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Ministry of Awesome’s (MoA) vision to increase the density of New Zealand’s startup ecosystem has led to the establishment of a national Startup Hub Network (NEST) in central Christchurch.
“History has shown us that one Rocket Lab can give birth to several new unicorns,” MoA chief executive Graham Scown said.
“That’s the ambition of a space like this, and programmes like ours. We’ve already seen huge successes, like Partly, come out of Ministry of Awesome.”
The aim was to give startup businesses faster, easier access to the space, community, mentoring, and networks that accelerate the journey from idea to investment to export.
“We’re geographically challenged, and so when you look at those ecosystems around the world that have been so incredibly successful, there’s a real concentration, a geographical concentration,” Scown said.
He said entrepreneurial density in countries such as Denmark and Singapore meant the necessary support services were physically close, which was not the case in New Zealand.
“In New Zealand we’re a little bit cursed with people saying New Zealand’s a small country. It’s not a small country.”
He said the geographical nature of New Zealand and the small amounts of money available to support founder enterprises was “quite problematic.”
“One of the outcomes of this network is where some potential funding … comes up, we’re not all scrapping over it. We can look at it and go, ‘Hey, look! Actually, that’s way better for you guys to do it. Do you want a support letter? Do you want something? How can we support you?’”
NEST Christchurch, located at 829 Colombo St, aimed to give founders and entrepreneurs a single doorway to whatever support they needed, no matter the focus of their enterprise.
“One of the key components for me is that we are actively avoiding replicating or duplicating anything that already exists,” Scown said.
NEST offered access to physical assets of work stations, meeting rooms, event spaces, recording studios, as well as amenities such as full service changing rooms and garage usage.
It also offered opportunities to startup ecosystem stakeholders to take part in programmes, mentoring, investments, community connections, and business development.
Beyond NEST Christchurch, the network was intended to act as a connector between existing startup hubs, programmes and communities throughout New Zealand.
