Ok I was running late, actually rushing, and unaccustomed to having a full-length train: much to the security guards’ horror I slid across the shiny tile floor a good couple of metres before regaining my balance and my composure.
That aside, I wasn’t the only one feeling out of place at the awards. Almost no-one walks around in full black-tie attire on a regular basis and tech being a relatively humble and often introverted bunch, they tend to shy away from and not into the spotlight.
Not so at the NZ Hi-Tech Awards. Given New Zealand is in a well-publicised recession, with bad news about company failures and depressed outlooks daily, you’d be forgiven for thinking it would be a quieter affair.
Instead, we hit records across the board — record number of entries, record number of regional entries and record attendance of 1320 at the event itself. Nearly 400 more than the year before.
Is that because in tougher times it’s even more important to celebrate the wins? I think so.
It was like the industry was collectively giving itself a shot in the arm.
I know firsthand how brutal being a founder can be and how many sacrifices we, our teams and our families make to do it.
Sometimes (often) it can feel like you must be doing it wrong, what’s the secret, surely it should be easier by now?
How did all those other people end up with their boats, batches and holidays on tropical beaches while you’re still propping up the business with your mortgage?
The secret is that 99% of the "overnight successes" have spent at least five years in relative anonymity doing the hard slog building their companies into the "hot new thing" you see on the night. In fact if they’re a deep-tech start-up like many of the winners on the evening, it’s likely 15-plus years of research and development — such as Hi-Tech Company of the Year winners Rocket Lab.
Very few are "start-ups" in the true sense of the word. They’ve moved past boot-strapping, most have some form of external capital investment and all are globally focused.
This year what was really apparent was the diversity of entries across all regions, a notable increase in hardware and deep tech entries, Māori and Pasifika. We could still do with a few more women up there though.
Most heartening was the overarching theme of sustainability and a focus on impact beyond profit. Take for example multiple category winner Palmerston North-based NovaLabs, who have developed a UV treatment for disinfecting contaminated water.
Tauranga-based winner of the Hi-Tech Kamupene Māori o te Tau — Māori Company of the Year Award, Envico Technologies have developed specialist automated drone systems for conservation and biosecurity.
Or the autonomous and multi-tasking robotic tractor by Blenheim-based Smart Machine Company helping vineyards solve industry-wide labour shortages and improve efficiency with less environmental impact.
And lastly closer to home, Invercargill-based and female-founded finalists EnPot, who are literally turning the world’s aluminium smelters into batteries — increasing their independence from the grid while making a massive difference to their drain on local power supply and environmental sustainability. Mind blown.
The reason I joined the trust was threefold — to see an increase in physical manufactured tech entries, to represent and encourage Otago Southland participation and to represent women in tech.
You may have noticed that all of the above companies are developing physical products. Seven of the 15 categories were won by hard-tech companies — not the least Sir Peter Beck’s Rocket Lab as Hi-Tech Company of the Year. A quick scan over the last 10 years of winners shows 2024 hasn’t only had the highest number of hard-tech winners, but arguably represents the most complex commercialisation of science and automation we’ve ever seen.
It was my first year as a trustee of the NZ Hi-Tech Trust and our scholarship-focused foundation. In that time I’ve learnt it’s more than just a big swanky awards event, but that the event itself is our platform for doing so much more.
We do have an influence on governance and leadership in industry. These awards are seen as the pinnacle for technology businesses in New Zealand and recognised internationally too.
We set criteria based on purpose beyond profit and evidence of investment in diverse workplaces, culture and sustainable practices and use the awards to showcase what companies can be.
We need more ambitious tech leaders, doing more to push New Zealand ahead, developing more high value exports, investing in impact beyond profit, creating more opportunities and higher value jobs for all of our rangatahi.
So ka pai to the inspiring humans that go into battle every day to do more, to risk more and to sleep less than most are comfortable with. You deserved a party.
- Sarah Ramsay is chief executive of United Machinists.
