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.
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,…
Supporting startups with big ideas
Who we worked with Climate focused startups What we did together 12-week accelerator programme The Climate Response Accelerator is a 12-week programme designed to help impact-focused entrepreneurs solve some of our planet’s most urgent challenges. With the Climate Crisis being…
Government Innovation Exchange
Who we worked with Public sector representatives What we did together A 1-day unconference Innovation and collaboration are two essential ingredients to promote change in government. We are passionate about empowering government agencies to create positive impact. A lot of…
Innovation GPS (Was Barometer)
Who we worked with Department of Internal Affairs, NZTE, NZ G2G, Victoria University of Wellington, StatsNZ, Public Service Commission What we did together Develop a new tool to measure innovation in government Senior leaders in the NZ public sector see…
Training the changemakers of the future
Who we worked with Participants aged 16-24 years old and local businesses What we did together 15-week innovation programme Key skills Applied Innovation – lean, agile, discovery, ideation, market validation, prototyping Read more Stuff – “How to make brands like…
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…
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…
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…
New Wellington tech sector data points to $450M startup and scale-up economy
New data gathered across Wellington’s emerging tech sector has identified 204 startup and scale-up companies in scope for a new baseline report, with 71 companies providing direct input, supporting over 2,500 full-time equivalent roles in Wellington, generating an estimated $450…
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….
Innovate for Trust: The Power of Responsiveness in Government
OPINION 26 August 2024 – Have you ever been freedom camping? Did you find a nice spot of grass and just pitch your tent? Have you ever done this on the lawn of Parliament? In Feb 2022, the grounds of…
Climate Response Accelerator 2024
In 2024, nine teams took part in Creative HQ’s Climate Response Accelerator, joining a growing cohort of ventures working at the intersection of climate action and commercial opportunity. Over an intensive three-month programme, these founders tested assumptions, refined their models…
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…
From an idea to a growing ecosystem: one year of the Fiji Innovation Hub
Fiji’s Innovation Hub may only be one year old, but this isn’t a short story. Nor is it a running tally of events and programmes. It’s a story of how one nation committed to economic growth through innovation. How the…
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…
Hack the Crisis
Who we worked with Startup organisations, local businesses and founders What we did together A 48-hour hackathon to respond to Covid immediate challenges Skills Problem discovery, market validation Skills Waikato supports Hack The Crisis – Wintec “What an amazing weekend…
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…
Procurement works for the known solution, not the unknown.
In Dunedin, a person with a disability can answer their front door more safely and conveniently because of an AI-supported doorstep assistant. Communities around the country are pushing mapping carts through their neighbourhoods, crowdsourcing missing accessibility data – and Easy…
Pōneke Artist Intensive
Who we worked with Artists based in Wellington What we did together 3-month accelerator programme Skills Applied innovation tools After 12-weeks of running Ringatoi Pōneke Artist Intensive (PAI), we can confirm that innovation and arts are a great match. New Zealand’s…
GovTech Accelerator Case Study
Who we worked with Government agencies What we did together 13-week Accelerator Skills Co-design, Applied Innovation tools Read more “Westpac announces $375k over three years to solve NZ Inc issues through GovTech” – Stuff Since 2018, Creative HQ has run…
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…
Five things we would import for New Zealand innovation
New Zealanders vote on 7 November. Every party will get handed a wish list for backing founders and growing the innovation economy between now and then. We wanted to do something more useful than add to it. Here are five…
Activate or Lab? A guide to Creative HQ’s startup programmes
If you’ve spent any time around Wellington’s startup ecosystem, you’ve probably heard us talk about Labs and Activate programmes in the same breath – Fintech Lab, Aurora Climate Lab, GovTech Activate, CreativeTech Activate. It’s easy to assume they’re all the…
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…
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…
Founder Stories – Scotty Diamond
Scotty Diamond started his founder’s journey by creating Fit Rewards in 2022. We started working with Scotty when he brought his company into Creative HQ’s 2023 Impact Accelerator. Scotty has an inspirational story about overcoming adversity and giving your all…
“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….
Innovation methodologies: Agile, Lean, design thinking
Chances are that you have encountered at least one of these terms throughout your career, but do you really know what they mean? We’ve put together a quick cheat sheet to help you navigate your way through the innovation jargon….
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…
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…
A year in Wellington’s tech sector
Building ecosystems that grow and people feel proud to be a part of doesn’t happen by chance. They’re built by people turning up, making introductions, attracting the right investment, backing each other and sharing what they’ve learned. Over the past…
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
