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GROWPLENTY; WHAT’S OUR FUTURE?

Forget the fruits of your labour; what about using technology instead? Fruit picking and packing; hardwork, hot, and comes with a hefty price. Can New Zealand meet the demand for trade? Do we have the population we need to cover the intensive labour that is required for fruit picking and packaging? Frankly, no. But luckily RoboticsPlus is one business that has identified the problem and come up with a solution. Their robots eliminates the time and need for large numbers of workers. An example of...

DIGITAL HELP ON ITS WAY FOR LOCAL CHARITIES

Local charities and not-for-profits who are feeling lost or overwhelmed in the digital world will soon find the help they need, thanks to partners Socialink and Venture Centre, with technology consultant Bryan Winters. There are just 10 spots available in a pilot group on the Digital Technology Programme, which will help local not-for-profits to improve their digital skills, assets, and infrastructure. The programme will assess needs and co-ordinate willing local expertise to assist. Socialinkâ...

WHY DOES VENTURE CENTRE FOCUS ON COWORKING?

Venture Centre’s coworking space, Basestation, has always been a key part of its mission. But why is that? Why does coworking even matter? We asked Venture Centre co-founder Steven Vincent to explain why. As Venture Centre establishes itself in its role as digital and entrepreneurial capability-builder in our region, we are often asked ‘what is the difference between Venture Centre and Basestation’ and ‘how do the two work’?  To put it simply, Basestation, the coworking space, is ...

HOW TO GET THE BEST OUT OF YOUR MILLENNIALS

Millennials are the largest living generation, with more than 1 million Kiwis in this age bracket. With that in mind, here are the Rosie Dawson-Hewes’ easiest ways to get the best out of your millennial team, based on Savvy Peterson’s data and Rosie’s experience, as both a millennial employee and manager. I don’t really like the term ‘millennial’. It has so many negative connotations, none of which I identify with. I hate selfies, I’m not entitled or lazy. I work hard and have alwa...

LYNDA.COM NOW AT YOUR LOCAL LIBRARY!

Are you someone who is always learning, but have struggled to fit learning in around your life or business? Do you need to upskill in a particular area but are still boot-strapping with no training budget? Struggle no more! Tauranga City Library is joining the mission close to the heart and purpose of Venture Centre – to digitally enable the people in our city – by adding Lynda.com to their suite of tools available for residents to use, for free. We spoke to Daniel Petersen, from the Taurang...

TRIBE OF DAUGHTERS JOINS CO.STARTERS

Last week a whole new set of local entrepreneurs started the CO.STARTERS course. The course is nine weeks of sessions which encourage participants to thoroughly test and validate their ideas, under the watchful eye of experienced facilitators. We spoke to one of the newest recruits, Jess, about her business - Tribe of Daughters. How and why did you start Tribe of Daughters? My sister and I started Tribe of Daughters when we couldn't find any relatable resources which featured girls in action sp...

TEEN SAYS MASHUP EVENT SET HER UP FOR LIFE

Local teen, CJ Dobbs, 18, has taken part in the last three Mashup events. Here she explains for benefit of parents and their children, what she learned, and why she thinks other teens should enter. My experience from Mashup over the past three years has been more beneficial to me than I could ever put into words. I learnt general business and entrepreneurial skills that translated into me knowing what my life could be like after high school finishes. I am now working as an insurance broker full...

MEET CO.STARTERS FACILITATOR MARIA KING

On March 8 a new round of CO.STARTERS begins, with a whole new batch of locals ready to pick the brains of our entrepreneurial experts, who will mentor them along the way. One of the CO.STARTERS facilitators is the lovely Maria King, who we had a chat with about her journey and why she got involved. What is your background? I’m a problem solver who is always looking for ways to leverage disruptive technologies which will enhance people’s lives. Recently this has led me to create D-TX Group L...

CODEBRITE - INTRODUCING THE FACTS AND A NEW PROGRAMME!

What do the numbers say about Codebrite? And what’s this new programme coming out? This year on the fourth week of January, MADVentures held four action packed days of Codebrite and Learn-to-Code tasters in Tauranga, Te Puke, and Katikati. And with 62 participating children and 83% saying they love coding even more after these workshops, you could say that these days met great success! So where are the facts? Almost a third of participants were girls, the future of coding is changing!Nearly ha...

WHY SOCIAL ENTERPRISES ARE IMPORTANT

Tauranga is, in many ways, at the forefront of a shift towards social enterprises. More and more we’re seeing businesses prioritise causes and community before profits and Not-for-profits look for sustainable economic engines to support their work, rather than rely on funders. As entrepreneurs increasingly move into this space, we’re determined to give them all the support, learning opportunities and networks they need to succeed. Metro Marketing is a local social enterprise, an outsourced m...

CO.STARTERS NOT JUST FOR NEW BUSINESSES OR IDEAS

CO.STARTERS is a place where people come together to start businesses together. And nine entrepreneurs will be doing just that come March, when the second CO.STARTERS@Venture Centre course takes place. You don’t have to be a start-up with a brand new idea to benefit from CO.STARTERS as Waihi Beach’s Victoria Menary, who took part in the first course, proves. Victoria owns a bespoke homewares business, Minnow, with her husband. Minnow creates beautiful, functional homewares using socially and...

FIRST CO.STARTERS COURSE “MAGIC”

Kurt Cordice was among the first to complete CO.STARTERS@Venture Centre. Read his take on it ... Earlier this year, CO.STARTERS@VentureCentre for founders of new businesses launched in the Bay of Plenty. A nine-week programme, it equips local people with ideas, and the commitment, to launch a business with insights, relationships, and tools. CO.STARTERS is hands-on. It supports people to get ideas out of their heads and test them ahead of launching a business or extending an existing business in...

MASHUP WINNERS OFF TO YOUNG ENTERPRISE SCHEME NATIONALS

Last month Brite NZ, one of Venture Centre’s highly engaged student enterprises, took out one of the top two prizes at the regional finals of the Young Enterprise Scheme with their ingenious LED light, the iBrite. Brite NZ chief executive Madison Sykes has dyslexia, which was the catalyst for their award-winning idea. “I would get very frustrated with the coloured plastic sheet which acted as an overlay [for textbooks]. I could not write on the sheet below (which is one of my greatest strugg...

WHY WE ARE MAKING SPACE FOR ART-REPRENEURS

Accessing art online is now only a Facebook page away. The pursuit of creative expression has never been more immediate, be it with your pictures on Instagram or short films on youtube. All kinds of creative can be published from increasingly ubiquitous mobile devices on platforms allowing near instant feedback. It does not make all instagrammers’ artists but it does contribute to a changing sense of identity and aesthetic.     Technology is being put to good use by those c...

DIGITAL ENABLEMENT PROJECT IS GO!

So here we go! Venture Centre is now officially on the next leg of its mission to digitally empower people all across Tauranga and the Western Bay of Plenty. It all kicked off on May 11 2017 with the launch of the Digital Enablement Project (DEP) for Tauranga and Western Bay where there was standing room only at our gorgeous venue, Tauranga Art Gallery. Checkout the BOP Times article that covered the event. Both Mayors Brownless and Webber, Deputy Mayor Clout and Tauranga MP and Minister for Ec...

NAVIGATING OUR FUTURE

Hailing from the world of education and its communities of practice, I had been dabbling with launching my own business ... Jo, Steven and Michael had the connections, skills and resources I needed to get things done.  Through working on projects together, we identified a shared desire to serve our community and specifically to answer the need for easier access to skills, knowledge and resources needed for entrepreneurship.   We started Venture Centre in 2014 to ‘connect, empowe...

FUTURE PROOFING OUR CHILDREN’S ABILITY TO LEARN AND EARN IN THE FUTURE

This month Business at the Library focuses firmly on the future for Tauranga’s youth, how you can help them be successful, and the support available in our community. Venture Centre is invited to lead a conversation about Youth and Entrepreneuship on Tuesday 14 March, as a Business at the Library event. As parents, we’re always on the lookout for ways to prepare a happy, healthy, and successful future for our children. From worrying about school options and after-school snacks, to homework o...

TAURANGA STARTUP WEEKEND, THE VALUE, THE PEOPLE

It was an honour and a privilege for Venture Centre to be invited by Priority One, Tauranga's economic development agency, to present at their 2016 AGM. Co-founder, Pascale Hyboud-Peron took the stage and focused on one of the most public (and fun) entrepreneurial ecosystem development projects Venture Centre is proud to co-ordinate with the ever growing entrepreneurially minded community. What follows is Pascale's presentation. "Thank you for asking me to talk about Tauranga Startup Weekend ton...

TOGETHER WE FLOURISH #COWORHUI

Coworking has become an important component of a connected and collaborative business landscape in towns and cities across New ZealandSee all those we have found here!  These spaces are key to the growth of New Zealand’s entrepreneurial culture. They lower the tangible and intangible cost of setting up a business, provide space where connections can be made, a place in the ecosystem to be claimed, and the front end of innovation – the ideation, team building and cross pollination o...

'DELIVER MORE THAN YOU EVER THOUGHT YOU COULD' #TGASW16

Written by SWTeam...

SELL ME THE DREAM! #TGASW16

Written by Pascale Hyboud-Peron...

MENTORS SUPERPOWERS #TGASW16

Written by SWTeam...

"AN AMAZING OPPORTUNITY TO TRY THINGS OUT" #TGASW16

Written by Pascale Hyboud-Peron...

'THAT MAGIC BLEND OF PASSION, COMMITMENT AND ENERGY' #TGASW16

Written by Pascale Hyboud-Peron...

What is it with the Startup Weekend Pitch?

Written by SWTeam...