Startup Dunedin has won “entrepreneur support organisation of the year” at the Global Entrepreneurship Network New Zealand (Gen NZ) awards in Wellington this week. The award recognises an organisation providing invaluable support to entrepreneurs on their journey. It was awarded based on reviews from the organisation’s founders as well as how connected it was to its local community and wider ecosystem. Gen NZ chairman Dave Moskovitz said Startup Dunedin did an excellent job of combining academic excellence with entrepreneurial spirit. “Grace [Esterman] and the team at Startup Dunedin use these superpowers to launch new businesses and careers that are impactful locally, nationally, and globally. “And all of this on the smell of an oily rag, in true Dunedin style. I was really proud they won the Entrepreneur Support Organisation of the year award, because they totally deserved it,” he said. The annual awards were designed to recognise individuals and organisations that had made the greatest contribution to the country’s startup ecosystem. Startup Dunedin acting general manager Grace Esterman said the national award was a “huge win” for the organisation as well as the city. “This is a fantastic endorsement, not just of Startup Dunedin, but of the wider Ōtepoti Dunedin business sector and startup ecosystem which encompasses everyone from tertiary students with a business concept they want to test to high-growth startups scaling nationally and globally.” Over the past year, Startup Dunedin worked with 174 founders and ran 135 events and workshops across Dunedin. Thirteen high-growth startups went through the Distiller incubator, and 72 students completed Audacious, the entrepreneurship programme for Otago tertiary students. “The award is a great acknowledgement of all this hard work,” Ms Esterman said. The organisation is primarily funded by the Dunedin City Council with support from Otago Polytechnic and the University of Otago. Dunedin Mayor Sophie Barker said the award showed how important Startup Dunedin was within the local business community. “As council is one of the investors in the Startup Dunedin Trust, it’s great to see the organisation’s success and how it has become an integral part of our business ecosystem, supporting numerous aspiring entrepreneurs and helping those seeking to grow. “Dunedin is truly uniquely positioned to develop, build and scale startups thanks to access to expert knowledge centres and talent pools within the University of Otago and Otago Polytech and trailblazers in niche tech, manufacturing and engineering showing what can be achieved from a city at the edge of the world.” Startup Dunedin was also nominated as a finalist in the Gen NZ youth programme of the year for Audacious, the student startup programme for Otago’s tertiary students. The acknowledgement followed other recent success for Startup Dunedin, including receiving the regional trailblazer award at the previous GEN NZ awards in 2024 and manager Rachel Butler being named the Otago Daily Times’ 2025 business leader of the year. Mainland Angel Investors won the investor of the year category. The organisation launched in the South in 2020 to make it easier for founders of new companies to get investment. In 2024, it teamed up with Canterbury Angels to help pave a more efficient road to early-stage capital. The University of Otago’s bachelor of entrepreneurship programme was a finalist in the research academic initiative.
