Boost For Emerging South And West Auckland Entrepreneurs

Up-and-coming south and west Auckland entrepreneurs can register for fully funded places in a tech accelerator programme to help springboard them into the tech sector start-up scene.

Ten places are available thanks to accelerator provider Mission Ready HQ partnering with Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s economic and cultural development agency Auckland Unlimited and The Southern Initiative, Auckland Council, to bring more diversity into the tech sector – with diverse perspectives important elements for innovation and social impact.

The Technical Founders Accelerator is a 12-week programme with Mission Ready HQ. It will provide students with essential skills, experience, digital resources and a network of connected and supportive partners to not only validate their idea, but also build their technology product.

Mentoring, coaching and pastoral care are embedded in the programme to ensure participants are supported with access to tech, training expense and motivation to successfully complete the programme and more importantly get closer to their dream of launching their tech ventures.

The partnership will help accelerate and springboard these candidates into the tech sector start-up scene, aiming to create the next employers of these Auckland regions. It aims to help drive tech innovation while developing and growing a local ecosystem of skilled tech entrepreneurs.

Successful applicants will be covered for their fees for the Technical Founders Accelerator course at Mission Ready HQ, as well as technology tools and resources, and seed funding on successful completion.

The most recent Auckland Prosperity Report by Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED, now Auckland Unlimited) in 2020 shows that key features of both south and west Auckland communities “are the below-average performance with regard to the skills acquisition of young people and the workforce, as well as the limited opportunities to access skilled, well-paying employment locally”.

The majority of south and west Auckland local board areas have a higher unemployment rate than the rest of Auckland, and a lower median income, according to the 2018 census.

The same areas have a higher population of Māori and Pacific Peoples than the rest of Auckland.

The Southern Initiative’s Innovation and Technology lead Joel Umali says: “Māori and Pasifika make up just 6% of New Zealand’s tech-sector workforce, which is a shockingly low statistic when those cultures represent a fast-growing proportion of the country’s population - 16.5% and 9% respectively.”

Applications are open to residents of south and west Auckland. For more information on how to apply please visit https://www.missionreadyhq.com/funding/

More information on the Technical Founders Accelerator course can be found here.

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