Nau mai, welcome to your place of innovation
estimated collective value of startup alumni
Founders supported
Participants through programmes and events
Invested in
startup alumni
The future of our economy is being built here.
At Creative HQ, we’re growing an ecosystem where innovation can thrive. Proudly based in Wellington, NZ.
We back bold ideas and the people behind them – founders, intrapreneurs and public sector leaders – who are shaping what’s next.
From start-ups to government, we empower change-makers to succeed, transform organisations, and prepare for the future of work. Together, we’re creating a more prosperous Aotearoa New Zealand.
We are Aotearoa’s leading innovation hub
Adapt
Tailored services for innovators within the public and private sector who are ready to upskill their teams
and future-proof their organisations.
Build
Support for founders and startups ready for what’s next. Whether you’re refining your MVP or entering new markets, this is your launchpad.
Connect
Get involved through events,
mentoring, coaching and more. Tap into our ecosystem and meet the people powering our economy. If you’re curious, you’re invited.
Your startup launchpad
Since 2003, we’ve supported 400+ startup founders
Empowering you to innovate
Across the globe, we’re working with leading organisations to drive impactful change.
Connect with the ecosystem
From our founders
A thriving ecosystem awaits
We’re proud to be the connector for founders, funders, mentors, corporates, government, public research organisations and universities. Our community may be smaller and younger than other global hubs, but our impact speaks volumes. We punch above our weight, and we’re proud of it.
Why walk when you can sprint?
There are a lot of benefits to applying lean startup methodologies such as design sprints in large organisations. In simple terms, design sprints are a fast and efficient tool for problem-solving. Teams engage with key issues, identify opportunities and turn…
Reimagining healthcare: how Metro North Health is transforming care from within
Who we worked with Metro North Health, Queensland Australia What we did together T7 Masterclass in Innovation What happens when a major public health provider joins forces with Creative HQ? You get a powerful alliance that’s reimagining healthcare at its…
Top books for new entrepreneurs
If you are planning to start a business or if you are running an early-stage startup, you’ll need all the advice that you can get. This is the perfect time to level up your skill sets and soak in as…
Unleashing innovation in healthcare
Who we worked with Metro South Health, Queensland Australia What we did together T7 Masterclass in Innovation What does Brisbane’s public health care system and Creative HQ have in common? How about using the power of innovation to improve people’s…
Startup World Cup New Zealand Final 2024
On 12 September 2024, Creative HQ hosted the New Zealand Final of the Startup World Cup, bringing together eleven of Aotearoa’s most promising early-stage tech ventures to compete for a place at the Grand Finale in Silicon Valley. Founders delivered…
Startups tackling the climate crisis in Creative HQ’s 2026 Aurora Climate Lab
WELLINGTON – 30 JULY 2026: Introducing fifteen emerging startups building scalable Climate Tech solutions across Aotearoa. The Aurora Climate Tech Summit, held at Wellington’s Shed 6, was Creative HQ’s biggest Climate Tech-focused event to date, bringing together founders, investors, industry…
Growing a sustainable future for agriculture, amplifying rangatahi voices & more: GovTech 2022 teams take on social good
Wellington – 8 December 2022: Boosting rangatahi engagement and supporting young women into sustainable agriculture careers are among the issues that 14 projects have tackled in New Zealand’s only government innovation programme, the GovTech Accelerator. Delivered by Wellington’s innovation hub,…
Women in the Capital are raising capital
Wellington – November 2021: Wellington is bucking the trend with women currently making up the majority of founders participating in Creative HQ’s innovation and startup programmes at Wellington’s innovation hub. Nationwide women make up 17% of business founders. Further, women-founded or…
Day 1: From public sector to startup founder
Op-ed written by Annie Kim, Founder at Airie. At some point the question stopped being should someone solve this? It became if not me,then who? While working at Immigration New Zealand, I kept seeing the same problem from different angles….
Wellington-based School of Innovation sees steady increase in people studying innovation following the Covid-19 pandemic
Wellington – 07 Mar 2023: The Wellington-based School of Innovation run by Creative HQ has seen a significant increase in people studying innovation in the years following the COVID-19 pandemic. To meet the steadily growing market demand, Creative HQ now…
Where are they now? Five Fintech Lab founders, one year on
Building a Fintech is not your regular startup journey. You can’t just build something, put it online and start selling. Before your first customer can hand over a cent, you’re navigating financial regulations, licensing requirements, compliance frameworks, and technical infrastructure…
Catherine Jones: Women are driving change in Aotearoa’s innovation space.
I recently attended an executive education course at Stanford University, and in a room of 80 business leaders from around the world, only eight were women. I found that fact odd, a little bit shocking even. In my daily interactions,…
Meet the people guiding startups to greatness
Wellington – 6 June 2024: Creative HQ’s accelerators provide our cohorts with mentors and coaches to assist them through their unique challenges across a 12-week programme. Mentors and coaches play critical roles in startup accelerator teams, but what exactly is…
Manaaki Tairāwhiti
Who we worked with Manaaki Tairāwhiti and Ministry of SocialDevelopment What we did together GovTech Accelerator Aotearoa spends more than 50 billion dollars annually on social services that are designed to help everyone thrive. However, these services inadvertently create barriers….
Government Accelerator in the Philippines: Valenzuela City & New Zealand Government Innovative Social Welfare Programme
Who we worked with Valenzuela City What we did together 16-week accelerator Key skills Innovation methodologies and tools, human-centred design, team collaboration and online collaboration Read more Valenzuela City, New Zealand Government Showcase Innovative Social Welfare Programme Since 2018, Creative…
Transpower
Who we worked with Transpower What we did together 10-day challenge Key Skills Problem discovery, ideation Transpower is a New Zealand company with a big job: manage all the long-distance electricity transmission across the country. Electricity generated by power plants…
Contact Energy
Who we worked with Contact Energy What we did together Design sprint Key Skills Problem Discovery, Ideation, Prototyping Contact Energy is one of New Zealand’s leading energy generators and retailers, providing electricity, natural gas and LPG to about 562,000 customers…
Ho Chi Minh City People’s Committee
Who we worked with Ho Chi Minh People’s Committee What we did together Built innovation capability in HCMPC staff. In April 2019, twenty delegates from the Ho Chi Minh People’s Committee (HCMPC) in Vietnam came to Creative HQ for two…
Research and Development Tax Incentive, with Callaghan Innovation
Who we worked with Callaghan Innovation What we did together A series of sprints to re-design the customer experience for the RDTI The Research and Development Tax Incentive (RDTI) scheme is New Zealand’s largest government financial support mechanism for R&D….
Project Hongi, Japan
Who we worked with MFAT and NZ business representatives What we did together Sprint Key Skills Problem discovery, ideation With an unprecedented series of sporting, cultural and political events happening in Japan from 2019–2025, New Zealand companies and agencies have…
Ministry of Education
Who we worked with Ministry of Education What we did together 2-day summit Key skills Co-design Read more The Kōrero Mātauranga The goal? To create transformational change in the education sector, Creative HQ and partner Openfield created Kōrero Mātauranga –…
Empowering your startup vision
Raising capital as a startup founder, especially as a female founder, can be a daunting challenge. In a recent webinar, Sarah Park and Dr Kathleen Lucere from Even Capital shared their insights on navigating the venture capital (VC) landscape. They…
Redefining sustainable construction: New Zealand’s first manufactured hemp binder set to revolutionise green building.
Wellington/Kerikeri – 8 June 2023: Hemp solutions to global building challenges around waste, carbon emissions and materials longevity are being unlocked by a new Aotearoa-first hemp binder, GEOBIND, developed by a local Kerikeri- based builder and an environmental enthusiast. Co-founders…
State of the industry: How ‘paying it forward’ is building New Zealand’s most valuable export sector
The time is now OPINION 24 May 2024 – If the annual Budget is something of a state-of-the-nation moment for Aotearoa New Zealand, it is timely to present a state-of-the-industry assessment for the tech startup sector. As I stood on…
10 NZ Female entrepreneurs to keep on your radar
Out of approximately 582 million in the world, there are about 252 million women-owned businesses around the world. Though the percentage of women entrepreneurs has increased by 114% in the last twenty years, men still dominate the startup field. We’re…
2022 GovTech Projects
The 2022 GovTech Accelerator brought together startups, NGOs and public-sector innovators in a 13-week programme designed to address social and environmental challenges through cross-sector collaboration. The cohort worked alongside coaching, mentorship and innovation methods to test and advance solutions that…
Accounting Basics for Startups
Embarking on the startup journey can be thrilling, but it comes with challenges—and accounting is a crucial area where founders need a solid foundation. At a recent event, Jono Rees from BoostNest Accountants shared his thoughts on accounting basics for…
Tourism Design Accelerator
Who we worked with Tourism startups and organisations What we did together 12-months coaching through our Accelerator startup programme Key Skills Lean, Agile, Market validation Read more “Tourism Accelerator launches to help startup founders re-shape thetourism industry.” – Tourism Export…
Te Puni Kōkiri
Who we worked with Te Puni Kōkiri What we did together 10-day sprint The Ministry has a broad mandate to support whānau Māori to thrive, through policy design and implementation, monitoring other government departments’ work, and relationship management and advocacy…
Impact Accelerator 2023
Founders that are driving social and environmental change Since 2013, Creative HQ ran 17 accelerator programmes across New Zealand, supporting more than 150 companies and facilitating over $100 million in seed and Series A investment. In 2023, it delivered its…
Building NZ Fintechs
Everything you need to start, scale and lead in New Zealand’s fastest-growing tech sector. Building a Fintech startup? Start here. Created by Creative HQ with Aotearoa’s Fintech community, this guide gives you the tools, connections, and know-how to take your…
“No rules, no recipe” – the Wellington startup that made investing accessible to over half a million Kiwis
“But what if I want to invest just $50?” Sharesies all started with a problem and a conversation between friends and colleagues. Now, over half a million Kiwis use their investment platform every day. We hear from Sharesies co-founder and…
Startup World Cup New Zealand Final 2025
On 9 October 2025, Te Raukura ki Kāpiti hosted the New Zealand Final of the Startup World Cup for the first time, bringing a global stage to the Kāpiti Coast in partnership with Creative HQ. Twelve of Aotearoa’s most promising…
“Government Can’t Innovate” is a myth. Here’s Why
Creative HQ’s Government Innovation Lead Jonnie Haddon sat down with David Downs, former CEO of New Zealand Story and incoming CEO of Education New Zealand, for a candid conversation about public sector innovation, AI and what it actually takes to…
Founder Stories – Shalini Divya
Shalini Divya started her founder’s journey by creating the company TasmanIon as an extension of her PhD research on new battery technologies, which she started back in 2018. We first met Shalini when she brought her company into Creative HQ’s…
Startup Stories – Silverstripe
How many companies in New Zealand can claim that they played a critical role in our COVID response and helped Barack Obama get elected? Silverstripe can, and they can also rightfully claim to be a key part of the fabric…
Startup Stories – Publons
The story of Publons is a great illustration of the power of vision and determination, and the impact you can achieve with a startup. Publons was one of the 10 companies in our first startup accelerator programme, Lightning Lab 2013….
Startup Stories – Sharesies
Sharesies has become a household name in New Zealand. We were lucky to be able to work with them when they were a team of six founders in Creative HQ’s 2017 FinTech Accelerator programme. Their story provides a great example…
Startup Stories – Hnry
The FinTech Accelerator programme alumni Hnry is a great example of the power of building a scalable solution on a straightforward problem that is experienced by many people. What is Hnry? Hnry, founded by James and Claire Fuller, is an…
Startup Stories – GeoBind
GeoBind is one of the more recent success stories to come through Creative HQ’s doors. Founded by partners Alice Hosted and Doug Sturrock, GeoBind is a great illustration of the highly creative, impact-focused companies that are now being built in…
Free tools for remote working
We’re lucky enough to already be set up for remote working: we offer working from home options for our team, and we often work remotely with clients from around the globe. To help you get started, we’ve put together a…
What is exponential technology?
An exponential technology is two things First, it’s exponential. In each period it doubles in capability or performance. Or perhaps on the flip side, it halves in cost in each period. Computers are an example of an exponential technology we’re…
How to Run a Seed Round in New Zealand
Most funding advice online is built for Silicon Valley or Sydney – not the reality of raising in New Zealand. That’s the gap this new guide sets out to close. “How to Raise a Seed Round in New Zealand: The…
Problems are innovators’ best friends
As innovators, problems are our bread and butter and turning them into opportunities is what we do best. In order to do this effectively, we need to know what the problem is. A vague problem is an unsolvable problem because…
Co-working spaces
Coworking spaces let you share a space with other like-minded people allowing you to collaborate and share the journey with other people. Most spaces are set up for both individuals and small companies and a few will be able to…
‘These teams are going to change the game’: Sixteen impact-focused startups selected for Creative HQ’s 2023 Impact Accelerator
Wellington – 27 March 2022: A cohort of sixteen remarkable startup teams brimming with impact-focused solutions to drive positive social and environmental change in New Zealand have been selected to participate in Creative HQ’s Impact Accelerator. And alongside the Impact…
Neumic Therapeutics wins New Zealand Startup World Cup final
Neumic Therapeutics has won Creative HQ’s national Startup World Cup final, earning the title of New Zealand’s top emerging startup and a place at the global competition in San Francisco. The Dunedin company will now travel to Silicon Valley with…
We’ve innovated with
