Last night marked a milestone for startup community hub and meetup group, Startup Garage. Startup Garage kicked off 3 years ago, and since then:
- 72 events have been held
- 600 pizzas have been eaten (not only by us, shout out to Paul Spence & IWantMyName for their ongoing support)
- 2560 members joined the community
- 25 startups have shared their stories
- 15 expert topics covered
- We’ve had 1 brand refresh
- 15 international speakers have flown in to share their knowledge
What a ride it’s been!
Startup Garage’s ethos has woven itself into the fabric of the Wellington entrepreneurial lifestyle. It’s a meetup group, started by Creative HQ, where founders, investors, and luminaries from many backgrounds come together to share their stories and invaluable experiences. It’s at these events you get the chance to see under the bonnet, hear what makes a startup redline and tune up your knowledge on topics that matter.
Often the frontman facilitating the conversation, Nick Churchouse, takes us back to when it all began; “It started small – 14 people in an Allen St pub, and it remains intimate, the average event is about 45. With no name tags, no door charge, and a fiercely-guarded inclusivity, Startup Garage is still owned by the startup community, and open to everyone. It’s very cool that it still feels this way after three years.”
Who wouldn’t want to be a part of this fiercely supportive and inclusive community? A community for startup junkies, dedicated founders, growth hackers, ideas people and anyone invested in New Zealand’s innovation ecosystem. The very first meetup was held at Snapper in June 2014. There were 30 garagers in the room with CEO Miki Szikzai giving us an honest insight into startup life at Snapper; making everyday payments easier using contactless smart media.
Since then “Startup Garage has become more than we imagined, easily the largest startup meetup group in New Zealand. It’s the engagement and feedback we get from participants, the startups and speakers who front Startup Garage. Founders find co-founders, startups find staff and interns, investors mix with founders and budding founders minus the dragon tag, and newcomers to Wellington find a warm open crowd and a place to find their feet in the startup community” says Churchouse.
Last night many excited garagers came along to the Southern Cross to celebrate and connect. We heard from our friends and entrepreneurial leaders in the startup space; Anna Guenther (CEO, PledgeMe), Jessica Manins (CEO, ProjectR) and Carlos Chambers (CEO, Common Ledger). We talked about why the Wellington community works for startups and what they see as the biggest opportunities coming up for Wellington in the next 3 years.
So, why does the Wellington community work for startups?
Jessica knows Wellington is a place with “great talent and capability, it’s a supportive community and people high up in businesses are pretty easy to get a meeting with.” Anna backed Jess up and added that she loves “the close connections, the people, the coffee and the ability to walk everywhere.” Carlos actually moved his life from Auckland to be involved in Wellington’s startup ecosystem. Since being immersed in it he’s found the community “very open-minded, open-armed and found it easy to build strong relationships.” He even loves the windy weather!
Whether you like windy weather or not, what did these three think the biggest opportunities for Wellington were looking forward?
Carlos recommends we “get good and win at a few things rather than dilute our focus”, Jess asks us to “embrace new technologies and use tech to solve problems and create world-leading solutions,” and Anna encourages us to “bring in more diversity – not just with women, but by including people with diverse backgrounds and who are from different cultures.” All three are achievable, and all agreed that Wellington is a super collaborative and supportive place to do business.
Looking towards the future of Startup Garage, Creative HQ’s CEO, Stefan Korn says “It’s amazing to see how a small, pragmatic idea to get the startup community together regularly has grown to a large community of over 2500+ innovators in Wellington. We are continuously excited by the energy and creative leadership that comes from the Startup Garage community. I can’t wait to see where the next 3 years will take us.”
Thanks for coming along last night, and for tuning in here. We invite you to join us at our next Startup Garage meetup here.
