Hello Everyone:

WellyForge 2 will be on Weds 30th July, 6 - 8pm at Undercurrent again. First confirmed speaker is Neil Butler, proud Wellingtonian, founder and Chair of Optimation who won the Spark Best Hi-Tech Product for the Public Good at the 2025 NZ Hi-Tech awards; the other main speaker will be from the science world and announced shortly. Tickets are limited and live now.

Rule #1 - Celebrate the Wins

• The Aurora Climate Lab Summit at the Michael Fowler centre last week attracted 300+ people, good review from Holly Beals

• Wellumio, stroke detection start-up on the Terrace, has been invited to join the Medtronic Neurovascular CoLab Innovation Platform.

• Flick Electric (Wellington-started, IP now inside of Meridian) was ranked #1 in customer satisfaction by Consumer NZ, we’ll take that as a win even if the team has now disbanded - let’s make sure the talent stays here!

• Hutt City Council’s GenAI Community Emergency Response Assistant is a finalist in the global Bloomberg Philanthropies Mayors Challenge

• OpenStar Technologies, your run of the mill Wellington nuclear fusion company, has signed a MOU with Kyoto Fusioneering around building out the fusion supply chain (check out this Stuff article on CEO Ratu Mataira)

• Xero (still Wellington HQ’ed) bought US accounting firm for US$2.5Bn, a good reminder we don’t need to wait to be acquired, we can be aggressive and grow from Wellington and get world domination - and remember, Xero was once a start-up.

• Raygun launched Autohive, a spinoff business to help people build their own AI agents, see this for a review of the launch party

Got a win? Tell us!!

Rule #2 - Know What’s Going On

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.

Tues 15th July, 12-2pm, AngelHQ Investment Lunch (members & guests only)

Weds 30th July, 12 noon, Deep Tech Network Lunch hosted by the MacDiarmid Institute at the new offices of Advemto.

Weds 30th July, 6-8pm, WellyForge 2 at Undercurrent, main speakers will be Neil Butler, founder of Optimation and Hi-Tech Award winner, other speakers TBC. Get tickets here.

Thursday 31st July, 4.30-7pm, Wellington Start Up Collective at CreativeHQ, come along for lots of non-advice.

Mon Aug 11th (TBC), Quantum & Infrastructure with Dr Cathy Foley

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

• Luke Pierson in The Post pointing out the need for investment for the future, notably the Wellington ecosystem

• NBR (so possibly paywalled) discussion with Rod Drury (Xero founder) about his visions of the future for NZ

• Sharesies 3EOs on a Podcast with Jenny Morel (of MORGO)

• CreativeHQ are seeking applications for a Fintech Accelerator in August

• SummerOfTech are looking for employers read to help junior talent

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)

• MacDiarmid Institute invites companies with R&D challenges to present to their Science Advisory Panels for science matchmaking

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

• Start-Up Coaching (Free, via CreativeHQ)

• Start-Up Wellington (the people behind Start-Up Weekend)

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

• Wellington NZ Business Support

• 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