Published in www.hitech.org.nz

Auckland, 30 March 2016.

A record number of new companies from across New Zealand have entered the 2016 Hi-Tech Awards. Wayne Norrie, Chair of the Hi-Tech Trust, says the standard of entries is the highest yet seen in the 22 years that the event has been held.

“This year’s finalists span the full spectrum of the hi-tech sector and it’s great to see so many areas of the country represented. It’s also exciting to see the strong interest in the new Callaghan Innovation Maori Innovation category. The fact that this new category received a record number of entries is very pleasing. It clearly demonstrates that our entire industry is in great shape for the future,” says Norrie.

“Some amazing new companies have made an appearance in the 2016 and we look forward to telling their stories this year,” says Norrie.

Several of the local judges have commented that the quality of the entrants is at an all-time high this year. They predict that the next phase of judging will prove even more challenging as they select the winners from such a strong pool of finalists.

The local judges are joined by a world class line up of international judges that include James Caan of Dragons’ Den fame; Pascal Finette, Head of Entrepreneurship at Singularity University; Linda Jenkinson, Chair of LesConcierges; Rohit Shukla, CEO of the Larta Institute; Savannah Peterson, Director of Innovation at Speck Design, and 2014 Flying Kiwi Dr Catherine Mohr. They join the existing international judges Claudia Batten, Michael Boustridge, Katherine Corich, Pat Kenealy, Richard Keyse and Nick Lambert.

“We are truly thankful to all our judges both here and around the world who give of their own time to assist us with judging. The Hi-Tech Awards continue to be the New Zealand technology industries most important celebration of success and a wonderful showcase for our innovation and talent,” says Norrie.

Winners in each category will be announced at a black-tie gala dinner to be held at the ANZ Viaduct Events Centre, Auckland on 20th May 2016.

The 2016 Hi-Tech Awards finalists are:

PwC Hi-Tech Company of the Year

• ARANZ Geo
• Orion Health
• Serko
• Vista Group

Coretex Hi-Tech Emerging Company of the Year

• ARANZ Medical
• Flick Energy
• Outpost Central
• Rocket Lab
• The Mind Lab by Unitec

New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF) Hi-Tech Start-Up Company of the Year

• Collect
• Figure.NZ
• Figured
• InsuredHQ
• Linewize

IBM Most Innovative Company

• 90 Seconds
• Figure.NZ
• Flick Energy
• Movio
• SnapComms

Callaghan Innovation Maori Innovation Award

• Code Avengers
• Kiwa Digital
• Origins Software
• Precision Seafood Harvesting
• Straker Translations
• Whanau Tahi

Duncan Cotterill Innovative Hi-Tech Software Product

• Movio
• Orion Health
• Timely
• Vend

Vocus Hi-Tech Innovative Services Award

• Figure.NZ
• Flick Electric
• Revolution Fibres

Endace Innovative Hi-Tech Hardware Product

• Aeroqual
• Dynamic Controls
• MAS Zengrange
• Outpost Central

Quick Circuit Innovative Hi-Tech Mobile Product

• FoundationFootprint
• MEA
• Serato
• Serko

NZTE Innovative Agritech Product

• Encounter Solutions
• Hivemind
• Outpost Central
• Texus Fibre
• Ubco
• Wine Grenade

Fronde Hi-Tech Young Achiever

• Danushka Abeysuriya – CEO, Rush Digital
• Scott Barrington – CEO, Modlar
• Jim Dowling – Director, Digital Stock
• Breccan McLeod- Lundy – CEO, Rabid Technologies

ATEED Best technology for the Creative Sector

• 90 Seconds
• Parrot Analytics
• Shotover Camera Systems

Qual IT Best technology for the Public Sector

• Critchlow
• Intergen
• Silverstripe
• Water Outlook