list.

The Government is calling for submissions (by 31 March, 2022) on its Digital Technologies Industry Transformation Plan (ITP) 2022-2032, writes BusinessDesk's Peter Griffin.

Bruce Jarvis from the kiwiSaaS Community team talks to Radio New Zealand about the recent 2022 OECD Economic Survey of NZ findings.

AskNicely has announced that it has completed a $32M Series B funding round. The Portland, Oregon-based company, which has its tech team in New Zealand, develops customer experience software for service businesses.

The announcement of 600 new technology worker visa exemptions is welcomed by the kiwiSaaS Advisory Council, but it also calls for quick scaling of local work-ready tech skills programmes.

If you missed any of our popular ‘Kicking SaaS in 2022’ online event on 1 December, or would just like to replay some of the action, the full recording is now available to view.

New kiwiSaaS community initiative launched to help grow SaaS into New Zealand’s highest revenue earning sector.

Online presentation – Thursday, 18 November 2021

We speak with Alex Burke, CEO of Education Perfect, on what international acquisition meant for this kiwiSaaS success story.

We cannot afford to lose thousands of SaaS jobs in the war for tech talent.

Kiwi software-as-a-service companies are acquiring others in a new trend.

Callaghan Innovation’s support has helped Rocketspark build connections, feed its talent pipeline and ramp up international expansion.

Software testing is time-consuming and tedious. That’s the current standard Auckland-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business TheTestMart is disrupting.

Partly is tackling the complex problem of cataloguing and matching fitment parts data with vehicle data to create a universal database, enabling users to buy and sell auto parts online.

Orah has developed a platform that helps schools, students and their families track and monitor school life – from managing permissions for excursions to organising co-curricular activities and monitoring student wellbeing.

A year ago, Wellington tech company Mobi2Go had 30 employees, with just two in its Toronto office. Twelve months on its staff numbers 100 and its Canadian contingent has grown ten-fold.

There's no time to sit down for Claire and James Fuller, who co-founded tech business Hnry and are now about to move into a new central Wellington office.

The chief executive and co-founder of Wellington tech company CoGo is heading to Australia later this year with the prime minister’s trade mission, and his trail-blazing firm that supports conscious consumerism is set for its next step on the path to global opportunities and behavioural change.

Wellington has its Golden Mile: a ribbon of concrete that extends from Parliament, through much of the capital’s shopping precinct and deep into its hospitality quarter. But it also has a golden triangle of tech companies creating many tens of millions of dollars in revenue and bringing in hundreds of new jobs.