A new wave of entrepreneurial talent for New Zealand
267 new Fellows have joined Cohort 7 and Cohort 8 of the Edmund Hillary Fellowship. This is an incredible milestone for New Zealand and EHF, bringing the Fellowship to 532 of some of the most globally connected and forward thinking entrepreneurs and investors in the world. With the intake of Cohorts 7 and 8, New Zealand completes the 4-year Global Impact Visa pilot, an innovative immigration design to attract talented entrepreneurs and investors to boost the startup ecosystem and create global impact from New Zealand.
As New Zealand works to rebuild its economy post COVID, the role of entrepreneurs and innovators has become more relevant than ever before. The New Zealand Government’s priority for the post COVID recovery focuses on retraining Kiwis for tomorrow’s jobs, future proofing our economy by accelerating climate innovations, and building a confident and internationally connected nation. The fact that New Zealand is ahead of the curve in its COVID response gives us an immense opportunity to rebuild a better, more resilient and inclusive economy.
The 532 Fellows that have come together from 58 countries (including Kiwi Fellows) are using their unique entrepreneurial experiences, access to resources, and far reaching global networks to contribute to New Zealand’s economic rebuild phase.
The new Fellows bring a wave of entrepreneurial talent to grow new industries and create tomorrow’s opportunities. Find the full list of Cohort 7 and Cohort 8 on the EHF Fellows directory. The global experiences and networks that international Fellows bring, complement the work of the Kiwi Fellows and the broader New Zealand ecosystem. The major areas of expertise New Zealand is gaining and examples of companies the 267 new Fellows have built are:
Technology enabled innovations
As the tech sector continues to play a crucial role rebuilding the New Zealand economy, these new Fellows bring extensive experience building and scaling global technology companies (e.g. WordPress, Asana, Skype, Apple, Signal, Stripe). This is an area where New Zealand is gaining the most expertise for growing our tech sector. New Zealand is getting technology builders who can help increase the productivity of Kiwi businesses, including in global scale e-commerce (RedMart), remote working (Automattic), team productivity (Basecamp, Notion), and shipping logistics solutions (FlexPort). Kiwi Fellows are building technology infrastructures (Springload) and investing in local founders (Ice Angels). New Zealand is also gaining a wide range of globally connected and resourced technology investors with infrastructures that can help startups go from early stage to being major global players. Some investor Fellows focus in specific areas, including impact investing (One Project) and women-led enterprises (One House).
Education and employment
New Zealand is gaining expertise to create and grow future employment opportunities. Fellows coming in have built online platforms that provide skills training in high demand fields (Codecademy, Andela). Others are pioneers in creating global remote work infrastructures that Kiwis living in cities and small regions can access (FlexJobs). Some are focused on providing open source entrepreneurship and innovation upskilling that are very relevant for the current economic rebuild (HowDo). A number of Fellows are solely focused on growing the Māori economy and building capacity across Aotearoa (Te Putahitanga o Te Waipounamu). There are also Fellows building peer-group learning infrastructures that target women business owners (Ladies Who Launch, Her Corner) and investors focused solely on education innovations (Owl Ventures).
Addressing climate change
New Zealand is gaining deep global expertise in generating and distributing renewable energies, including in leading R&D in energy storage and distribution (Liquidstar). There is a concentration of Fellows working in food and regenerative agriculture to improve human stewardship of land and seas. These include innovations in kelp farming for large scale carbon capture in the oceans (Climate Foundation), earth imagery for sustainable and precision farming (Planet), and building autonomous systems for regenerative agriculture (EcoTechnica). We also have leaders in global environmental philanthropy (EarthShare), pioneers in a global climate and peace movement (The Institute for Climate and Peace), food security experts bridging developing and developed worlds, and circular economy innovators.
Health innovations
There is a large contingency of Fellows working to improve the health and wellbeing of the global population. After building a major global biotech company (Assembly Biosciences), a Fellow is now working on affordable COVID medication. A number of Fellows are building digital therapeutics and digital health management tools that democratise global access to health advice and care (MyTherapist). One Fellow is leading cutting edge brain-machine interface research (Neuralink), and another is building low-cost, open-source medical devices (AirtoAll). A group of Fellows are working on various women’s health solutions (Thinx), others are working on leading edge mental health research (OpenMinded), and several are building tools and products that improve wellbeing (Big Sky Health). New Zealand is benefitting from a range of global infrastructures and expertise to keep innovating in health service and delivery.
Building new industries
As New Zealand diversifies its economy, EHF Fellows are building new industries. The space industry is a major area new Fellows are contributing towards. A team of Fellows have built the world’s largest constellation of Earth-imaging satellites to provide daily Earth images (Planet), with wide ranging applications. Another team is building robotic lunar landers and rovers (Ceres Robotics), while a group of Fellows are creating policy and partnership frameworks for peaceful and cooperative human settlement on the Moon (Open Lunar Foundation). There are also groups of Fellows building and investing in decentralised ledger technologies which accelerate the adoption of a decentralised web, the use of digital currencies, and new blockchain based applications (Basic Attention Token). Some are working directly on these applications, including in agriculture supply chain management (Fresh Supply Co.).
Growing ecotourism
As the New Zealand tourism industry keeps evolving, the new cohort of Fellows are pioneering new approaches for low footprint tourism that positively benefit communities and the environment. A Fellow built Camp Glenorchy, New Zealand’s first positive energy eco-retreat venue that has been named in Times Magazine’s top 100 Greatest Places - a venue that is accessible for all budgets and invests all profits into its surrounding community. Other Fellows are building marketplaces where local communities activate tourism on their own terms and connect visitors with authentic local experiences (Untrodden). New Zealand is also gaining deep expertise in implementing sustainable practices in some of the world’s largest resort networks (Melco Resorts).
Strong access to Asian markets
As Asia continues to be a major economic partner, New Zealand is gaining deeper access to Asian markets, innovations, and infrastructures through the latest cohorts. These include access to some of the most influential technology investment networks in China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan and South Korea, to build stronger innovation ties to Asia Pacific nations (Tencent, Impact Collective, BAI Fund, Dragonfly Capital). A number of Fellows have deep experience successfully scaling technology companies in Asian markets, including in food and agriculture, urban mobility (Mobike), health (QTC Care), and e-commerce (Chaldal) - New Zealand entrepreneurs can take advantage of these expertise to deepen innovation ties with Asian markets.
These are just some examples and there are many more areas of expertise New Zealand is gaining, including affordable housing innovations, international development research, human rights data, ecosystem building initiatives, Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality experimentations, and transportation innovation. To find out more about the people behind these initiatives, check out the EHF Fellows directory.
To select these new Fellows, the EHF team and selection panel reviewed applications from 1,200 individuals. The Global Impact Visas available were a limiting factor given the large number of high-calibre candidates who applied. Out of the 267 new Fellows, 33% of them actively invest in startups (while a good proportion of them are entrepreneurs as well). 18% of all the new Fellows are New Zealand citizens or residents (compared to 9% of applicants), and the rest come from over 58 nationalities. 31% of the new Fellows identify as women (proportional to the number of women who applied), 67% as male, 1% as transgender, non binary, or gender fluid, and 1% preferred not to answer. 7% of the new Fellows identify themselves as LGBTTIFQQ (proportional to the number of applicants), and 6% preferred not to answer. 17% of Fellows applied as a team and 9% of Fellows had applied before.
The biggest barrier at the moment is that new Fellows are not able to get into New Zealand and support the economic rebuild in a hands-on way. The New Zealand borders are still closed and entrepreneurs as a category are not yet on top of the priority list for borders exemptions. We are looking forward to the time when these new Fellows can land in New Zealand, roll up their sleeves and be part of New Zealand’s rebuild phase.
In the meantime, EHF is organising digital programmes to welcome the new cohorts, and for the broader EHF Fellowship to contribute to the broader NZ ecosystem.
While we find ourselves in the middle of a global pandemic and economic recessions, connecting with the new Fellows online and exploring how we can collectively support Aotearoa New Zealand economic rebuild has brought a sense of new possibilities and hope. We are excited to continue this timely work, and keep going.
Nau Mai, haere mai Cohort 7 & Cohort 8!