Guy Horrocks
New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) has today announced that international Kiwi tech entrepreneur Guy Horrocks
will join its board as an Independent Director.
Barbara Chapman, NZME’s Chairman, told the NZX in a statement, “I am delighted to welcome Guy to the NZME Board. Guy
brings a background in successfully growing digital businesses, strong capability in the commercialisation of data and a
focussed entrepreneurial mindset to our Board”.
Horrocks established himself as an early pioneer of the mobile app industry co-founding the world’s first commercial
iPhone app company in 2007, Polar Bear Farm.
He is one of a number of high powered, experienced New Zealand entrepreneurs who’ve built internationally successful
digital enterprises – only to return to New Zealand to escape the worst of the impacts of Covid-19 on their adopted
homes.
“I’m delighted to be home in New Zealand with my family and I’m extremely excited to be joining the Board of NZME,
especially at a time where the company is so uniquely placed to avail itself of the opportunities of this changing
environment,” said Horrocks.
With clients including Expedia, DreamWorks, HBO, OREO, CNN, Time Magazine as well as The New Zealand Herald, Horrocks
helped launch over 100 mobile apps with his award-winning mobile agency Carnival Labs, many of which were featured by
Apple.
Horrocks originally set up Carnival Labs to target casual gaming, entertainment and advertising apps but then swiftly
broadened Carnival Labs’ scope to also including high profile work for global brands like Nestle, Pepsi, DreamWorks,
Kraft Foods and Taco Bell.
Carnival subsequently launched a mobile marketing automation platform that was acquired by Sailthru in 2016.
Horrocks has since launched a new real-time data warehouse called SOLVE.
“Guy will bring an incredible level of depth and understanding to support NZME to best connect our wide range of digital
platforms with our significant and growing audiences and our loyal commercial partners,” said NZME CEO Michael Boggs.
Horrocks will take up his role as an Independent Director effective from Monday 8 February 2021.