Kami co-founders Alliv Samson and Hengjie Wang win EY Entrepreneur of the Year

Kami co-founders Alliv Samson and Hengjie Wang have been crowned EY Entrepreneur of the Year for 2025.

The ed-tech platform founders also won the tech and emerging industries entrepreneur category.

The pair will now represent New Zealand at the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year event in May 2026.

EY New Zealand’s Jason Macgregor, who is the director of the programme, said the pair exemplify the clarity and ambition needed to succeed at scale.

Kami co-founders Alliv Samson and Hengjie Wang at last night's awards. Photo / EY

“Alliv and Hengjie have shown that a clear strategy and the courage to lead can produce exceptional results.

“The success of Kami reflects the determination, the purpose and the innovation that set them apart in this year’s judging.”

The company, which digitises classroom materials, supports 40 million users across 180 countries.

In September, Kami said it would purchase British company Book Creator for an undisclosed sum.

In 2024, Boston Ventures Investment Partners took a controlling stake in Kami.

According to Land Information NZ, the Boston Ventures investment was US$175 million (NZ$293m).

Last year’s winner was Shuttlerock founder and chief executive Jonny Hendriksen.

He founded Shuttlerock in Nelson in 2011 to help brands create video and other creative content for digital platforms.

The other category finalists were:

• Kate Gatfield-Jeffries (Moodi), Young Entrepreneur
• Chris Benham (The Village Goldsmith), Product Entrepreneur
• Taurus Taurima (Topline Contracting), Services Entrepreneur
• James Annabell (Egmont Honey), Master Entrepreneur

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