The NZ company striving to make sheep milk a thing

Summer reissue: Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Scottie Chapman from Spring Sheep Milk Co. First published July 16, 2020. Independent journalism depends on … Read more

Business is Boring: The New Zealand company using VR to counter seasickness

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he’s joined by See-LEVEL founder Dudley Jackson. Around 25% of the population experiences seasickness to an extent that makes ocean-going uncomfortable … Read more

Saving thousands of tonnes of zinc and acid from going to landfill

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Jonathan Ring, CEO of C-Prize winning company Zincovery. Considering how important steel is to so much of the … Read more

Zincovery: The award-winning startup tackling waste from galvanised steel

Each year thousands of tonnes of zinc and acid are dumped into landfill as by-products from galvanising. This year’s winner of the Callaghan Innovation C-Prize challenge, Zincovery, is trying to solve that problem with its innovative recycling technology. It’s almost impossible to go a day without using a galvanised product of some kind. Every time … Read more

The NZ company striving to make sheep milk a thing

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Scottie Chapman from Spring Sheep Milk Co. New Zealand is famous all around the world for sheep and … Read more

Meet the New Zealander who got wifi into Starbucks and shopping lists onto Alexa

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Lovina McMurchy from Movac. If you think about how central to life Starbucks wifi was for so many … Read more

How lockdown took a group of young entrepreneurs on a crash course in startup life

The support and guidance for this year’s Callaghan Innovation C-Prize finalists proved invaluable as Covid-19 turned the challenge on its head. Starting a business in the midst of a global pandemic could seem like a really bad idea. But as businesses across the country battled the effects of Covid-19, the Callaghan Innovation C-Prize organisers were … Read more

Tips for succeeding in remote work from a remote-first founder

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Matthew Chapman from HR search company ChapmanCG. Matthew Chapman, founder of HR search company ChapmanCG, has grown his … Read more

The New Zealanders turning waste-busting ideas into eco businesses

Among the endless pile of plastic and food scraps being produced every second, some small businesses are creating a shift in how we treat our waste. Callaghan Innovation’s C-Prize this year has a focus on these initiatives, aiming to reduce the waste we’re sending to landfill.  Around a quarter of the waste New Zealanders send … Read more

Sparrows: The agritech startup cutting down on food waste

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Andrea Watson, Sparrows CEO and founder, and Simon Yarrow, who leads Callaghan Innovation’s agritech team. Agricultural exports are … Read more

Business is Boring with Andrea Watson from Sparrows and Simon Yarrow from Callaghan Innovation

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Andrea Watson, Sparrows CEO and founder, and Simon Yarrow, who leads Callaghan Innovation’s agritech team. Agricultural exports are … Read more

How New Zealand could help save the world with environmental innovation

Clean tech could be a man-made solution to the man-made problem of climate change. Callaghan Innovation is encouraging local innovators to develop their ideas for a lower-emissions planet, with their 2019 C-Prize challenge. In New Zealand, far away from the rest of the world, we often forget that our knack for innovation is highly regarded. … Read more

Aroa: The New Zealand company using sheep to help repair human bodies

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. This week he talks to Dr Brian Ward of soft-tissue repair company Aroa. Dr Paul Callaghan, who inspired Callaghan Innovation, had the idea … Read more

The beating heart of the Māori economy

Every year Matariki X brings Māori innovators and entrepreneurs together to share their experiences and inspire one another. Callaghan Innovation’s Vinnie Campbell says the Māori economy’s biggest strengths have nothing to do with money. This story was funded by The Spinoff Members. For more about becoming a member and supporting The Spinoff’s journalism click here. … Read more

The frustrating complexity of the new R&D tax scheme

The incoming R&D tax credits scheme makes government research and development incentives available to a much wider range of Kiwi businesses. But there are caveats to be aware of, reports Jihee Junn.  You don’t need to know a whole lot about business to understand the value of R&D. It’s what keeps businesses competitive, sustainable and … Read more

Techweek special: Celebrating Māori innovation and this year’s biggest tech trends

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week he talks to Amber Taylor from Ara Journeys and Callaghan … Read more

How creating more connections between people can help NZ Scale-Up

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. Connections can be the difference between a venture taking off or stalling. … Read more

Whatever happened to the plan to make Aotearoa a green tech giant?

Two decades on since ‘100% Pure’ New Zealand is slipping behind in environmental innovation. We need to act now to preserve our hard-won global image, writes James Araci. This year will be the 20th anniversary of New Zealand’s ‘100% Pure’ tourism campaign. Whatever you think of that slogan, there’s no doubt it has created billions of … Read more

The great Kiwi cooling machines creating a new export industry

From extracting hemp oil to African artificial insemination programmes, a Christchurch-developed super refrigerator is taking the business of freezing to new levels. An obscure piece of kit that began life in a government science lab is now on the verge of creating a new $100 million export industry for New Zealand. Christchurch company Fabrum Solutions … Read more

A brief history of (New Zealand Standard) time

One hundred and fifty years ago today New Zealand became the first country to introduce standard time. Kerri Jackson looks back at time. Time, it turns out, is a construct. That might be useful information for those of us trying to wriggle out of a story deadline, but does it otherwise matter? For most of … Read more

Mike Carden talks SaaS and life after Sonar6

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand. One of the coolest things about the tech ecosystem is when founders cash out, instead of heading off to party and relax, they invest both … Read more

The Business Chat: Elon Musk, Māori innovation, and the worth of a university degree

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. In our monthly Business Chat special, Simon Pound speaks with Maria Slade of Callaghan Innovation and Duncan Greive, managing editor of The Spinoff, about the business stories making the news that month. This month Simon, Maria and Duncan chat … Read more

Kōkiri is an accelerator helping Māori entrepreneurs build their own pathways

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week Simon talks to Aroha Armstrong about creating pathways for Māori entrepreneurship. Recently, … Read more

The Business Chat: Cow models, self-flying planes, and single use plastic

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. In our monthly Business Chat special, Simon Pound speaks with Maria Slade of Callaghan Innovation and Rebecca Stevenson, business editor of The Spinoff, about the business stories making the news that month. This month Simon, Maria and Rebecca discuss … Read more

The hidden Auckland property where tech companies are born

An accidental innovation hub has become a $1 billion venture. If New Zealand wants to build a better standard of living for everyone we must replicate that magic, says Vic Crone. An unremarkable building in a leafy Parnell street is these days hi-tech hallowed ground. Level two of 24 Balfour Road is the birthplace of … Read more

Tim Lightbourne of Invivo wine talks branding, taking risks, and Graham Norton

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week Simon talks to Tim Lightbourne about how he built a wine company … Read more

‘If you do R&D, we plan to support it’: Megan Woods defends the new tax incentive

Innovation Minister Megan Woods says the Government’s new R&D tax incentive is far from a startup killer. In fact, she says, it will open up R&D funding to more businesses than ever before. We want New Zealand to have a vibrant, innovation-led economy that will give us new solutions to old problems. Developing our innovation sector … Read more

The Business Chat: Budget 2018, Techweek, and ethical dairying

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. In our monthly Business Chat special, Simon Pound speaks with Maria Slade of Callaghan Innovation and Rebecca Stevenson, business editor of The Spinoff, about the business stories making the news that month. This month Simon, Maria and Rebecca discuss … Read more

Natalie Robinson of Mum’s Garage helps guide businesses from dream to reality

Business is Boring is a weekly podcast series presented by The Spinoff in association with Callaghan Innovation. Host Simon Pound speaks with innovators and commentators focused on the future of New Zealand, with the interview available as both audio and a transcribed excerpt. This week Simon speaks to Natalie Robinson of Mum’s Garage about coaching people with … Read more