Wellington – 14 April 2025: Fifteen founders with bold new ideas on how to tackle the climate crisis are currently embarking on Creative HQ’s Aurora Climate Lab to supercharge their start-up journey.
“Aurora Climate Lab is our fourth accelerator backing bold founders tackling the climate crisis head-on. We’re especially grateful to our programme partners who recognise the opportunity to collaborate in positioning New Zealand as a global leader in climate innovation, by supporting the 14 world-class founders in this cohort and helping to turbocharge their progress. This year, we’re proud to shine a spotlight on clean energy and scalable energy solutions,” Creative HQ Chief Executive, Catherine Jones, says.
Over three months, this cohort of start-ups will embark on a specialised programme of support, resources, and community, so that they can achieve a year’s worth of progress in a fraction of the time.
While some Aurora teams have been operating for some time, others are brand-new spin-outs from academic research.
“It’s fantastic to see scientific researchers take a leap and bring their work out of the lab, so they can make a real impact and drive economic growth.” Say the programme manager.
Backed by sponsors that include Ara Ake, Fractal Climate, and Motion Capital, the Aurora Climate Lab builds on the success of previous climate programmes run by Creative HQ. Unlike prior programmes however, Aurora has a special focus on clean energy and scalable energy solutions.
“Why energy? It was pretty simple for us – outside of the urgent need to build new energy solutions for the planet, New Zealanders are facing a cost-of-living crisis partly driven by ageing energy infrastructure”.
Cleantech is also big business and growing fast. NZ has over 130 companies in this sector that have attracted at least $535 million private investment to date. Since 2022, it has generated a total of $291 million revenue, $112 million in R&D expenditure, $87 million expenditure on capital items, and employs over 1190 people.
This year’s Aurora Climate Lab will pitch their business to a room of investors and other partners at the Aurora Climate Summit on 26 June, where they’ll also be joined by local and global cleantech leaders.
Meet the 2025 Aurora Climate Lab teams
| Team | Location | Bio |
| ANDFOODS | Palmerston North | ANDFOODS are revolutionising the dairy alternatives industry, ensuring that every product we create tastes great and respects our planet, without sacrificed the great taste and texture of the foods. |
| Aspiring Materials | Christchurch | Aspiring Materials offers the supply chain certainty that is critical for essential industrial sectors including wastewater, cement, energy and agriculture. |
| CarbonClick | Auckland | CarbonClick exists to help businesses offset carbon emissions in a simple, transparent and meaningful way. The goal? To make carbon offsetting a cool part of the climate action toolbox for more organisations globally. |
| Casiltech | Wellington | By addressing the silica scaling challenge in geothermal resource utilisation in a novel and disruptive way, CaSil Technologies paves the way for the sustainable and efficient utilisation of geothermal energy resources on a global scale. |
| Hikotron | Hamilton | Hikotron is a New Zealand technology company revolutionising electric vehicle charging with smart, reliable, and locally designed AC and DC charging solutions. Hikotron has built a nationwide AC charging network with over 180 charge points and is pioneering innovative DC buffered charging technology. |
| Land AI | Christchurch | LandAI is transforming land-based production systems with AI-driven insights for climate-smart investments. LandAI empower farmers, investors, and agribusinesses to make data-driven decisions that enhance efficiency and long-term sustainability. |
| RockXtract, GNS Spin Out | Taupo & Wellington | RockXtract is pioneering an ultra-low carbon cement alternative through an innovative scientific approach. In partnership with industry, the venture has the potential to accelerate the cement and concrete sector’s pathway towards net-zero emissions. |
| Ocean Balance | Otago | Ocean Balance is developing a novel technology that removes carbon from the atmosphere at scale. electrolysis they enhance phytoplankton carbon sequestration, lower ocean acidification, improve fisheries and produce green hydrogen. |
| RNG New Zealand, University of Canterbury | Christchurch | Matthew and Gavin are developing gas purification technology to convert waste biogas into high-value renewable natural gas. Their modular solution provides an economic incentive for capturing methane at small-to-medium scale sources. |
| Saprotech | Auckland | SaproTech makes alternative leather materials that are sustainable, suitable for purpose and scalable. These attractive materials have application in areas such as fashion, soft furnishing and automotive. |
| Solarferm | Auckland | Solarferm is developing a feedstock platform for biomanufacturing, producing fermentation-grade sugar from carbon dioxide, hydrogen, and energy rather than conventional agricultural crops. Its technology is designed to provide a scalable, resilient source of feedstock for industrial biotechnology by decoupling sugar production from cropland and harvest cycles. |
| Spherelose | Auckland | Spherelose makes eco-friendly ingredients for shampoos, cleaners, and creams by turning cellulose from wood pulp into biodegradable alternatives to traditional chemicals. |
| TesAcha | Auckland | TesAcha is developing a smarter solution for capturing and using renewable energy as a cooking and heating utility and reducing the need to burn pollutants for cooking. |
| V-Quest Limited | Christchurch | V-Quest is a powerful data-driven design tool that helps architects and engineers cut costs, save time, and reduce carbon impact—all in one streamlined solution. By integrating real-time analytics into their workflow, users make smarter, more sustainable decisions without extra complexity or cost. |
| Xplora Ventures | Wellington | Xplora Ventures exists to solve the energy imbalance that leads to skyrocketing heating bills and heavy carbon emissions. By storing summer warmth for winter use and vice versa, we make energy sustainable and affordable. |
