12th June 2014
Great Stories Deserve to Be Shared!
New Zealand Innovators Awards Now Open
Now’s the time to tell your story by entering the New Zealand Innovators Awards, celebrating innovation and
commercialisation in New Zealand - entries open 12 June, 2014.
“We have a history of innovation in New Zealand - in our communities, our personalities and in our DNA,” says Innovation
Council CEO, Louise Webster. “Our interest and passion to create new things, find new solutions and develop new products
and ventures makes us a nation of great Kiwi innovators.”
The Awards, now in their fourth year, aim to unearth, reward and celebrate research, innovation and commercialisation,
putting great Kiwi companies on a national stage to help them grow.
“The 2013 entrants were impressive and the event is clearly having a positive impact on the innovation and business
community,” says Bayer New Zealand managing director Dr Holger Detje.
“As foundation sponsor of the Awards, we’re thrilled to be a part of the process and are excited to see what will be
unearthed this year. At Bayer we see innovation as key to business success, investing more than 3 billion euro globally
in research and development each year across our health care, agriculture and high-tech materials businesses.”
Other foundation sponsors include the New Zealand Innovation Council, Idealog and Ideas Accelerator, as well as category
sponsors James and Wells, 3M, Alcatel Lucent, Datamine, NZ Trade and Enterprise, Auckland University of Technology
(AUT), Yealands Wine Group, Tangible Media, Dominion Breweries, Radio Live and Waterfront Auckland.
In 2013, award entries came from nine industries and business disciplines including; Design and Engineering; Information
Communications Technology, Media Music and Entertainment, Marketing and Communications, as well as Hospitality Food and
Beverage. Entries came particularly from high growth companies with fewer than 50 employees. Overall, 56% of entrants
were from Auckland, but there were also strong entries from Otago and the West Coast, as well as most major cities
throughout New Zealand. This year, organisers expect to see strong entries across many sectors throughout the country.
Last year, the supreme winner was Pacific Edge for its bladder cancer diagnostic management system, and winner of the
Innovation Communications Technology was computing vendor, GreenButton, which had customers including Pixar, NASA and
Boeing and was bought by Microsoft this year.
“Outstanding innovation can come from anywhere, from technology to the services sector to developing new management
strategies. We’re looking for a wide variety of innovation this year, from a diverse range of businesses and
industries,” says Webster.
Great stories deserve to be shared and we want to hear yours!
Entries for the NZ Innovators Awards are open from June 12th – August 14th.
Share your innovative product, services or business with the world at www.innovators.org.nz
Industry & Business Categories:
• Innovation in Design & Engineering
• Innovation in Sustainability & Clean-tech
• Innovation in Environment & Agriculture
• Innovation in Health & Science
• Innovation in Hospitality, Food & Beverage
• Innovation in ICT & Cloud Solutions
• Innovation in Marketing & Communications
• Innovation in Media, Music & Entertainment
• Innovation in Financial & Professional Services
From these categories, the evaluators will select:
• Bayer Supreme New Zealand Innovator
• Emerging New Zealand Innovator
• Most Inspiring Individual
• Export Innovator of the Year
• Innovation Excellence in Research
• The People’s Choice – Idealog Magazine online award
• Excellence in Social Innovation
ENDS