Ārohia Innovation Trailblazer Grant evaluation panel

Spencer Willis, Group Lead, Funding Engagement at Callaghan Innovation

Spencer Willis is the Group Lead, Funding Engagement at Callaghan Innovation. Worked at Callaghan for over 5 years, initially leading the Customer Experience team and now focussed on leading a Funding team that strives to deliver best practice funding processes and experiences. Spencer has been deeply involved in the innovation ecosystem at Callaghan Innovation, in the private sector and as a founder.

Stephanie Benseman, Head of Community at Icehouse Ventures

Stephanie has a depth of experience in venture capital with a focus on companies founded by under 30s. Prior to her time in the VC space, Stephanie spent a number of years supporting young founders and entrepreneurs and was recently named in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia 2023; Finance and Venture Capital List.

Te Pūoho Katene, Executive Director Tapuwae Roa

Te Pūoho (Ngāti Toa, Ngāti Whātua) specialises in Māori investment, entrepreneurship and social impact innovation. He leads Tapuwae Roa, a charitable trust pursuing targeted social impact for Māori. He also has extensive governance experience in Māori, impact-focused and financial entities, and is a founding member of Future Food Aotearoa.

Julia Arnott-Neenee, CEO and Co-Founder at Fibre Fale

Julia is co-founder of an organisation that builds pathways and platforms to see more Pacific people in the digital and technology sectors. She has worked in Australia, the UK and the USA, including holding the role of Global Social Strategy lead at HP Inc in San Diego in her 20’s. Her areas of focus include digital equity, social entrepreneurship and innovation, emerging and disruptive intersection of humanity and technology, and democratisation of technology.

Dr Andrew West, Co-Founder, Matū Fund

Andrew is a scientist and senior public servant turned entrepreneur, who has co-founded a number of high-tech companies, and helps lead more. He has a keen understanding of the primary industries and of food & environmental value chains. He also is involved in manufacturing. He has extensive experience in commercialising technologies through bringing them to market. Andrew works extensively with Māori and has experience in that commercial ecosystem.

Dr Andrew Kelly, Founder, BioPacific Partners

Andrew has had a long career focused on innovation, including science, development and finance. Founder of BioPacific Partners, which has close working contact with approximately 60 multinational corporations in the USA, Europe and Japan. He has extensive experience in deal-making between global corporates and local innovators from Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia.

Erin Wansbrough, Chief Executive, Soda Inc

Erin Wansbrough is an accomplished Chief Executive and governance professional celebrated for her significant contributions to New Zealand's technology sector, particularly in healthcare and med tech. With a robust commercial background in strategy development and a blend of technical and commercialisation expertise, Erin excels in product market fit development, the strategic execution of go-to-market plans, and capital raising, including securing non-diluting funding. Her track record demonstrates effective governance, marked by her service on various Boards. Presently, Erin holds the Chair positions for Hospice West Auckland and the Cultivate Trust. Additionally, she leads as the Chief Executive of SODA Inc Ltd, a prominent business incubator. Throughout her illustrious career, Erin has occupied leadership roles in renowned organisations such as GlaxoSmithKline, AstraZeneca, Life Technologies, Callaghan Innovation, MBIE, and Adherium NZ Ltd, underscoring her real world experience in bringing advanced technologies to market across various healthcare and biotech industries.

Duncan Catanach, Customer Manager, NZTE

Duncan Catanach is customer manager with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) based in Tauranga where he has had the privilege of spending the last nine years working directly with ambitious New Zealand companies accelerating their international growth. His customer portfolio comprises mostly B2B SaaS companies, many of these early-stage and primarily in the Bay of Plenty and Hawke’s Bay regions. Duncan has a particular interest in horticultural technology and deep tech and expertise in innovation and strategy. Prior to taking on the customer manager role, Duncan worked in and managed NZTE teams in strategy, sector initiatives and offshore. During his time as Trade Commissioner for the West Coast US from 2010 - 2014, he established NZTE’s San Francisco presence and hired some of NZTE’s first dedicated tech and advanced manufacturing business development managers. Duncan came to NZTE after five years working as a strategy consultant with Deloitte and others in Melbourne. He is married to a serial tech entrepreneur (software and cleantech) and so understands first-hand what it takes to go from idea to commercialisation to internationalisation to exit. Duncan holds a first-class honours degree in Economics from the University of Melbourne.