‘Proven success in conflict zones’ - Tauranga drone maker Syos wins Hi-Tech Company of the Year

Syos Aerospace has been named the 2025 Hi-Tech Awards Company of the Year.

The big winners at the 2025 Hi-Tech Awards included Tauranga drone maker Syos Aerospace - a maker of drones being deployed to Ukraine, which picked up Company of the Year, Deep Dive Division, which picked up Māori Company of the Year, and Sir Peter Beck who was inducted into the Flying Kiwi hall of fame.

Syos Aerospace, a defence-friendly maker of heavy-lifting drones, autonomous ground vehicles and boats, has been named the 2025 Hi-Tech Awards’ Company of the Year.

It was awarded the title during a gala dinner at Wellington’s TSB Arena on Friday night attended by more than 1000 people, including Finance Minister Nicola Willis, Trade & Investment Minister Todd McClay, Space Minister Judith Collins, opposition leader Chris Hipkins, and one of the international judges, IT publishing and venture capital figure Pat Kenealy.

Syos's cofounder and CEO Samuel Vye (foreground) takes a selfie with is team from the Hi-Tech Awards 2025 stage.

The four-year-old firm, which has R&D operations in Mount Maunganui and manufacturing operations in Britain, has had a breakthrough year.

Last month, the British Government announced a deal worth £30 million ($66.8m) for drones produced by Syos, whose backers include Sam Morgan, Kent Baigent and Mark Tapper (the firm also received a series of small dollops - each in the tens of thousands - from the soon-to-be-extinct Callaghan Innovation.)

The contract meant Syos’ Tauranga-based founder, Samuel Vye, will now fulfil his prediction that revenue would jump from $4m to more - possibly now much more - than $55m this year.

Syos Aerospace's British-born founder Samuel Vye - a Leicester University geophysics grad - moved to NZ in 2018. He earlier worked for another Hi-Tech Award winner, Envico - a maker of drone-based systems to monitor pests. Photo / Matthew Power

His firm’s website says Syos drones have “proven operational success in conflict zones”.

Willis said, “They are creating some of the most world-leading drone technology, and they are literally helping fight the conflict in Ukraine - because they do it better than any other country in the world, from Mt Maunganui.”

The UK as announced when Prime Minister Christopher Luxon met his counterpart Sir Keir Starmer in April, when the countries’ joint efforts to train Ukrainian forces were on the agenda.

Vye said tonight, “In the past 12 months, Syos has grown exponentially from approximately eight people to just over 100, about half in our Mount Maunganui headquarters and R&D site, and about 50 over in our UK production facility.”

Syos cofounder Samuel Vye demonstrating one of his company's drones to NZ Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer during Luxon's UK trip last month. On LinkedIn, Vye posted, "From our R&D and prototyping roots in New Zealand to our high-volume production facility in Fareham, Hampshire, Syos is built for agility and scale. We’re capable of producing thousands of uncrewed systems a year. Our secret sauce? Mass production at speed, powered by our proprietary Autonomy & Augmented Intelligence Mission System - designed to meet real-world demands across defence, civil, and beyond." Photo / LinkedIn

He said his firm had faster and cheaper development cycles than rivals, thanks to a classic Kiwi “number eight wire” mentality. He praised the NZ tech ecosystem “where you just get stuff done.”

“We took that into the UK about approximately 18 months ago and that’s why we won a huge amount of contracts, and then we copied and pasted that into a number of other [international] customer contracts.”

The products from Syos Aerospace include the Syos SA200 UAS (Unmanned Sea Vehicle). Photo / Supplied

Last September, Vye was on an Aerospace New Zealand summit panel covered by the Herald, where a strong theme was that NZ is too squeamish about defence contracts.

“Silicon Valley VCs are happy with defence and dual-use investing. New Zealand is behind, in my opinion. We‘re still allergic to anything that could be considered used by the Navy or Army or Air Force – whether it‘s got 1080 on it or it‘s got guns on it,” Vye said.

A Syos Aerospace SG400 UGV (Unmanned Ground Vehicle).

“You could say we just make Toyota Hiluxes ... and then the payload goes on it.”

Syos drones were also used for agriculture, border monitoring, disaster response and environmental monitoring.

The Syos SA200 UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System). Photo / Supplied

Vye also told the Christchurch summit: “We couldn’t raise from New Zealand VCs because every single group – well, most groups – couldn’t invest in dual-use technology because it was against their investment criteria and ESG [environmental, social and governance] policies so hence we went down the high-net-worth individual route.”

After Syos’ banner 2025, more options are likely to open up.

The Syos SA5 UAS (Unmanned Aircraft System). Photo / Supplied

Kitea Health cofounder raises funding cuts

The only mention of the Government’s ongoing restructure of the tech, science and innovation sector camera from Kitea Health cofounder and chief executive Simon Malpas - and it was a sharp-edged one (as part of his acceptance speech after his firm won Most Innovative Deep Tech Solution for its world-leading, cranial-pressure monitoring brain implants).

“I will say that our company is a result of funding from the Endeavour Fund, which has just been cut for next year, and from the HRC [Health Research Council] fund, which is also being cut in the Budget. I would not be standing here if it were not for those two funds.”

Willis got up from her seat to intercept Malpas as he got off the stage, saying “He’s got to know” as she left her seat. A member of the Finance Minister’s staff she was not available immediately after. Malpas told the Herald Willis had denied the cuts. He maintained the two Crown-backed funds were cut in Budget 2025.

Kitea Health chief executive and cofounder Simon Malpas with opposition leader Chris Hipkins (who begged off immediate comment on the CEO's attack on what he saw as Budget 2025 cuts to innovation funding). Photo / Chris Keall

On Budget day, the Government said $89.8m in cuts to the existing “Business, Science and Innovation” allocation this year (and a total $212.1m through to 2029) were so the funds could be “reprioritised” to new programmes and new agencies.

Willis also said the new Investment Boost - for a 20% first-year tax deduction on new assets, on top of existing depreciation - would help left tech firms, along with those in other sectors.

Total immersion

Deep Dive Division, a robotic diving company founded in 2018 by Tua and Courtney Karalus, was named Māori Company of the Year.

Deep Dive Division co-owners Tua and Courtney Karalus. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

The company is based in the Waikato but has done a significant volume of work in Tauranga, including laying artificial reefs in Tauranga Harbour as part of Cyclone Gabrielle restoration work.

Deep Dive Division’s founders joked they were “social housing for crayfish”.

The Deep Dive Division get ready to lay a series of nine artificial reefs on the floor of Tauranga Harbour as part of Cyclone Gabrielle restoration work. Photo / Bay of Plenty Times

It bills itself as NZ’s only Māori and Pacific-owned commercial and scientific diving company. Its services range from hull cleans and biosecurity to film production – including work on blockbuster Avatar: The Way of Water.

Leathering it

Wellington’s Mindhive Global won the start-up and agritech categories. It uses AI to detect 25 types of defects in cowhides within seconds, combining machine learning, image recognition, and industrial hardware in a way that‘s technically robust and commercially viable, the award judges said. Mindhive has recently landed business in Brazil and Italy, the home of leather.

The Most Innovative Tech Solution and Most Innovative Manufacturer gongs were picked up by The Village Goldsmith - which is also disrupting a long-standing industry with its development of a unique platform, developed over 17 years and many lasers, that allows diamonds to “float” in jewellery without visible prongs, claws, or clasps.

It was an innovation the judges said was recognised globally as the most significant change in diamond solitaire ring design since 1886, leading to a deal with Tiffany & Co.

Beck joins ‘Flying Kiwi’ hall of fame

Sir Peter Beck was recognised as the 2025 Flying Kiwi and inducted into the NZ Hi-Tech Hall of Fame. He received the honour for taking his company Rocket Lab from a start-up 20 years ago to the multibillion-dollar company it is today, while at the same time contributing to the development of the Kiwi aerospace industry and personally investing in a slate of homegrown start-ups.

“He is a genius,” Space Minister Judith Collins said as she accepted the award on behalf of Beck (currently in the US). “Without any doubt, he is one of the great New Zealanders of our time. We are third in the world for verifiable vertical launches into space over the past year. As I love to tell my Aussie mates: It’s the US, China and New Zealand.”

The next year will be even bigger for Beck, with his firm gearing up for the maiden launch of its much larger, crew-capable Neutron from Wallops Island, Virginia and two Rocket Lab-designed and built satellites due to be placed into orbit around Mars for a Nasa science mission followed by a possible Mars soil sample return to Earth (Trump’s Nasa budget cuts allowing), among other ventures.

Watch his pre-recorded acceptance clip below:

‘Spine fusion surgery was hard. Keeping VXT alive was harder’

At the other end of the startup lifecycle, Young Achiever winner Luke Campbell revealed he had had to grabble with the crippling pain of complex back surgery, on top of the usual challenges for an early-stage firm.

His company recently raised millions at a $45m valuation in a funding round lead by Silicon Valley’s Alpine Venture Capital after an adroit reinvention as a legal tech and real momentum in revenue.

VXT CEO and cofounder Luke Campbell receives the Xero Hi-Tech Young Achiever Award from Xero country manager Bridget Snelling. Photo / Chris Keall

“It wasn’t always going so well,” Campbell told the audience during his acceptance speech.

“In 2020 we were struggling. I had pitched every VC and angel in New Zealand, including many in this room. Everyone rejected us for years,” Campbell said.

“We hung on with no more than a few months of runway at any given time. Whenever we run out of cash, I took personal loans or guarantees, and by 24 years old, I’d racked up more than half a million dollars [in debt]. Spine fusion surgery was hard. Keeping VXT alive was harder.”

Read more about how Campbell reinvented his company as a global success story here here.

Talent Rise, which helps Māori and Pasifika 18 to 25-year-olds build skills and find work in the tech sector won Best Contribution to the NZ Tech Sector.

Lee Timutimu accepting the Inspiring Achievement Award.

Optimation won Hi-Tech Solution for the Pubic Good for a system that can be used to remotely manage people under home detention. The firm namechecked Queensland Corrective Services as a hero client.

Advocate for more Māori tech Lee Timutimu won the Inspiring Achievement Award.

“My vision for Maori and tech is twofold,” Timutimu said in his acceptance speech. Firstly, that we double Maori representation in tech from 4.8% to 10% by 2030 and that our WAI311 treaty claim [a digital inequality claim] is upheld by the Tribunal."

The 2025 NZ Hi-Tech Award winners

PwC Hi-Tech Company of the Year

• Winner: Syos Aerospace

Xero Hi-Tech Young Achiever

• Winner: Luke Campbell (co-founder & CEO of VXT)

Spark Best Hi-Tech Solution for the Public Good

• Winner: Optimation

Consult Recruitment Best Contribution to the NZ Tech Sector

• Winner: Talent RISE

Datacom Hi-Tech Inspiring Individual

• Winner: Lee Timutimu

Aware (an HSO Company) Most Innovative Deep Tech Solution

• Winner: Kitea Health

Poutama Trust Hi-Tech Kamupene Māori o te Tau – Māori Company of the Year

• Winner: Deep Dive Division

Tait Communications Flying Kiwi

• Recipient: Sir Peter Beck

NZX Most Innovative Hi-Tech Creative Technology Solution

• Winner: The Village Goldsmith

Duncan Cotterill Most Innovative Hi-Tech Software Solution

• Winner: Toku Eyes
• Highly commended: Carepatron

READ MORE: Auckland AI start-up Toku Eyes wins spot on FDA fast-track approval programme in the US

Braemac Most Innovative Hi-Tech Manufacturer of the Year

• Winner: The Village Goldsmith

Kiwibank Most Innovative Hi-Tech Solution for a More Sustainable Future

• Winner: Cleanery

NZTE Most Innovative Hi-Tech Agritech Solution

• Winner: Mindhive Global

Punakaiki Hi-Tech Start-up Company of the Year

• Winner: Mindhive Global

ASX Hi-Tech Emerging Company of the Year

• Winner: Projectworks
• Highly commended: Calocurb

The awards are run by the NZ Hi-Tech Trust, a not-for-profit organisation aimed at promoting and supporting the wider industry. The board is comprised of trustees Marian Johnson (Chair), David Downs, Amber Taylor, Mike O’Donnell, Sarah Ramsay, Sir Ian Taylor and Andrew West.

Chris Keall is an Auckland-based member of the Herald‘s business team. He joined the Herald in 2018 and is the technology editor and a senior business writer.