TechMates

🐄 Engineer Liam Kampshof turned an early milking-shed prototype into a simple, low-cost sensor now used on 145+ New Zealand farms, catching mastitis early to protect milk quality and payouts! Liam is a New Zealand tech entrepreneur and founder of Bovonic, makers of QuadSense—a snap-in, battery-powered sensor that measures each teat’s conductivity in real time, compares quarters, and throws a red...

He rowed solo across the Tasman, later sold his BNPL startup—now he’s rebuilding life insurance with AI from New Zealand. Our guest, Shaun Quincey, is a New Zealand tech entrepreneur who went from a 54-day solo ocean row to exiting a services-focused BNPL company—and now leads Simfuni, an AI-first operating platform for life insurers. He breaks down how a payments “wedge” became a full policy-admi...

He’s turning an iPad into a surgical cockpit—and launching semi-autonomous surgery from New Zealand to the world. Nick Damiano is a Bay Area deep-tech founder with strong New Zealand ties: after building medtech across pacemakers, tele-presence OR support, and implantables (YC alum twice), he co-founded Andromeda to bring autonomous surgical robotics to market—faster and cheaper than the tradition...

From 15 clinics and 105,000 patients to a fintech rebrand and a tax ruling with IRD—this New Zealand founder turned “HealthNow” into Extraordinary, a benefits-payments platform winning banks, telcos, and airlines. Steve is a New Zealand tech entrepreneur who scaled an allied-health group to ~$12M revenue at 17–24% EBITDA before exiting at 27, then founded HealthNow—a healthcare BNPL/savings/employ...

Ari Tulla built, pivoted, exited, and is now using AI to rewire preventative health. Ari Tulla is a Finnish-born, SF-based tech entrepreneur who started in gaming and Nokia’s early app ecosystem, founded doctor-finder startup BetterDoctor (later rolled into a 500-person PE platform), and now leads Elo Health, a nutrition company turning biometrics + AI into real-world outcomes. He shares the gritt...

From $5 stamp packs on Queen Street to ~$1.5B in VeVe marketplace GMV—New Zealand entrepreneur David Yu built one of the world’s biggest digital collectibles businesses! David Yu—founder/CEO of VeVe—grew up in Taipei, moved to Auckland, and turned a teenage collecting habit into a retail chain, a global licensing career, and ultimately VeVe, the NFT platform behind 3D, AR-ready drops from top stud...

🎙️ Rural Kiwi roots, global marketing leadership, and now startup innovation — Anna Henwood helps brands get real consumer truth in just 48 hours with Stickybeak. Spotify: https://spoti.fi/4is21QIApple Podcasts: https://apple.co/42KZ2x1 Anna Henwood is a New Zealand tech entrepreneur and co-founder/CEO of Sticky Beak, a fast, affordable, global consumer-testing platform that recruits real people v...

From building websites in high school to revolutionizing Australia's defense capabilities—Vu Tran is redefining what tech entrepreneurship means. 🔥 Join us in this insightful conversation with Vu Tran, co-founder of Go1—one of Australia's most successful EdTech startups—and now Black Sky Industries, an ambitious Australian defense tech startup. Vu shares his incredible journey from growin...

He’s building a startup to beam power through lasers — transforming how we access energy! Join us for an eye-opening conversation with Billy Jeremijenko, the visionary Australian entrepreneur behind Aquila, a groundbreaking startup focused on wireless energy transmission through advanced laser technology. Billy shares his extraordinary journey—from his imaginative childhood, deep fascination with...

He turned a side hustle fixing walls into a quarter-million-dollar student business—and he's now reshaping the food insights industry. Join us as we explore the entrepreneurial journey of Toby Hilliam (Skilton), a seasoned entrepreneur from New Zealand and founder of Appetise, a cutting-edge platform that provides consumer insights for some of the world’s leading food and beverage brands. 🌱 S...

She started her first business selling sherbet at age five—now she runs a revolutionary global online school. 🎧 Listen On: 👉 Spotify – https://spoti.fi/4is21QI 👉 Apple Podcasts – https://apple.co/42KZ2x1 Join us as we dive into the remarkable journey of Penelope Barton, CEO of Crimson Global Academy, an innovative online education platform transforming the traditional schooling model globally....

Winning hackathons at 16 and launching satellites by 26—meet the founder revolutionizing Australia's space tech. Join us as we chat with Shoaib Iqbal, the dynamic founder behind Esper Satellites, a groundbreaking Australian startup that leverages hyperspectral imaging technology to monitor Earth’s resources and environmental conditions from space. 🛰️ Shoaib’s entrepreneurial journey began as a...

From programming on punch cards in rural New Zealand to leading a multi-million dollar EdTech success story. 💻🎧 In this inspiring episode, we speak with Bob Drummond, a visionary New Zealand entrepreneur who navigated from humble beginnings programming with punch cards in a tiny rural school to pioneering Kami, one of the world's leading digital education platforms. 🌐 Bob shares his fascina...

Dropped out of high school after a handshake gone wrong—now he runs a $50M AI-driven language empire. Dive into the extraordinary journey of Finn Puklowski, a New Zealand entrepreneur who transformed personal setbacks into the highly successful Fluency Academy, an AI-powered, creator-led language education platform. Finn candidly shares the rollercoaster ride from bankruptcy in his early 20s to sc...

Born in Soviet-era Moscow and now revolutionizing dairy without cows—this entrepreneur is reshaping New Zealand’s future. In this insightful episode, we speak with Irina Miller, founder of DaisyLab, a groundbreaking New Zealand startup utilizing precision fermentation to create dairy-identical proteins without cows. Irina’s remarkable journey begins in Soviet-era Moscow, spans entrepreneurship adv...

From failing physics grades to building New Zealand’s groundbreaking fusion reactor startup—meet the entrepreneur rewriting the rules of energy. Join us in this captivating conversation with Ratu Mataira, founder and CEO of OpenStar, a revolutionary New Zealand startup pioneering fusion technology. Ratu shares his journey from struggling undergraduate physics student to becoming an industry leader...

Meet the Kiwi entrepreneur who made history aboard Blue Origin! In this thrilling episode, we talk to Mark Rocket, a groundbreaking New Zealand tech entrepreneur and aerospace pioneer. Mark recently soared into space on Blue Origin's NS-32 mission, becoming the first New Zealander to experience suborbital spaceflight. He shares firsthand details about his extraordinary journey—from rigorous tr...

She turned a $3,000 Bitcoin curiosity into one of New Zealand’s biggest crypto exits. Meet Janine, founder and CEO of Easy Crypto, who successfully navigated the turbulent crypto market—overcoming regulation hurdles, market crashes, and intense skepticism—to build and exit one of New Zealand's most notable crypto startups. From early challenges of securing banking relationships to eventually selli...

He changed his name to Rocket, launched New Zealand's first private space vehicle, and is set to become the first Kiwi in space 🚀. Meet Mark Rocket, a pioneering New Zealand entrepreneur who transitioned from playing in rock bands to launching the Southern Hemisphere’s first private rocket into space with Rocket Lab 🛰️. Now leading Kea Aerospace, he's innovating in stratospheric drone tec...

He turned frustration with clunky academic tools into a million-dollar deep tech startup. Meet Axton, a New Zealand tech entrepreneur who went from severe childhood asthma and tinkering with remote-controlled aircraft to founding Litmaps, a pioneering startup transforming academic research through AI-powered citation mapping. In this episode, Axton dives deep into overcoming early challenges, pivo...

He flipped a coin on a café table and accidentally rewired how New Zealand invests. New Zealand entrepreneur Leighton — co-CEO of Sharesies, ex-Army trumpeter and accidental brewery founder — walks us through the wild arc from $50 teenage investment clubs to running an 800-thousand-user wealth platform. You’ll hear how a three-week basic-training stint, a coin toss, and a missed $2 000 Ethereum bu...

Daniel Batten's life is anything but conventional. He grew up off-grid on the wild beaches of New Zealand, studied philosophy and drama, became an actor, then accidentally launched one of NZ’s first angel-funded tech startups—without writing a single line of code or knowing much biology. Today, he’s a climate tech investor, startup coach, and one of the most vocal voices on why Bitcoin could h...

Stefan Powell transitioned from early rocketry experiments to co-founding Dawn Aerospace, a company pioneering rapid, reusable spaceflight. As CEO and CTO, he's leading the development of the Mk-II Aurora—a rocket-powered aircraft designed to fly to space twice in a single day, offering a sustainable and cost-effective alternative to traditional launch systems. And yes, Elon Musk is watching....

David Inggs went from catching snakes in South Africa to building robots that Fortune 500 companies rely on. As co-founder of Rocos (acquired by DroneDeploy), he cracked the code on how to remotely control robot fleets at scale—and now he’s revealing what most AI robotics startups get dangerously wrong. What You’ll Learn in This Episode: ✅ The "gold rush" trap – Why most robotics startups fail (a...

From backyard experiments to securing defense contracts, David Moodie , founder of Foundry Lab , is revolutionizing how industries prototype and produce metal parts. By combining 3D printing with microwave technology , his team is making metal casting faster, cheaper, and more accessible than ever before . What You’ll Hear in This Episode: ✅ How frustration with traditional casting led to an indu...