Te Puna Umanga/Venture Taranaki’s PowerUp podcast is back with the release of the first three episodes of the latest six-part series that celebrates the prominent Taranaki entrepreneurs and innovators who are leaving their mark on the world.
As the Regional Development Agency, Te Puna Umanga/Venture Taranaki is powering up the entrepreneurship ecosystem in Taranaki so that fresh thinking and innovation can continue to thrive in the like no other region.
Expect to hear from trailblazing enterprise owners and founders who are making waves with their can-do attitude and innovative spirit, all while living the famous Taranaki lifestyle – spanning energy, tech and wellbeing, beverage crafters, commercial developers, and digital storytellers.
Hosted again by long time business advocate David Downs, in each episode he draws out each guest’s unique journey, their lessons learnt, ah-ha moments, and uncovers inspiring insights into how they have accomplished all that they have.
You might know Boring Oat Milk as an overnight success, but it took seven years, two near-bankruptcies and a whole lot of expert help to bring to life. Founder Morgan Maw has been on an absolute roller coaster, and spills all the tea on this episode of Venture Taranaki’s PowerUp Pod.
It’s an incredible story. She talks about her amazing branding including how investors didn’t like it, launching the company two days after a Covid lockdown (and how it ended up being a good thing) and why she made the choice to move back to Taranaki after more than 10 years away.
The global energy sector is shifting fast, and Elemental Group is in the middle of an exciting transition from traditional to renewable energy generation. The Taranaki consultants are helping large companies, government and countries to develop and implement future-focused energy solutions that will stand the test of time.
Elemental directors Nick Jackson and Brett Rogers talk about why NZ’s carbon-free goals aren’t ambitious enough, and just how much we’re capable of. Nick and Brett are visionaries who are doing globally significant work from a small corner of NZ. They talk about how it’s possible, what keeps them in Taranaki and how we can use New Zealand’s world class renewable energy assets to top the economic success of the oil and gas sector.
Ever wondered what it’s really like to grow a tech startup? The third episode of Venture Taranaki’s PowerUp podcast is a perfect case study, featuring Elliot Taylor and Throughline.
Throughline helps people in mental crisis to connect with a helpline. Since Elliot started the company from his rural Taranaki home, he’s grown it to more than 100 countries, with access to more than 1,400 helplines. And, since speaking on the podcast Elliot also has now secured a partnership with Google. Through this partnership Elliot says they’re able “to scale this work globally, helping millions of people with accurate and timely information.”
Elliot gives some fantastic insight into how he’s done it, including his inspiration for the company, building the technology, getting funding and the challenge of monetising Throughline. The ep is littered with gold nuggets for anyone in the startup space, and he also reveals his top tip for the best hot chips in the country. This one has it all!
Venture Taranaki matched a dollar for every download in the first week of ThroughLine’s episode release with funds going to Restoke, the Taranaki based surfing for mental health charity.
Keep an eye and ear out for the release of the next podcasts in the PowerUp Podcast series.
The PowerUp Podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts and wherever you go to get your podcasts.
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For more info on PowerUp, visit venture.org.nz
