NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Business

Tauranga tech company WNT Ventures creates millions of dollars with start-up businesses

Carmen Hall
By Carmen Hall
Bay of Plenty Times·
13 Jul, 2019 12:28 AM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

WNT Ventures chief executive Carl Jones said it was great to be involved with companies at the forefront. Photo / Andrew Warner

WNT Ventures chief executive Carl Jones said it was great to be involved with companies at the forefront. Photo / Andrew Warner

Technology is the fastest-growing industry in New Zealand and a Tauranga deep tech incubator company is helping local and national start-ups get out of the garage and on to the global stage.

WNT Ventures chief executive Carl Jones said it was ''brilliant'' to be involved at ground level and $8 million had been pumped into 13 businesses, which had created about 150 jobs and collectively raised more than $72m.

The businesses were funded in two phases over five years and, while two companies had closed, SoundSwitch - a Tauranga software/hardware DJ, entertainment integration business - had been bought out by American firm DJ Denon.

Sectors the company had invested capital into included artificial intelligence, robotics, agritech, cleantech, consumer electronics, high-performance computing and advanced manufacturing.

Among those companies were Mastaplex, which allowed precise diagnosis of mastitis, Mint Innovation, which recovers valuable metals from electronic waste streams, and TDRI, which used sensing technologies from agriculture and food for roading.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

''We have had some fantastic results.''

Jones said WNT was also in the process of raising its third fund of up to $20m to invest into another 15 companies and worked closely with its partners who were key players in their respective fields.

''The returns we are targeting for our funds are three times the money invested, or 25 per cent per annum.''

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

WNT had also tendered for the next round of technology incubator funding with Callaghan Innovation.

It initially received funding from Callaghan Innovation five years ago but if WNT was successful again the contract would be for eight years.

Discover more

Small Business

Startup targets global DJ market

30 Nov 12:00 AM
New Zealand

Port's world-first logging truck scalers safer

06 Jun 04:31 AM
Business

CEO pay: Are company boards on the money?

14 Jul 12:00 AM

Priority One chief executive Nigel Tutt said having a successful tech incubator like WNT Ventures was of huge benefit to the region.

''It makes us more attractive to tech-oriented growth companies and helps with the pathway for local companies to grow through access to capital and expertise.

"We are increasingly seeing the development of a comprehensive innovation ecosystem in Tauranga city, reflected in the growth of employment in knowledge-intensive businesses and the transition to a higher-wage economy.''

TECT general manager Wayne Werder said Tauranga needed to shake its $10 Tauranga tag.

''One of the ways to do this is to support new businesses that can provide long-lasting, higher-paying jobs. This benefits the community and drives economic growth.''

He said TECT had supported WNT Ventures as part of a wider plan to support the development of a strong investment ecosystem in Tauranga.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

''This includes WNT Ventures, Enterprise Angels, Oriens Private Equity and the new Purpose Capital Fund. The fact that all of this exists right here in Tauranga is great for our growing region.''

Callaghan Innovation market and sectors general manager Erica Lloyd said New Zealand was a hotbed of deep technical and scientific research with the potential to solve many business, consumer and global problems.

''But we are nowhere near reaching our full potential in taking this deep tech down a commercial path. By lifting capability in this space, we create more successful high-value businesses, jobs and exports.''

Technology was the fastest-growing industry in the country and third only to tourism and primary industries, she said.

''So a huge chunk of future high-skilled jobs will be in technology, helping to lift our standard of living.''

SoundSwitch lights up DJs around the world

German DJ Eskei83 using SoundSwitch products at one of his shows. Photo / Supplied
German DJ Eskei83 using SoundSwitch products at one of his shows. Photo / Supplied

An integrated lighting system for mobile DJs designed by three mates in Tauranga is being used by famous music artists around the world.

SoundSwitch was the brainchild of Zak Meyers, Callum Jamieson and Matt Watkins who started the company with help from WNT Ventures five years ago.

They developed software which allowed DJs and music artists to control all their lights automatically, eliminating the need to hire someone.

The business is a major success story after being sold in 2018 to American firm DJ Denon - that falls under InMusic, one of the biggest production equipment manufacturers in the world.

Watkins, who still works for SoundSwitch as a product officer, said it had been "one helluva ride" and he has worked with some famous DJs like Eskei83 and artists including Dani Leigh.

''We have just made a yet to be released video with DaniLeigh and she is really blowing up at the moment.''

His job had also enabled him to travel to the United States and Europe where he attended music festivals, trade shows and nightclubs.

''It was super exciting, especially when these artists reached out to us, so it has been pretty cool.''

But it hasn't all been plain sailing and Watkins said SoundSwitch took seven years of hard work.

''The WNT team was great and really inspirational. They had had so much business expertise and we learnt a lot.''

After DJ Denon acquired SoundSwitch it opened another branch in Auckland and now it employs 45 people.

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from Business

Premium
Media Insider

Stop the presses: Stuff closing about 15 Auckland, regional community newspapers

03 Jul 06:15 PM
Business

'Time to lead': Airline founder hands over to son after 40 years

03 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
Media Insider

Ex-TV host Matt Chisholm's bold new career; 'Hugely unpopular' - battle royale brews inside Stuff

03 Jul 05:30 PM

Audi offers a sporty spin on city driving with the A3 Sportback and S3 Sportback

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Business

Premium
Stop the presses: Stuff closing about 15 Auckland, regional community newspapers

Stop the presses: Stuff closing about 15 Auckland, regional community newspapers

03 Jul 06:15 PM

Titles such as the North Shore Times and Central Leader have been published for decades.

'Time to lead': Airline founder hands over to son after 40 years

'Time to lead': Airline founder hands over to son after 40 years

03 Jul 06:00 PM
Premium
Ex-TV host Matt Chisholm's bold new career; 'Hugely unpopular' - battle royale brews inside Stuff

Ex-TV host Matt Chisholm's bold new career; 'Hugely unpopular' - battle royale brews inside Stuff

03 Jul 05:30 PM
Premium
Whānau Ora funds probe: Pasifika Futures’ family ties questioned

Whānau Ora funds probe: Pasifika Futures’ family ties questioned

03 Jul 05:00 PM
Gold demand soars amid global turmoil
sponsored

Gold demand soars amid global turmoil

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP