The Startup Advisors Council was formed by the Government in 2022.
The following includes excerpts from Hon Dr Megan Woods media release
The Government has appointed a Startup Advisors’ Council to help identify and address the opportunities and challenges facing high growth start-up businesses, Research, Science, and Innovation Minister Megan Woods, and Economic and Regional Development Minister Stuart Nash have announced.
“Startups are major contributors to the knowledge and innovation that we know are fundamental to New Zealand’s economic recovery as well as resilience, ongoing economic growth, the creation of highly skilled jobs, and to people in Aotearoa enjoying a high quality of life,” says Megan Woods.
“Startups are often high tech, rapidly growing businesses which compete in the global market. They can generate significant levels of research and development and drive economic growth, sometimes developing entirely new industries.
“The Startup Council will help us to better understand the challenges facing startups and the actions we need to take to create an even better environment for innovative startups to thrive. I have seen the value of the approach through my work with the Small Business Council, which produced a strategy in 2019. The government backed these recommendations through immediate changes, and the strategy continues to influence Government policy today.
Seven members will sit on the Council for a term of 12 months. The Council will be chaired by Phil McCaw, founding partner at venture capital fund, Movac and former chair of the Angel Association New Zealand.
The members of the Council include:
- Suse Reynolds, Chair of the Angel Association New Zealand
- Marian Johnson, Chief Executive of Ministry of Awesome
- Grant Straker (Ngāti Raukawa), co-founder of the A.I. language translation platform Straker Translations
- Mike Carden, founder of a number of start-ups including Sonar6 and Joyous
- Imche Fourie, co-founder and Chief Executive of Auckland-based Outset Ventures
- Carl Jones, Managing Partner of WNT Ventures.
More information on the Startup Advisors Council, including the terms of reference, can be found on the MBIE website.
26 May 2022