It’s full on in Wellington this week, with Wellbeing Protcol and Mark Pascal hosting a sold-out excellent practical session on “Scaling Localism” on Monday , IBM hosting a session on Quantum Computing on Tuesday (did you know Wellington has NZ’s first Quantum Computing start-up? Check out bupper.nz), and a sold-out Electrify continuing at St James Theatre, and a whole range of other events over the next couple of days (see below).

Last week’s WellyForge 1 was fantastic, thank you to sponsors, LabMates, and to everyone that attended - it’s the people that make events (that’s you). Highlights for me were the excellent talks and venue, learning something new, meeting several new people, being entertained, and seeing the great mix of people (40% start-ups, 20% services, 15% investors, 15% Victoria, 5% journalists, 5% others), plus the way people stayed till late afterwards talking. Here’s a photo of Prof Emily Parker with her amazing molecule with Ian Douglas from Village Goldsmiths in the background:

Ian’s talk was particularly timely given the outstanding work by Callaghan Innovation scientists to make his dream a reality, and July 1st being the day lots of things change around Callaghan and science in NZ in general - see the Post article referenced below.

WellyForge 2 will be on Weds 30th July, 6 - 8pm, same venue, watch for speaker and ticket announcements next week.

If there is someone you’ve always wanted to hear talk and meet then please let us know, we will get them on the stage, somehow.

Rule #1 - Celebrate the Wins

• Let’s all take one for for the sold-out events in Wellington over the last week (WellyForge 1, Scaling Localism, Electrify…)

• And I’m also going to shout out WellyCon, the board game convention held over last weekend in a packed out Takina Convention Centre.

Got a win? Tell us!!

Rule #2 - Know What’s Going On

Weds 25th June, 12pm, Kevin Sheey’s Deep Tech Lunch at Vic (invite only)

Weds 25th June, 4.30-6.30pm, StepFWD June Monthly Mixer, “An evening of connection and conversation …. with the Wellington community” (from CHQ newsletter)

Weds 25th June, 5.30-8.30pm, AngelHQ Investment Evening (members & guests only)

Weds 25th June, 5pm-8pm, AutoHive Launch Party, local legends (Serge van Dam, JD Trask) talk about their new AI collaboration platform.

Thursday 26th June, 2-5pm, Climate Accelerator Aurora by CreativeHQ at Michael Fowler, features Wellington based CasilTech, RockXtract (spin-out from GNS), and XPlora Ventures, along with speakers from more established local companies Hot Lime Labs, Tasmanlon, bspkl.

Thursday 26th June, 5 - 7pm, Gen AI Engineering Meet-Up (Sold Out!)

Weds 2nd July, 6pm -, Wellington Gold Awards, Embassy Theatre

Thursday 3rd July, 4.30-6.30pm, BioTech & Beers, speaker is Dr Steve Lorimer talking about “how he got the bug from Dairy and lessons learning running a BioTech from Dunedin”. Location is Booster, AON Building, Level 19, 1 Willis Street.

Thurs/Fri, 3/4th July, 9am- Wellington Bioimaging Symposium at Vic

Weds 9th July, 5.30-7.30pm, Start Up Wellington, Start Up Match at Foxglove, “five founder pitches. Matched with talent. A night of speed-dating with hustle!” - tickets and details here

Weds 9th July, 6-7pm, Hydrogen Bonding in Ionic Liquids, Professor Patricia Hunt, Vic Uni at the Royal Society in Thorndon. Ionic Liquids are being explored for use in energy, tech devices and health.

Weds 30th July, 6-8pm, WellyForge 2 at Undercurrent, speakers TBC

Thursday 31st July, 4.30-7pm, Wellington Start Up Collective at CreativeHQ

Weds Aug 13th, NZ Energy Excellence Awards in Wellington

Aug 27th-30th, RustForge is in Wellington run by Tim McNamara with plenty of Wellington speakers, including your run of the mill nuclear fusion start-up, OpenStar.

Nov 19th-21st, Synbio (synthetic biology) is in Wellington, organized by Mark Calcott from Vic Uni.

Got an event coming up? Tell us!!

Have we got a wrong day or time? Tell us!!

Rule #3 - Understand the Wider Environment

• The Post had a good article on the science changes coming very soon - “Make or break? Inside the biggest science shake-up in 30 years”

• NZ based Halter, the virtual fencing tech company, hits the magical $1Bn valuation (they’re from up north somewhere).

Got other stuff? Tell us!!

Rule #4 - Use the Community

• AngelHQ for contacting the local angel community

• ADI Clinics in Wellington (Angelic Drop-In)

• Glean Report for a full rundown of Wellington events including humanities

• Kapiti Start-Up Network Meet-Ups (every 2 weeks)

• Morgo for NZ entrepreneurs (run from Wellington by Jenny Morel)

• Start-Up Coaching (Free, via CreativeHQ)

• Taiawa Wellington Tech Hub (WCC/Vic, over near Beehive)

• Wellington Start Up Collective to meet non-advising fellow start-up nuts

• WhatFoundersWant useful stuff from Wellington-based Lane Litz

Got other links? Tell us!!

WellyForge