
Accelerating the growth of quality high-impact startups through hands-on mentorship and training.
What is the Founder & Startup Support Programme and what are the benefits?
Callaghan Innovation plays an important role as a catalyst for startups and entrepreneurs, by helping to fund startup support organisations, and grow the next generation of innovators.
Callaghan Innovation’s Founder & Startup Programme is comprised of a collection of startup and entrepreneurship initiatives, delivered by our partner organisations (see below). The aim is to build ‘entrepreneurial capability’ in aspiring entrepreneurs, accelerate the growth of high-quality startups through facilitating mentorship and training, and grow the number of tech startups in NZ.
The Founder & Startup Support Programme is designed to:
- lift the productivity and performance of New Zealand startups
- equip aspiring entrepreneurs with the mindset, skills and networks to succeed
- create more and higher quality startups (including deep tech companies)
- lift diversity in startups and entrepreneurship, especially Māori and female representation
- increase the quality and scale of New Zealand’s startup support ecosystem.
Who is the Founder & Startup Support Programme for?
The programme is geared at founders and/or early-stage ventures working to solve global problems. While it’s not limited to sector type, participants are typically digital tech startups or deep tech startups. Ideally, businesses will already have a product or service in mind to develop.
How does the Founder & Startup Support Programme work?
Businesses will receive ongoing mentorship and training from their assigned Founder Incubator, typically over a three-six-month period, with a focus on building entrepreneurial capability. Providers will generally procure their own pipeline of founders/startups.
Following the Founder & Startup Support Programme, founders will be in a stronger position to enter into an Accelerator programme and/or take the next steps to grow their business. Accelerators offer intensive time-limited support for startup growth, focusing on the product or service identified in the Founder & Startup Support Programme, with the aim to get these businesses ready for investment.
Our Provider organisations:
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How can you sign up and how much does it cost?
This programme is free for startups and founders.
If you’re interested in joining or finding out more:
- Please contact the provider organisations listed above, directly.
- or email the startup support team
Friends of the programme
We have plenty of friends in the startup ecosystem who can also offer you some fantastic support in your local area, here are a few to get you started:
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Northland
The Orchard Business and Event Hub - a collaborative business and event space for entrepreneurs, startups and established business professionals in Northland. -
Taranaki
Startup Taranaki is a team of motivated volunteers passionate about growing a strong, innovative & inclusive startup scene in the region. -
Tairāwhiti
Startup Weekend Tairāwhiti is an annual weekend-long event where entrepreneurs, startup enthusiasts, developers, designers, marketers, product managers, passionate people and creative thinkers come together to share ideas, form teams, build products, and launch startups! -
Dunedin
Startup Dunedin - Turn your idea into reality. -
Queenstown
Startup Queenstown Lakes - Let’s turn your big idea into a reality -
Invercargill
COIN South is an innovation network for Southland start-ups looking to scale beyond the region. -
Tauranga
Venture Centre provides the opportunity for you to learn and activate key entrepreneurial skills including how to explore, test, measure, iterate and validate ideas. -
Manawatu
The Factory - Turn your idea into a business with us, or scale your start-up to be a business of tomorrow. -
Hamilton
Soda - We connect businesses of all sizes, industries and stages to the right advice, support, resources and funding, to accelerate business growth and drive innovation. -
Auckland
Outset Ventures - We are an early-stage investment fund and a physical space for technology incubation. -
And more!
Contact us if you'd like your organisation added to this list.
Updated: 18 November 2022