EY Reveals Entrepreneur Of The Year™ 2024 Category Winners

Ernst & Young, New Zealand, today announced the category winners for this year’s esteemed EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ competition. This year’s finalists reflect the wide scope of entrepreneurship in New Zealand, with a marked focus on building a better future through innovation.

The top five entrepreneurs chosen are all leaders in their industries and include Michael Walker of BlackBull Markets, Craig Piggott of Halter, Miria Flavell of HINE Collection, Sam Bridgewater and Maia Royal of The Pure Food Co, and Jonny Hendriksen of Shuttlerock. The judges also awarded a Highly Commended title to Ehsan Vaghefi of Toku Eyes.

Director of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, New Zealand, Jason Macgregor, says the trailblazing winners will empower future generations of innovators by showing how individuals can impact their industries.

“Our group of finalists showed the diversity of the entrepreneurial industry in New Zealand. While they all work in different industries, the winner's share characteristics of determination, extreme focus, and a drive to succeed.”

“We also noticed an increased awareness of social issues coming through in the finalists and ultimately the category winners. They all showed an incredible willingness to take risks and be bold in pursing outcomes, whilst being aware of their own and staff wellbeing.”

Cecilia Robinson, Entrepreneur of the Year™ 2024 Chair of Judges and competition alumni, says the winners have shown a commitment to persevering towards excellence, despite a challenging economic environment.

“While there was a high calibre of finalists, what stood out with our category winners was their resilience through what we know has been a tough environment in New Zealand.”

“These phenomenal entrepreneurs have shown how they addressed a problem in society, found their niche, tackled hardship, and ultimately combined passion, purpose and profitability in their path to success.”

The judges agreed that while the winners deliver across different fields, their individual growth and success leads back to their shared drive for developing meaningful solutions that strike a chord with their target audience.

“This year’s winners are leaders in addressing the important challenges of today, as well as looking forward to the betterment of the future. Whether they are addressing inequalities with inclusive activewear, creating innovative nutrition solutions, or building creative technology tools, we think this year’s winners have exciting futures”, says Macgregor.

“Another common thread is how they have all taken their work globally, elevating their impact to a wider audience and making change in a range of communities. The impact of the winners’ products and solutions will be felt in our communities for years to come, both in their own work and how their leadership will inspire future entrepreneurs,” adds Robinson.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year New Zealand category winners are:

The category winners will now compete for the ultimate title of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year for 2024. They will be assessed by a panel of independent judges, of which all are previous EY Entrepreneur Of The Year award winners, across four core criteria: entrepreneurial spirit, impact, growth and purpose.

From there, the entrepreneur crowned New Zealand’s EY Entrepreneur The Year for 2024 will go on to compete for the title of World Entrepreneur Of The Year, announced in June 2025.

About EY Entrepreneur Of The YearTM

EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ is the world’s most prestigious business award for entrepreneurs. The award makes a difference through the way it encourages entrepreneurial activity among those with potential, and recognises the contribution of people who inspire others with their vision, leadership and achievement. As the first and only truly global award of its kind, EY Entrepreneur Of The Year™ celebrates those who are building and leading successful, growing and dynamic businesses, recognising them through regional, national and global awards programs in more than 145 cities in more than 60 countries.

The New Zealand Entrepreneur Of The Year™ awards programme, launched in 2001, is conducted in five regions culminating in the national awards. The programme honours entrepreneurs whose ingenuity and perseverance have created and sustained successful, growing business ventures. .

About EY

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