We’ve completed 100+ innovation projects across 13 countries.

Who we worked with Hutt City Council What we did together Co-design In June 2019, Hutt City Council (HCC) declared a climate emergency and set an organisational goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 to match Aotearoa New Zealand’s targets. The…

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…

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…

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…

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…

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…

Who we worked with Provincial Government of Bataan (PGB) What we did together GovTech Accelerator In 2024, with the support of the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Creative HQ kicked off a GovTech Accelerator Programme with the…

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,…

Who we worked with Department of Conservation (DOC) What we did together GovTech Accelerator At Creative HQ, we believe in pushing the boundaries of public sector innovation, and the 2024 GovTech Accelerator was another example of this pursuit. Over the…

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…

A platform making sport more accessible to thousands of children is just 1 of the successful projects selected for the inaugural Access Activator programme. Developed in partnership the Ministry of Disabled People – Whaikaha and Creative HQ, the programme invited…

Creative HQ, Wellington’s Innovation hub, is pleased to commence its fifth GovTech Accelerator programme, which presents a unique opportunity for entrepreneurs and government agencies to collaborate and tackle urgent social and environmental challenges Aotearoa is facing.  Creative HQ and the…

Wellington, 27 April 2022 Creative HQ was established in 2003 through Wellington’s economic development agency, at the time called Positively Wellington Business, and now known as WellingtonNZ. It was tasked with supporting the development of high-growth new businesses, with a…

Who we worked with Kāinga Ora What we did together GovTech Accelerator Key skills Applied innovation Read more Grey’s ave The accelerator programme helped Kāinga Ora create a user-centric solution, which in turn secured investment from senior leadership. The programme…

On 7 December we took over the Beehive to celebrate New Zealand innovators working to solve some of Aotearoa’s most urgent challenges. From tackling migrant exploitation, to developing a new approach to foster care, 14 GovTech Accelerator teams that have been taking…

Who we worked with Trade Me What we did together 12-week programme Key skills Problem discovery, ideations, prototyping Trade Me Jobs is the recruitment business unit of Trade Me, New Zealand’s largest Internet-auction website. Trade Me Jobs has approx. 50…

Who we worked with Speakers around Wellington and New Zealand What we did together 1-week festival Key skills human-centred design Read more All the latest updates on Mindset of Design website Exploring how humans can work better together. Ultimately it…

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…

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…

Who we worked with DTI, Philippines and G2G What we did together A series of sprints Key Skills Problem discovery, Ideation, Prototyping Read more NZ aids Philippines in ease of doing business – Philippine Star In 2016, the World Bank’s…

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…

Who we worked with Local businesses What we did together Online and in-person workshop Skills Applied innovation, problem discovery Read more “Wellington businesses to be provided free access to innovation thinking” – Wellington NZ In 2020 more than ever we…

Who we worked with Logan City Council What we did together T7 Masterclass programme Key Skills Applied Innovation, Innovation delivery, Thought leadership Logan City Council has big plans to fast-forward the city’s growth as an innovative, dynamic, sustainable city of the…

For the past 4 years Creative HQ has been running the GovTech Accelerator, helping local and central government to use creativity and innovation to solve problems. Our goal is still the same: to leverage innovation to drive better outcomes for…

Wellington has a reputation for producing ambitious startups, with many people in the city angling to join a tech company to grow their career. But despite this being a growing and energised sector, there’s conflicting data about the job market…

Wellington was buzzing with energy as hundreds of innovators, entrepreneurs and industry leaders came together for Fintech Hui Taumata 2026 in Wellington. This is New Zealand’s flagship fintech event, bringing together leaders from government, financial services, technology and startups to collaborate…

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…

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…

Who we worked with Jobs for Nature What we did together GovTech Accelerator The problem Connecting with nature is essential for our mental, emotional, and physical well-being. It allows us to establish social connections, develop a profound sense of responsibility…

The NZ Tech Rally community and its annual conference isn’t just another event packed with buzzwords and polished presentations. Its core mission is to provide inclusive spaces for the Aotearoa tech community to celebrate, connect and grow together. They achieve…

Who we worked with LINZ NZ What we did together GovTech Accelerator The problem Imagine if we had a 3D model of the entire country – managing land, understanding natural hazards, adapting to climate change, surveying, engineering and construction would…

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…

Wellington – 12 April 2022 Creative thinkers, designers, innovators and entrepreneurs will be able to come together at the Capital’s annual design festival – Mindset of Design – from the 16th to the 20th of May as Omicron retreats from Wellington, and…

Who we worked with DOC and Fisheries NZ What we did together GovTech Accelerator Key skills Applied innovation Read more Thousands petition for greater seabird protection – ODT The Antipodean Albatross population is critically endangered due to by-catchmortality in international…

Who we worked with LINZ, National emergy management agency What we did together GovTech Accelerator During an emergency, reliable geospatial data is a critical asset for a successful response. This crucial information isn’t always easy to find, analyse or take…

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…

Mike Lovegrove started his founder journey by creating Bot the Builder (later named JRNY) back in 2017. We first started working with Mike when he brought his company into the 2018 Lightning Lab FinTech Accelerator. Mike’s story is a fantastic…

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…

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…

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…

Four household-named Wellington organisations have tasked a team of local Gen Z innovators to find solutions to some of their most pressing problems. This week, the participants will reveal their ideas.  Creative HQ’s first-ever Wellington Innovation Hack connected a cohort…

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…

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….

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….

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…

Creative HQ is your place of innovation. We help people around the world transform their ideas into real-world solutions. How? By giving them the energy and skills to innovate. Whether you have a problem to solve in government, hunger for…

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…

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…

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…

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…