Entries Open
Innovate Taranaki – the event to find Taranaki’s best entrepreneurs and innovative businesses. We are very excited to help bring this programme to Taranaki. Key dates are as follows:
Entries Open: Friday 12th May
Entries open now
Internal Selection: Wed 19th & Thurs 20th July
Announcement of 15 semi-finalists : Sunday 23rd July
Selection Night: Thursday 27th July
Announcement of finalists: Saturday 29th July
Weekly workshop: Every Wednesday-2nd August till 27th Sept.
Feedback Sessions: 4th & 11thOctober
Dress Rehearsal: Tuesday 18th October
Finals Night: 27th Oct 2023
Our Process
The Innovate programme is a proven, structured process that helps founders and entrepreneurs realise their dreams. Here’s what you can expect if you enter Innovate Taranaki.
Finalists gain entry into The Factory’s mini accelerator programme run out of Taranaki, and the winner will receive $5,000 cash to power their start-up, as well as the opportunity to pitch to the wider New Zealand angel scene for some serious cash!
INNOVATE TARANAKI
Welcome to Innovate 2023, a 10-week accelerator programme fostering innovation and entrepreneurship in Taranaki. Whether you're an individual or part of a team with a groundbreaking idea, or a STEM student seeking to make a difference, we have a pathway for you. Come, explore, and turn your innovative ideas into reality.
Innovate is all about nurturing and building the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Taranaki. Innovate takes everyday Kiwis, founders, and ideas people on a journey to help them establish a robust business model with the hopes of gaining traction and investment.
Over the past decade, Innovate has helped build hundreds of successful companies and transform thousands of people’s lives all the while keeping a sharp focus on what it takes to start a business from the ground up. We welcome you to come on the ride…
OUR STORY
Innovation has always been at the heart of what we do at Innovation HQ. Just a year ago, we embarked on a rewarding journey by partnering with The Factory to bring their well-established Innovate programme to Taranaki. This initiative, which had been sparking entrepreneurial spirit and fuelling the growth of start-ups for over a decade, found a new home in our community.
Innovate's primary objective – to foster local entrepreneurialism – perfectly resonated with our mission at Innovation HQ. It opened up new avenues for the emergence of young companies, innovative thought leaders, and groundbreaking technologies. The programme's success in 2022, as evidenced by the world-class feedback received from participants and industry leaders, truly validated our shared mission.
The Innovate programme, symbolized by a spinning-top, champions the principles of precision, balance, agility, and speed. Through the adoption of a lean methodology, we guided start-ups in articulating their value proposition, validating their products, and building their ventures. These stages are encapsulated within the Innovate logo's circle, a metaphorical journey of gaining momentum, learning at pace, and measuring results.
The faster we helped start-ups spin their metaphorical top or turn their fly-wheel, the more successful they were at achieving scale. This rapid progress, however, never sidestepped strategic planning and validation, ensuring that our start-ups moved swiftly and intelligently.
Last year, we witnessed the ripple effect of Innovate – an expansive network of support, collective thought, shared experiences, and camaraderie that transcended the confines of the programme. This effect, represented by the rippling circles in the Innovate logo, reinforced our belief in the power of community in the entrepreneurial journey.
This year, Innovate in Taranaki is set to broaden its horizons by joining forces with Startup Taranaki and Venture Taranaki while continuing our fruitful collaboration with The Factory. We're excited to introduce a new pathway, Innovate for Youth, aimed at providing STEM students with entrepreneurship opportunities and fostering innovation within our schools.
Innovation HQ is proud to be part of Taranaki's entrepreneurial journey, and we look forward to facilitating another year of Innovate. We are confident that this year's programme will continue to provide the tools, network, and support needed for our community to thrive in the ever-evolving landscape of technology and business. We eagerly anticipate the remarkable ideas and success stories that will undoubtedly emerge from Innovate 2023.
BROUGHT TO LIFE IN TARANAKI BY
