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 million in annual revenue.
The report is not intended to capture the full Wellington tech sector. It focuses on startup and scale-up companies that meet the initial project’s scope (Companies developing or delivering digital products and technology solutions), creating a repeatable dataset that can be refined over time.
Developed by Creative HQ in collaboration with WellyForge, Angel HQ, WellingtonNZ, NZGCP and KiwiSaaS, the dataset gives Wellington a clearer picture of the scale, makeup and economic contribution of the emerging tech ecosystem.
The findings also show a sector growing against a tougher wider economic backdrop. Among survey respondents, collective revenue rose 27% year on year in FY25/26, while Wellington-based employment across respondents grew 4%.
Creative HQ said the report gives the city a stronger basis for backing one of Wellington’s key growth sectors, and for targeting support where it is most needed.
“For a long time, people in Wellington’s tech community have known the strength of our tech ecosystem, but we have not had a shared dataset like this to help us measure part of the sector in a consistent way,” said Colin Kennedy, Acting CEO at Creative HQ.
“What this shows is that Wellington’s emerging tech sector is already creating jobs, generating revenue and attracting capital. It also shows where the sector needs more support if we want more of these companies to scale here and stay here.”
The report found Wellington City accounts for 153 of the 204 mapped companies, or 75% of the ecosystem captured in the dataset, with Lower Hutt the next most active node. SaaS and enterprise software is the largest sector by company count, making up 35% of the mapped companies, while Fintech leads local employment and total capital raised.
It also found Wellington’s startup pipeline is active but uneven. Validation and early revenue companies make up 64% of all companies in scope, while scale-ups account for most employment. Among surveyed companies, 73% cited access to customers and markets as the biggest factor that would accelerate growth, ahead of access to capital at 66%.
Kennedy said the data will help shape how Creative HQ delivers Wellington’s tech sector strategy, with a stronger focus on the conditions that help companies move from validation to scale-up.
“The message in this data is that ecosystems do not grow by accident,” he said. “If Wellington wants more high-growth tech companies creating jobs and staying connected to the city, we need to be deliberate about customer access, capital pathways, capability and connections. This dataset gives us a way to track whether that work is succeeding over time.”
Creative HQ said the report is intended to be repeated in future years so Wellington can track whether more companies are reaching scale-up, whether capital is reaching underrepresented founders, and whether high-growth businesses are remaining in the region as they grow.
About Creative HQ
Creative HQ is New Zealand’s innovation engine. Owned by WellingtonNZ and based in Wellington, it has supported more than 1,460 entrepreneurs over 23 years, including Hnry, Sharesies and Tapi, and delivers Wellington’s tech sector strategy on behalf of Wellington City Council.
