A strong Fintech sector matters for New Zealand. Financial services shape how people save, borrow, invest, insure and run businesses. When these systems are more accessible, efficient and trustworthy, the benefits compound across the economy — from household resilience to SME productivity and capital flowing to where it is most needed.
Local Fintechs also help ensure solutions reflect New Zealand’s regulatory settings, values and market realities, rather than being imported by default. They create jobs, attract talent and build valuable IP for NZ.
Against that backdrop, Creative HQ delivered its 2026 Fintech Lab. The programme is an accelerator designed to support early-stage startups building financial technology in and for New Zealand. The Lab supports founders working across a range of Fintech subsectors, including payments, wealth and savings, accounting and compliance, lending and insurance infrastructure, financial inclusion and emerging intersections with digital assets.
“It’s about getting the founders from where they are to where they want to be. For some that’s investment ready, for others it’s securing their first customer. In order to help them achieve that we ensure they have the support and capability they need by providing them with coaching, mentors, connection to regulators and connection to investors. Our startups have gone on to raise over $300 million dollars collectively – and this is one of the most impressive cohorts we’ve ever had.” Chris O’Neil, Fintech Lead at Creative HQ.
Fintech Festival 2026
The programme concludes at the Fintech Festival, where more than 300 founders, investors, industry leaders and ecosystem partners came together to celebrate the momentum behind New Zealand’s fastest-growing tech sector and Wellington’s role at the heart of it.
The event featured insightful kōrero from leaders across government and industry, alongside pitches from 12 graduating Fintech Lab startups tackling challenges across investment, compliance, property, lending, cashflow management and Māori land governance.
Together, the Fintech Festival estival showcased the strength of Aotearoa’s fintech ecosystem and the collective ambition to build globally competitive companies from New Zealand.
This programme would not be possible without the support of our partners. A sincere thank you to our key partner, Mastercard, alongside MBIE, WellingtonNZ, NZGCP, Payments NZ, Booster NZ, New Zealand Fintech Fund, FintechNZ, FMA, MinterEllisonRuddWatts and GridAKL, for their continued commitment to growing New Zealand’s fintech ecosystem.
Meet the 2026 Fintech Lab cohort
ALYRT
ALYRT is an AI‑powered platform that detects financial and legislative risks in real time, giving SMEs trusted insights for smarter decisions and long‑term wellbeing.
Founders: Luke Stopford, Larissa Logan, Simon Plant
Website: www.alyrt.ai
LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook
COUNT
COUNT is a new AI-native accounting platform built for NZ small to medium businesses that want simple, powerful financial clarity without the usual accounting drag.
Founders: David Morrison, Derek Harn, Chris Smith, Matt Stevens
Website: www.getcount.com
LinkedIn | Facebook
Feijoa
Feijoa is a smart, simple app that helps people grow their KiwiSaver account with every purchase, every day. By embedding saving into everyday spending, Feijoa targets long-term financial wellbeing without requiring active decision-making.
Founders: David Morrison, Derek Harn, Chris Smith, Matt Stevens
Website: www.getcount.com
LinkedIn | Facebook
Frontier Property Insights
Frontier Property Insights is a geospatial intelligence platform for rural property valuation in New Zealand. It combines spatial analysis, AI-assisted reporting and on-farm field capture to help valuers, banks and investors make better decisions on agricultural land.
Founders: Cameron Walker
LinkedIn
Fundsorter
Fundsorter matches community organisations and charities with grant funding opportunities that are the best fit, and instantly drafts the application for them to submit. The aim is to reduce time spent navigating funding complexity, so organisations can focus on delivery rather than paperwork.
Founders: David Morrison, Derek Harn, Chris Smith, Matt Stevens
Website: www.getcount.com
LinkedIn | Facebook
Hello Cashflow
Hello Cashflow connects to your accounting software and brings your numbers to life – so you can stay in control, protect your business, and always know what to do next.
Founders: Jonny Wilson, Nigel Pinkerton, Kate Divers
Website: www.hellocashflow.com
LinkedIn | Instagram | Facebook | Youtube
Numera
Numera changes how workpapers are prepared and populated. Up to 40% of the cost of preparing annual accounts is wasted on low‑value, repetitive work – chasing information and re‑entering data across different systems. Numera replaces this manual effort with intelligent automation, so accounting firms can complete workpapers faster, with fewer errors, and grow revenue without adding headcount.
Founders: Jared Rumball, Amy Stewart, Jason Lougher
Website: numeraai.co.nz
LinkedIn
Nashrr
New Zealand’s first interest-free fintech platform. Nashrr aims to empower communities with financial tools and services rooted in Islamic principles, promoting fairness, social responsibility, and financial well-being. We aim to close the wealth gap ethically. One platform for financing, investing, and insurance, all without interest.
Founders: Tanzeev Haque, Sadia Islam
Website: nashrr.com
LinkedIn | Facebook
Pacific Prosperity
Pacific Prosperity is a fintech-for-good startup building the digital bridge between Pacific innovation and global capital—turning ideas into investment-ready ventures with real-world impact.
Founders: Lemalu Karena Lyons, Jarod Baker, Jake Hamstra
Penny
Penny is an enterprise financial CRM that links multiple lending and insurance institutions with a single click. It is designed to reduce friction across complex financial relationships, improving visibility and coordination for enterprise users.
Founders: David Morrison, Derek Harn, Chris Smith, Matt Stevens
Website: www.getcount.com
LinkedIn | Facebook
Tākoha
Tākoha is building the digital backbone for Māori land governance, replacing paper-based processes with secure digital infrastructure designed for trusts, whānau, and whenua. We help Māori land entities make better decisions, protect data sovereignty, and unlock intergenerational wealth through governance that is transparent, compliant, and fit for purpose.
Founders: Tiowaana Harrington, Te Aorangi Harrington
Website: takoha.nz
Veritas HQ
VeritasHQ is a compliance services firm specialising in Financial Advice Provider (FAP) regulation in New Zealand. Our proactive approach to sustainable compliance assures complete peace of mind. We offer insights and guidance aligned with FMA’s expectations. Trust us to deliver.
Our tagline is “Your compliance is our business.”
Founders: Uddhav Kirtikar, Janaye Kirtikar
Website: veritashq.co.nz
Get involved: People interested in connecting with the founders, learning more about Fintech Lab, or supporting an upcoming event can contact Creative HQ.
