Start-ups that began through the University of Auckland’s Velocity programme have been named in the 2022 Deloitte Fast 50, an index of New Zealand’s fastest growing businesses. Deloitte says that their inclusion is evidence of the important role universities have to play in developing New Zealand’s economic potential.

After falling in love with poi while in the circus, Dr Kate Riegle van West packed up her life in the United States and headed to New Zealand to chase a hunch that playing with poi had health benefits. Conducting the world’s first scientific study of poi and wellbeing as a PhD at the University of Auckland, under the supervision of the Centre for Brain Research and the School of Dance Studies, her clinical study proved benefits in grip strength, balance, and the ability to sustain attention for healthy older adults after just one month of practice.

Nandini Singh, soon-to-graduate commerce student and CEO of the Velocity programme in 2022, reflects on her time at university and how involvement with the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) helped her grow from a shy high school graduate to an empowered leader driving positive change in the community.

The first cohort from the Doctoral Entrepreneurial Leadership Programme has enjoyed a life-changing experience.

Insights into the world of CleanTech entrepreneurship were shared at a recent networking event at the University of Auckland by visiting keynote speaker Ben Soltoff. The event was a collaboration between the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) and the University’s new flagship research centre Ngā Ara Whetū: Centre for Climate, Biodiversity and Society. In attendance were University students and staff as well as business leaders, entrepreneurs and investors.

StretchSense, a global leader in high-precision motion capture technology for the gaming and animation sectors, has recently completed a NZ$13.3m series A led by Par Equity, supported by existing investor GD1 and Scottish Enterprise, Scotland’s national economic development agency.

The University of Auckland has been named as a finalist for the Entrepreneurship Education Excellence Awards by the United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE). It is the only university outside of North America to be named as a finalist.

Delta Waterways, a student start-up from the University of Auckland and Auckland University of Technology has developed an innovative solution that uses high-tech satellite data to monitor waterways remotely. Measurements can be taken anywhere at a much higher frequency and generate hundreds of thousands more datapoints than the current hand sample method.

The Business School officially unleashed the 5G-powered technology hub Te Ahi Hangarau at an event celebrating a successful semester’s worth of beta testing of innovative curricular and co-curricular programme delivery. From the start of next semester, 5G-enabled technology education will become a regular part of the Business School’s education offering.

The Covid-19 pandemic created unprecedented mass social deprivation that we are only now beginning to understand the consequences of. Worldwide, a generation of young people have had living in an online world normalised. They are used to screens being their window to the world, experiencing life through social media, online games, and remote learning and are out of practice with in person communication. A University of Auckland student venture is now addressing this generations’ pain point of struggling to make meaningful friendships.