Ō mātou Purapura
Meet our Tupu Accelerator cohort
Alps2Oceans Foods is a food innovation company and has developed New Zealand’s first, indigenous, sustainable dairy beef snack product called Mīti. Mīti has been designed as a protein rich, dried meat bar, which combines 10-12 month old dairy beef with a unique New Zealand honey product (honeydew), and native New Zealand seaweed (Karengo).
Daniel (Ngāi Tahu) is a proud father of two young boys and a founder with extensive experience in technology sales/business development and account and relationship management. He is passionate about the future of agriculture in Aotearoa and the potential of technology to not only disrupt but also showcase the pastoral farming pedigree, and improve environmental and sustainability outcomes for the benefit of te taiao. Daniel loves science, technology, learning, and finding innovative solutions to problems.
In a similar fashion to the commercial success of Korean and Italian cuisine, DRINK DA MILGY envision the untapped market of Polynesian and Māori cuisine becoming a global sensation, accessible to people worldwide.
Saion is the Co-Founder of Milgy. Raised in South Auckland, where entrepreneurial role models were scarce, Saion diverged from the 9-5 path at 19 and found fulfilment in innovation and tangible impact. Recognising the crucial role of capital in societal change, he embraced entrepreneurship. Saion’s goal is to afford his family and himself limitless experiences and believes entrepreneurship is his means to attain genuine freedom for all. Saion is the co-founder of Drink Da Milgy alongside Edward Baker (Ngāpuhi).
Kaenga Hou Trust offers an innovative whānau-centric finance model, assisting lower-income whānau in achieving homeownership through a unique Progressive Home-Ownership initiative. It seeks to optimise affordability leveraging collective financing, eliminating land ownership barriers, and providing comprehensive support.
Panapa Ehau (Ngāti Uepohatu/Ngāti Porou), Panapa is a co-founder of a number of social enterprises based out of Ruatorea, Te Tairawhiti and holds governance roles across numerous for-profit and charitable organisations. Panapa lives in Te Tairāwhiti and focuses on developing economic opportunities alongside his people.
ŌKU New Zealand is an herbal product company whose range consists of herbal teas, healing balms and elixirs. ŌKU focuses on sustainability and regeneration of New Zealand native bush which they sustainably harvest and press into rongoā/wellness products.
ŌKU builds upon the foundations of Mātauranga Māori principles, which has shaped the company’s sustainability and bush regeneration
Helen Paul-Smith (Tapuika (Te Arawa)), Co-Founder of ŌKU New Zealand is a Ayurvedic Practitioner, Rongoā practitioner and Yoga Teacher.
She has a passion for regenerating native bush and developing sustainable business practices. Her business ŌKU New Zealand was co-founded with her husband Medical Herbalist and Naturopath Scott Smith.
Toi Tī Is a white label product company that creates non-alcoholic beverages and loose-leaf teas, with a vision for replication globally.
Timmy Smith (Whakatōhea) is the founder and innovator behind Toi Tī. Having formed a number companies over her 20 plus years in the entrepreneurial space, the pou whenua of care and connection have been the foundations of all she has crafted.
Bhone is a nutraceutical company dedicated to providing wahine with premium supplements and wellness solutions that prioritise their health, well-being, and self-care.
Renei Kingi (Te Arawa/Ngati Whakaue) is the founder at Bhone Beauty.
She has a background in finance, public relations and the beauty and health industry. She’s passionate about health and wellness, psychology, travel, and food.
IndigiShare is mātauranga Māori led and mana motuhake driven social enterprise building economic resilience amongst whānau so that we can live in a world where the power of koha grows and enables impact.
Maria (Ngāpuhi) is the current managing director on IndigiShare Charitable Trust. Along with her board of experienced trustees, they are embarking on a journey to create a new model of lending to Māori businesses, and imbuing koha as their core kaupapa into other areas of finance, such as Fintech.
IRIS is a Climate Tech startup that is working on the adoption issues of renewable energy to the main grid. These are intermittency and lack of inertia problems to not just the grid of Aoatearoa, but to every grid in the world who runs renewable energy.
Waide Armstrong (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) is an apprentice mechanical engineer and is CEO of IRIS. Waide believes IRIS is an opportunity that will turn whānau from consumer to environmental solutions for our earth, around the world.
Puāwai Farms’s goal is simple, making high quality medicinal cannabis product accessible for all.
Its founder Longo Reo Te Kooro brings years of experience and already proven models honed in California through four market cycles. He aims to cultivate and provide affordable, high quality medical cannabis for all of Aotearoa.
Longo (Ngāti Kahungunu ki Heretaunga), Managing Director at Puāwai Farms, started as a cultivator in California for four year.
Following this Longo began a human resources team handling backend processing for commercial farms.
Taurus Concrete utilises cutting edge “smart crushing” technology to create a fully circular concrete system. They exist to close the loop on concrete by transforming waste rubble concrete back into its original components of aggregate, sand and cement.
Hanna (Ngāti Porou) is the founder and CEO of Taurus Concrete. Hanna previously founded a marketing agency which was acquired in 2020. Her experience includes marketing, events and corporate sustainability. She is now solely focused on finding solutions to combat climate change and better the planet.
The Kiwi Brandy Company hope to create a pure and natural high-quality spirit utilising rejected kiwifruit and low-grade honey primarily, capitalising on purity.
Anthony Bell (Whakatōhea) is the Co-founder of Kiwi Brandy Company. his career has been in the export cut flower industry for 40 years as part of a family business, Bell Orchids Ltd. This involved growing cymbidium orchids and then transitioning to Hydrangea. Anthony worked for 15 years as the manager, however it was recently disestablished due to climate change. Anthony holds five black belts in the martial art Aikido and is the head of the Tauranga Aikido club. Anthony has been married for 35 years and has three beautiful daughters and four beautiful mokos.
