• Kea for business
  • Kea Connect
  • A service facilitating crucial introductions between businesses and industry experts
  • Kea for you
  • Becoming a member
  • Join Kea's global community and stay connected to home wherever you are
  •  
  • Jobs
  • Find and post local and international opportunities
  •  
  • Events
  • Connect with Kiwi through local, international and virtual events
  •  
  •  
  •  

Kea Connect

Lockdowns place our Kiwi export businesses under different types of pressure and this lockdown is no different. Many of you will be working out not only how to best continue operating, but also how to operate across different alert levels. Added pressures such as supply chain disruptions, working from home and making sure you are looking after your own, and your employees’ wellbeing, can make this a challenging time. 

However, the ongoing pandemic also presents opportunities. We have seen some export businesses successfully adapt or reposition themselves, and for others, a forced slow down has given them unexpected time to take a step back from the day-to-day operations and focus on other aspects of their business. Remember that while New Zealand may be in lockdown, at varying times other markets are experiencing a resurgence.  Unrealised offshore opportunities may lie in wait for you.

If you’re a business who has the breathing space to take stock, then here are 5 suggestions on how this time could be well spent.

  1. Revisit your ‘big picture’

Lockdown gives a lot of businesses the opportunity to take a step back, and reassess their bigger business goals. Look at the backend of how your business is operating offshore – identify pain points and find opportunities to improve and streamline your operation. This may involve revisiting your business’s strategy or purpose, or revisiting your to-do list and focusing on aging items. You could also use this time to look ahead and focus on new initiatives, research, and planning. 

Once you have identified the areas where you can make some changes then prioritise. Break it down into manageable chunks with your team, and build a plan for the coming weeks. 

  1. Network with purpose

If one of your key challenges is around gaps in your network, this is a great time for your business to revisit current relationships and create new ones. Think about the relationships you want to establish across your key export markets in 2022 and beyond. It’s never too early to start introducing yourself, and when the time comes it’s a whole lot easier to connect with people who already know your name. 

Think about partners, investor relations, governance, and channels to market. Who are the key people you could speak with? What kind of individuals could help build your knowledge and understanding? 

Kea Connect is a great place to start and myNZTE is another excellent place for resources and information that can help with planning across key markets. 

  1. Assess your people power

Along with thinking about who you could connect with, also examine your internal capabilities. Think about any gaps you may have in skill sets either now or in the future. This is a good time to think about opportunities to upskill your staff or work with them on their personal development. 

If you are looking to hire, take this time to work out what sort of skills your business needs. A Kea survey revealed 31% of offshore Kiwi intend to return to New Zealand. Think about how your business could capitalise on the strengths of these returning Kiwi. 

To access the full report and learn more about this opportunity to leverage returning Kiwi talent for your business, click here. 

  1. Drive home your digital strategy

Are you using the right channels to engage with your customers? And are you engaging with them in a way that’s relevant? Use this time to really drive home your digital strategy and make sure there are no obvious gaps and that you are getting the maximum value from your digital spend. When done correctly a strong digital strategy can be invaluable for your export business.

If you are looking for support on building your digital capability, check out MBIE’s Digital Boost programme which covers a range of different tools and resources to help you digitise your business. This includes a range of categories including digital marketing, website design, social media and digital tools that make business easier.

  1. Discover your export potential

This one is for businesses that haven’t started their export journey yet. Now is a great time to consider the export potential of your business and ask yourself some key questions to help clarify your thinking. Both myNZTE and business.govt.nz, along with myNZTE’s tools can help you in this area. 

Whatever your export goals are, remember that you are not alone. Kea nurtures a vibrant community of over half a million Kiwi offshore, many of whom are keen to help. Connect with us today.
Read more about how Kea Connect can help your business, our process here, and reach out today.

CONTRIBUTOR

Shivana Pemberton

Senior Global Connections Manager

Kea New Zealand

Kea member

HOW KEA CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS GROW

Kea Connect

Kea Connect is a free service that will help your business grow offshore. We connect you personally with regional, sector-specific experts and peers.

READ MORE

Resources

Kea is here to help New Zealand businesses grow offshore. Be inspired and hear advice from businesses who have created their export path.

READ MORE

Jobs Portal

Looking for the right talent for your team? Reach our global Kiwi community through the Kea international job portal. 

READ MORE

Is Kea Connect right for you?

Kea Connect is for any New Zealand business that wants to or is already exporting offshore. It does not matter where you want to export, what industry your business is in, or the size of your business.

We have helped small businesses that are taking their first steps offshore, through to larger enterprises looking to scale in existing markets. These businesses span all industries, many different export markets, and all have benefited from connections to our global community. 

How Kea Connect can help

Deciding to take your business to the world is a big step. It’s exciting, and a little daunting. We get that, and so does our community of global Kiwi. 

Introducing your business to our extensive, international community will allow you access to market intelligence and exclusive insights to grow your business offshore. 

Our members include thousands of industry experts, thought leaders, and fellow peers who have personal insights from their own journeys. They share a passion for seeing Kiwi businesses succeed, and through Kea Connect, will help make the process a lot less daunting. These exclusive connections at this scale are unique to the Kea Connect service.

Kea Connect FAQ’s

There are no limits to the types of questions we can help you answer, but here are a few examples. For specific case studies, take a look here. 

  • What distribution channels are available in the UK for my product? 
  • What are the consumer trends in my industry in Singapore? 
  • Who are my key competitors in Germany, and how can we make our brand stand-out ? 
  • What does a good pitch look like for prospective USA investors? 

Kea Connect process

Step one: Become a member and fill out the Kea Connect request form

Your journey with Kea Connect starts with our online request form. Here we ask you to answer basic questions that will help us get a baseline understanding of your business, where you are looking to export, and the kind of support you need. 

Step two: Meet with the Kea team

Within 5 working days, you will hear from a member of our team to set up a 30 – 60 minute call/meeting. The purpose of this is to dive more deeply into your business needs, ensure we are clear on your goals, so we can find the right people to introduce you to.

For this, we ask that you come prepared with key questions, an idea of the type of person or business you would like to be connected to and what areas you need advice on. 

Step three: We find connections for you

Once we are confident we have the information we need to find the right people, we explore our community and identify individuals we believe are best suited to help. 

Once identified, we will approach these individuals on your behalf, provide a brief on your business and the kind of support you need, ask if they can help and are happy to be introduced.

Step four: Get connected

As and when we hear back from our community and have their confirmation they can help, we will make an email introduction. We’ll then hand it over to you for further discussion.

We often get asked how long the introduction will take. Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this. Introductions can take as little as 2 hours from the time we approach these individuals, to a couple weeks or more. You will receive updates from us throughout the process no matter how long it takes, and our team is always available for any questions you have along the way. 

Welcome to the Kea community

Your journey with Kea doesn’t stop once you are connected. Once you engage with us, you join a global community of Kiwis who are passionate about New Zealand and the success of its people and businesses. As part of the Kea Connect service, we offer ongoing support through our Kea Connect newsletter, interactive events, first-hand stories and essential resources that will help in your export journey. We also love to follow up with Kea Connect businesses to showcase the incredible efforts of our business community.

We hope this provides you with a good understanding of Kea Connect. If you’re ready to connect please get in touch here.

Ignite your export journey with Kea Connect

HOW KEA CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS GROW

Kea Connect

Kea Connect is a free service that will help your business grow offshore. We connect you personally with regional, sector-specific experts and peers.

READ MORE

Resources

Kea is here to help New Zealand businesses grow offshore. Be inspired and hear advice from businesses who have created their export path.

READ MORE

Jobs Portal

Looking for the right talent for your team? Reach our global Kiwi community through the Kea international job portal. 

READ MORE

Inside of a Dunedin appartment living room full furnished

Much has already been written about New Zealand’s hot property market – both in Residential and Commercial, it had been going pretty strongly for a few years prior to Covid lockdowns in March 2020 and then effectively took off after that. We have seen the Government keen to slow residential price growth and introduce numerous policy changes to achieve this whilst at the same time reintroducing the ability to claim depreciation costs for commercial properties.

For me, things like appropriate gearing, interest cover ratios and amortisation of debt are key with interest rates and yields where they are. That said, globally interest rates are low and people are seeking yield – commercial property is still an attractive asset class but we also need to be conscious of changes in interest rates and yields, and how these will affect values and returns, which will vary from asset class.

It’s also important to consider the impact of global events on all these factors – leading to location, asset class, stability of the tenant and their ability to weather the storm or the attractiveness of the property around reletting.

What recommendations do you have for people wanting to get into commercial property and the housing market?

As a generalisation – Residential price growth seems to have stabilised the last couple of months as people come to grips with recent legislative changes. We haven’t seen residential investors flood the market with properties as they exit and switch to commercial, some investors and owner occupiers are sitting back and adopting a bit of a “wait and see approach.” At a recent launch of a townhouse project in Wellington 40/43 units sold on the night to a mix of investors, owner occupiers and first-time buyers, a lot of whom had Mum and Dad there helping out. Interest rates appear stable albeit there is always a view that they will go up mid to longer term.

For commercial I’d recommend sticking to the fundamentals – location, nature of the property (office /industrial etc) and supply/demand within those sectors, construction (NBS), current rentals to market and alternate uses of the property and is the property fit for purpose (i.e. an older industrial property may not have the floor loading and stud height to deal with current requirements).

Residential is similar – location, proximity to transport, schools and facilities, construction – water tightness and cladding etc. Plus the usual Freehold versus Leasehold and underlying ground rent, body corporate costs – any deferred or proposed maintenance issues and if you or the neighbour has a big section – what the local plan allows for in terms of height and ground coverage.

What trends are you seeing in the market?

In the Commercial market, we are seeing lots of talk about the office market and how this will be impacted by working from home. I personally think this is a short term trend rather than a long term systemic change to the market. That said we do need to see office’s being more attractive places to work – so what amenities are on offer – showers, bicycle parks, electric vehicle charging – we are even seeing facilities such as yoga and prayer rooms and sleep pods etc. Also, are they fitted out appropriately to deal with social distancing and more and more we are seeing tenants desire to meet various environmental standards around emissions and alike.

When it comes to suburban locations we are seeing some growth in this sector in respect to retail offerings  –  certainly during various stages of lockdown people were still looking for their caffeine fixes, local hospitality, retail, gyms and the like and we have seen these increase in popularity as an asset class.

In regards to tourism and hospitality, while our borders remain closed for significant tourists the view is this asset class will continue to be “watch” as we wait for longer term impacts on yields, values and revenue.

In terms of Residential, it’s about the rise of the Townhouse. We are seeing a lot of new entrants to the market looking to take advantage of the housing demand – people buying 2-4 residential properties and demolishing them to replace them with blocks of townhouses. Demand is high at the moment but the cautious banker in me notes it only takes some project delays, costs increase or settlement defaults to have some of these to end in tears. There’s also plenty of evidence around supply chain issues and I wonder how these will play out for smaller less experienced builders and developers as the major suppliers will prioritise their long term larger clients.

Any tips on how to navigate?

Cash is King – both in terms of initial gearing and ongoing cashflows. Property tends to be a long term asset – so get the gearing right and it provides the ability to not only weather the storm but also take advantage of market trends. Don’t hesitate to re-invest in your property.

To an extent – Love your tenant, they provide the cash flow, so making sure they are looked after, have good facilities and premises is crucial. We saw some very interesting tenant and landlord behaviours during lockdown – the best outcomes for all were when all parties engaged early and found common ground.

Don’t assume that the market will always go up – it wasn’t that long ago we experienced real peaks and troughs in respect to values and rentals– that said I do see more of a rolling hills scenario for the mid term.

Can you talk a bit about rates and terms?

I’m not a financial advisor so I can’t give any advice per say but if people are looking for help I would recommend they talk to one of our experts by following the link below. 

https://www.bnz.co.nz/business-banking/partners/professional/specialists

What I can say is that I started banking back in the 80’s and these days interest rates are certainly at historic low’s – the 80’s saw lending rates >25%. Personally, when it comes to rates and terms I always like to know exactly what I’m up for and that way I can then adjust income and outgoings from there so I tend to favour a fixed rate for a medium term and then manage through rent reviews.

CONTRIBUTOR

Phil Bennett

General Manager of Property Finance

BNZ

Kea member

Tell us about TE WAI and what drove you to launch the business?

TE WAI™ ~ ‘The Water’ is a New Zealand created hydrating, fine-mist facial spray featuring five native extracts Kawakawa, Manuka, Kowhai, Mamaku and Pohutukawa infused in pure New Zealand water. 

Kawakawa has anti-microbial and analgesic properties and reduces inflammation. Manuka assists with healing. Kowhai is perfect for cleaning and moisturising. Mamaku has soothing and moisturising properties. Pohutukawa promotes soft youthful skin.

Te Wai delivers an immediate increase in skin moisture and hydration to energise and revive the skin in one quick spritz, helps set makeup, cools hot sweaty skin, nourishes the skin and provides an enhanced, bright and fresh look. 

There is no other product in this format on the market offering these botanicals and this New Zealand provenance. So much so TE WAI is determined to take on the big players in the $1.7 billion global facial spray market. While still in its first year of market launch, TE WAI has just been announced as a finalist in this year’s UK Pure Beauty Global Awards. 

All this came about when TE WAI co- founders Brooke & Carrick Graham returned home from overseas, and wondered how they could best share New Zealand’s irrepressibly wild freshness with the friends they’d left offshore.

A full three years in development, Brooke and Carrick set out to capture the uniqueness and healing properties of New Zealand’s native flora and deliver these via a hydrating fine mist facial spray, all wrapped in the provenance of the country they love.

What was your initial approach to funding? 

Like many New Zealand start-ups, they are fully self-funded by the co-founders. As brand and consumer awareness has grown, alongside actively pursuing  new overseas market opportunities for TE WAI, the founders remain open to new investment and capital streams.

What were the key decisions the business needed to make to extend offshore? 

The focus has always remained on the TE WAI brand particularly when engaging in discussions with overseas parties. There has to be a good brand fit as from day one, we wanted to build an internationally recognised New Zealand brand. To achieve this we are passionate about working with people around the world that share the same enthusiasm for TE WAI (and for New Zealand), which has sometimes meant focusing on smaller distributors than expending considerable time and effort on big-name companies where TE WAI could get lost in the mix. 

In terms of key decision-making for the business another element important to us was having agreement between the co-founders on market entry initiatives. It sounds self-evident but we wanted this to be a team effort and recognise that we both have strengths and weaknesses, so ensuring we play to those strengths are essential. 

Where have you exported to, and what have been the key challenges throughout your export journey across these markets?

Like any bright-eyed entrepreneurs the sheer size and scale of China beckoned brightly. We’ve learnt, despite working with a talented Chinese marketing contact, having Daigou ‘product experience officers’, and TE WAI on Taobao and with New Zealand based Chinese traders, there’s not a lot of love for a brand unless you’re prepared to drop your price and throw a significant amount of money to advertise it in China.  These experiences have certainly reinforced the point of working with people who are passionate about the TE WAI brand.

Instead we took the approach of being more strategic in our marketing and building overseas market entry points. This has led to sales in Australia, Singapore and early-stage discussions that would see TE WAI entry into and available across the GCC markets and in India. We’re also specifically targeting a number of other markets to build and support the TE WAI international brand positioning strategy.

Tell us about your experience with Kea Connect since reaching out in 2018?

We were aware of Kea Connect and that it facilitated connections to other New Zealanders around the world. When we reached out to Kea we were amazed at the level of support and enthusiasm offered to us from day one. This support has been fantastic and has allowed us to directly engage with people in-market as we started exploring exporting opportunities. 

We utilised Kea Connect as a sounding board for the TE WAI concept, shared our initial MVP with Kea Connections for feedback and market validation. Thanks to these connections and conversations, New Zealand now has a brand that is taking on global cosmetic brands. 

How has TE WAI grown since 2018? 

Don’t you love this question. Taking an idea and then developing a formula, finding a delivery vehicle (hydrating, fine-mist facial spray), creating a brand story and Trade-Marked brand, identifying sustainable packaging options, then creating a MVP for market testing, manufacturing options has seen the TE WAI journey spread out over three years. When we finally took delivery of finished goods it was four days before New Zealand was moved into Level 4 lockdown thanks to Covid-19. That week, a key consumer market for us – international tourists, all but vanished.

Not deterred, we have subsequently focused on ‘Bringing a bit of New Zealand to the world’. It’s early days, but with initial sales in New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, China, and market entry planned for the GCC and India, sales of TE WAI are expected to double over the next six to twelve months. 

You were recently announced as a finalist in the UK’s Pure Beauty Global Awards – congratulations! How did this come about?

A motivating factor being the creation of TE WAI was to capture a unique expression of New Zealand and build a brand that supported this great country of ours. As we started creating TE WAI we knew we had something quite special particularly as New Zealand has some of the most amazing botanicals in the world.

As part of the strategy to ‘Bring a bit of New Zealand to the world’ we’re very proud of TE WAI and believe it can compete against the best offerings in the US$1.7 billion global facial spray market, hence entering the UK’s Pure Beauty Global Awards.  We’re absolutely thrilled that TE WAI has been announced as a Finalist.

It’s also recognition and a huge vote of confidence in the New Zealand businesses that have helped us on this journey – we wouldn’t be here without their help.

For businesses that are considering whether they are ready to expand, what would be your top piece of advice?

Give it a go as nothing ventured nothing gained. 

CONTRIBUTOR

Brooke and Carrick Graham

Founders

TE WAI

Kea member

HOW KEA CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS GROW

Kea Connect

Kea Connect is a free service that will help your business grow offshore. We connect you personally with regional, sector-specific experts and peers.

READ MORE

Resources

Kea is here to help New Zealand businesses grow offshore. Be inspired and hear advice from businesses who have created their export path.

READ MORE

Jobs Portal

Looking for the right talent for your team? Reach our global Kiwi community through the Kea international job portal. 

READ MORE

Tell us about yourself and how KYT Bags came about?

The KYT story begins with my diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes ten years ago at age 20. It came fairly out of the blue – I didn’t know anyone else with it, or what diabetes really meant. I found it difficult to manage diabetes alongside a young adult lifestyle. My friends were wild and carefree, and I had to be measured and consistent in caring for myself. Taking my massive bag of equipment around – especially to social events where others would make awkward comments when I pulled my diabetes things out – made me really self-conscious. I wanted a discreet, streamlined and less awkward way of managing my diabetes and equipment day-to-day. Plus I was itching to ditch the battered nylon medical case I was using in favour of something much more fashionable!

I looked for a bag that fit the bill, but nothing existed. Later, after studying fashion technology, I decided to take matters into my own hands. After many attempts, refinements and insights gained from hundreds of conversations with diabetics around the world, we (my partner, JP and I) landed on KYT Crossbody – our first product which we launched in mid-2018

What has been the most useful resources for you that helped KYT Bags achieve growth?

Our business journey has been guided and supported by many people and in many ways – lucky, because we may not have been able to get off the ground otherwise!

We were able to find a lot of early advice through a start-up incubator (Creative HQ Wellington), which was a helpful hub for us to learn basic business ins–and–outs, and to foster critical relationships early. It was there that we were able to strike up a relationship with another Kiwi start-up who became our first production partner. 

Now that we’re a bit further along the way, we’re after targeted, specialised advice which Kea has helped us to find. All of these inputs contribute to business growth as it helps us to upskill as KYT develops. We’ve found that most people we talk to know someone with diabetes (a potential customer or collaborator) or a helpful hand that they can put us in touch with. We’ll continue to leverage this as much as we can.

Are there any particular learnings or mistakes that stick out for you in terms of taking KYT into offshore markets?

KYT was a global proposition from the beginning because of the global nature of diabetes, and the niche that our bags live in. We quickly learned the importance of connecting widely with the international diabetes community and were delighted by the amount of support that KYT received from the start. I’ve had design conversations with diabetics from all over the world to understand their needs and translate them into bag features.

I was able to sense-check ideas and make design decisions based on what we knew the community really wanted and loved. This ensured that we had an internationally-relevant product, and established a ‘word of mouth army’ early on. Our collaborators have marketed KYT within their own communities and diabetes networks and helped grow our reach to a largely invisible audience. This was no better demonstrated than by our first customer in Japan, who helped several other women with diabetes navigate our English-speaking website and get bags of their own, after they saw her post a picture of KYT Crossbody online.

Tell us about your experience with Kea Connect since reaching out in 2019

We were introduced to Kea through a friend, and were quick to accept the invitation! Given the stage of our business – having sold out of our first designs, moved to a larger production partner, and now focused on expanding our product range – we valued advice from Kea about who might be best to talk to first. We were able to meet with someone very experienced in the accessories world, as well as talk about IP with people who have a global perspective on protecting products.

Each conversation has shed light on questions we weren’t sure how to answer and given direction as to next steps. It’s reassuring to have access to a network of experts, knowing that we can pose a problem, question or idea and be put in touch with someone who might be able to help. As I said at the beginning, these conversations really matter! 

Tell us about your exciting new launch!

Following the sellout of our first design, KYT Crossbody, we’ve been working furiously to expand the KYT range with three brand-sparkling-new designs. They’re based on lots of feedback and collaboration with the diabetes community about what they want to see next (can anyone say men’s design?). We’re getting close to pressing ‘go’, but understandably 2020 brought some unexpected delays with launch, and our priority is to make sure that everyone we work with stays safe. We’ll be able release all three designs in 2021 through a Kickstarter campaign, so that we can reach as much of the global diabetes community as we can. There’ll be some sneak peeks over social media, as well as details about the launch to come. Please follow along to hear the latest!

CONTRIBUTOR

Brooke and Carrick Graham

Founders

TE WAI

Kea member

HOW KEA CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS GROW

Kea Connect

Kea Connect is a free service that will help your business grow offshore. We connect you personally with regional, sector-specific experts and peers.

READ MORE

Resources

Kea is here to help New Zealand businesses grow offshore. Be inspired and hear advice from businesses who have created their export path.

READ MORE

Jobs Portal

Looking for the right talent for your team? Reach our global Kiwi community through the Kea international job portal. 

READ MORE

Matheus Vargas, Orbis Diagnostics CTO, and Professor Cather Simpson Orbis Diagnostics Founding scientist and Director, in the lab.

Tell us about Orbis Diagnostics, and the problem/s it solves?

COVID-19 has significantly impacted our ability to move about safely – within our own communities and internationally. The social and economic implications of this continue to be devastating. While people want assurance that life will return to normal, there is no clear end in sight. Without verification of a person’s level of immunity and determining whether they are capable of carrying or spreading the virus, initial vaccines being deployed this year are unlikely to support the reopening of international borders. Containment strategies such as travel bans, border restrictions and mandatory quarantine will continue in the meantime; however, existing solutions are not easily scalable and can’t accurately identify who is at risk, and who isn’t. 

Orbis Diagnostics has developed a rapid, precise, cost effective, and deployable COVID-19 quantitative immunity screening test to verify a person’s current health status to support the safe resumption of international travel. Deployment of our technology can help re-enable the movement of people, rescuing industries such as tourism, travel, aviation, and cruise ships from collapse.   

The original concept for Orbis Diagnostics’ antibody test was actually “Milk-on-a-disc” technology. Can you walk us through the pivot?

Orbis was originally directed towards animal health, its system was detecting and quantifying progesterone in milk for heat detection, to inform the timing of artificial insemination. When the pandemic took hold in early 2020, the need for a high throughput, quantitative antibody test to verify immunity to COVID-19 was clear, and Orbis’ system was perfectly suited. The team pivoted to adapting Orbis’ system to a COVID-19 immunity test, exploiting the advantages of a system designed for a wet, dirty environment, that could provide a robust, portable, accurate immunoassay system operated by non-technically qualified staff – innovative features that will enable widespread deployment. Orbis’ previous R&D success in animal health for detection of progesterone at very low concentrations has allowed the Company to shift its focus to COVID-19 screening, only requiring adaptation of its advanced technology rather than invention anew.

Orbis has now developed a Quantitative Immunity Test for COVID-19, which is currently being productised. It can process up to 15 samples simultaneously in 15 minutes, providing laboratory grade results at the point of need.

You recently announced your partnership with IDEMIA – a Multinational who is behind e-gates at airports. Congratulations! What does this partnership mean for the future of Orbis Diagnostics?

Bringing together Orbis’ technology and IDEMIA’s expertise in augmented border control, the two companies are developing a risk-driven framework for airports, governments and border control agencies. This partnership will accelerate Orbis’ product development and deployment to airports as a tool to facilitate the progressive and safe reopening of international borders as more countries hopefully become successful at suppressing the virus. We plan an initial trial together at an airport in Australasia.

When can we expect to see prototypes being piloted?

Orbis anticipates its platform is likely to be officially introduced into airports within the Asia Pacific region as early as the third quarter of 2021. As part of clinical trials, prototypes would be piloted in an airport setting earlier, potentially in the next few months.

You recently went through / are currently going through an investment round to support manufacturing and product deployment. What has been your approach to funding to date?

Pacific Channel, an early-stage investor in deep-tech ventures in New Zealand is the largest investor in Orbis. Orbis has just launched a NZ$9m investment offer to secure funds to productise its immunity test. In addition to investment from Pacific Channel and its scientific founders and early shareholders, Orbis has secured written intent from a US-based institutional impact investor. It seeks a remaining ~NZ$6.5m.

Has being a NZ-developed tech helped or hindered Orbis?

New Zealand is emerging as a leading centre for biotechnology and has been an ideal environment for Orbis’ development. The founding scientists, Professors David Williams and Cather Simpson have an outstanding record of invention, including developing the globally leading Clearblue Digital pregnancy and ovulation rapid strip tests and the first at-home fingerpick cardiac biomarker test. Of course, Orbis has also been privileged to be situated in a country with strong health policy and border security standards that kept COVID-19 prevalence low last year. The New Zealand government’s exemplary control of the virus has given Orbis time to grow its business and focus on the next challenges for the world – not just virus control and treatment. The New Zealand community is now keen to explore what needs to happen next to continue the country’s success and open us back up to the world without compromising our health sovereignty.

How important is it for NZ tech companies to set global ambitions from Day 1?

Any deep tech company should aim to advance technological frontiers. If the technology has the potential to have a real impact on a global scale, then the company owes it to themselves and the rest of the world to exploit that to its full potential.

CONTRIBUTOR

Brooke and Carrick Graham

Founders

TE WAI

Kea member

HOW KEA CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS GROW

Kea Connect

Kea Connect is a free service that will help your business grow offshore. We connect you personally with regional, sector-specific experts and peers.

READ MORE

Resources

Kea is here to help New Zealand businesses grow offshore. Be inspired and hear advice from businesses who have created their export path.

READ MORE

Jobs Portal

Looking for the right talent for your team? Reach our global Kiwi community through the Kea international job portal. 

READ MORE

Our Partners

ASB Logo

Kea nurtures a vibrant and diverse community who share a strong passion for New Zealand and the success of its people and businesses