Beaton runs Crimson Consulting which helps secondary school students transition to Ivy League colleges in the United States. The financial wunderkind raised $41 million from New York investors, putting the 21-year-old from St Heliers firmly on to the rich list and valuing Crimson Consulting at $220m.
Lawyer Mai Chen is the managing partner of the Chen Palmer firm. She is also an adjunct professor at the University of Auckland law school and a director on the BNZ board.
A finalist for New Zealander of the Year in 2014 and 2016, Chen is the chair of New Zealand Asian Leaders and the Superdiversity Centre for Law, Policy and Business where she advocates and advises on diversity policies and strategies for New Zealand.
Rhythm and Vines founder Hamish Pinkham has made partying profitable. The annual music festival held near Gisborne can attract over 30,000 revellers. Almost appearing on television as the first Bachelor, Pinkham loves to travel and check out music festivals and parties happening across the globe.
The finalists face a judging panel in August headed up by Anne Norman from CNZM and a number of former winners.
Five category winners will be chosen to compete for the title, the winner will then represent New Zealand at EY's World Entrepreneur of the Year event in Monaco in June 2018.
The full list of finalists
• Jamie Beaton, Crimson Education
• Jamie Bennett and Patrick Broadbent, Snap Rentals
• Mai Chen, Chen Palmer
• Peter Cross, Dairyworks
• Thomas Dietz, WOOP
• Peter Harris, CBL Corporation
• Mark Hurley, Little Giant
• Will Lomax, Onguard Group
• Daniel Painter, Navigate Travel
• Hamish Pinkham, Rhythm and Vines Festival
• Andy Prow, RedShield Security
• Ihaka Rongonui, Turbo Staff
• Peter Shapiro, RedBull Powder Company
• Carey Smith, Ray White New Zealand
• Stewart Taylor, Tomoana Warehousing
• Peter Wei, Latitude Technologies
