A group of previous EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalists.
A group of previous EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalists.
Resilience and a social conscience are among the qualities of finalists in the 2023 EY Entrepreneur of the Year awards.
With New Zealand clawing its way out the pandemic and fighting major challenges from inflation and overseas competition, EY said the skills the finalists showed would be crucial for the country.
This year’s finalists are: Alexia Hilbertidou of GirlBoss NZ, Angus Brown of Ārepa Holdings, Connor Archbold and Matthew Herbert of Tracksuit Limited, Crimson Education’s Jamie Beaton, Graeme Clegg of New Image International, Hannah Porter of Bear and Moo, David Yu of VeVe, Emily Rutherford of Kiwi Water Park, Chris Warren of NZS Group, Carmen Vicelich of Data Insight, Partly Group’s Levi Fawcett, Mark Edwards (Edwards & Co NZ), Samuel Wiffen of Reveal Group, Supie’s Sarah Balle, Tim Howe of Central Park NZ, and Tim Pointer of Reason Agency & Rescue Metrics.
Jason Macgregor of EY said this year’s finalists reflect the evolved landscape of entrepreneurialism in New Zealand.
He said that landscape was “just as focused on purpose, inclusivity and looking after our planet as it is on driving revenue and global expansion”.
GirlBoss New Zealand is a network for young women aiming to close the gender gap in science, technology, engineering, maths, leadership and entrepreneurship.
New Image International is a direct-selling company specialising in health, wellbeing, and nutrition.
Bear and Moo Bear & Moo is an online baby and children’s store, with a focus on sustainable nappies and clothing.
VeVe is an entertainment providers company behind an app called VeVe which enables customers to buy and interact with digital artworks and virtual models.
Kiwi Water Park is New Zealand’s largest inflatable water park a place of enjoyment for thousands of NZers.
Former Prime Minister Sir John Key with Crimson Global Academy president Jamie Beaton. Photo / supplied
Crimson Education, a university admissions company, helps students gain entry to competitive universities including Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT and UCLA.
NZS Group provides scaffolding, formwork, height access and related infrastructure services.
Data Insight is a data analytics agency focused on enabling data-driven decision-making for businesses.
Partly Group Ltd is a database development company matching buyers and sellers in the auto parts sector.
Edwards & Co NZ offers strollers, prams and baby travel systems designed to make parenting easier.
Reveal Group helps customers locate underground utilities.
Sarah Balle, founder of online grocery start-up Supie. Photo / Maegan McDowell Photography
Supie is an online grocery retailer
Central Park NZ is a Christchurch-owned car park operator aiming to deliver safe and secure street-level car parking for the community and visitors.
Reason Agency is a full-service digital marketing agency and Rescue metrics is a technology solution tracking and fixing conversion issues to save marketing spend.
EY said the Kiwi finalists would compete across various categories for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year title.
From there, New Zealand’s overall winner will go on to compete for the title of World Entrepreneur of the Year.
EY said independent judges, including previous award winners, will assess the criteria of entrepreneurial spirit, purpose, impact and growth.
Previous winner Nick Mowbray, co-founder of toy company Zuru. Photo / Supplied.
James Corbett, Tom Batterbury and Phil Thomson, founders of crime prevention and detection software Auror, were New Zealand winners of EY Entrepreneur of The Year last year.
Other previous winners included Mohammed Hikmet, founder of intelligent transport systems developer and manufacturer HMI Technologies, and Zuru Toys co-founder Nick Mowbray won in 2018.
