Published on the 26/06/2023 | Written by Heather Wright
While Guy and Sue Haddleton fly high…
Cin7 was the big winner at this year’s Hi-Tech Awards which saw companies including Dawn Aerospace and Formus Labs, which uses AI to plan joint replacement surgeries taking home the awards.
Inventory management system provider Cin7 took out the PwC NZ Hi-Tech Company of the Year category at the Gala Dinner in Christchurch, beating out Crimson Education, Kami, Pushpay, Serko and Vista Group for the top award.
The company was acclaimed by international judges as ‘a shining example of how Kiwi companies can win in highly competitive global markets competing against the biggest global software vendors’.
“Many of our Kiwi companies really are making technology with purpose that can really scale internationally.”
“It was early in understanding changes in ecommerce and omni-channel selling and supply chains and developed comprehensive and yet easy-to-use software in close collaboration with its early Kiwi customers,” judges said of the company, which was founded by Danny Ing in 2012. In 2019 he sold a majority stake in Cin7 to US company Rubicon Technology Partners for more than $100 million.
The win comes after a tough time for the company, which reduced staff earlier this year.
Dawn Aerospace, which this year completed its first rocket-powered spaceplane flights, won both the Hardware and Emerging Company categories. Founded by Stefan and James Powell, the company’s Kiwi-built spaceplane is capable of flying unmanned return missions in a day and requires no launch pad.
The company also provides turnkey propulsion systems for a range of satellites, and was the 2020 Hi-Tech Awards Start-up Company of the Year. In March it signed a deal with satellite to mobile service provider Lynk, which is aiming to build a network of 5,000 satellites over the next two years.
Halter, which took out the award for Most Innovative Hi-Tech Agritech Solution, was also highly commended in the Emerging Company category.
Formus Labs was also a double winner, taking out the Software and Deep Tech categories for its AI-automated 3D planner for joint replacement surgeries. The technology recently received US FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approval.
In the individual awards, Janine Grainger, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange, Easy Crypto, was named Most Inspiring Individual, with Fraser Paine taking out the Young Achiever Award.
Serial entrepreneurs Guy and the late Sue Haddleton were named this year’s Flying Kiwis. The couple founded enterprise planning software company Adaytum in the 1990s, selling it for US$160 million in 2003. They also founded cloud-based planning software company Anaplan, which listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 2018 with a US$3 billion IPO. They were also early investors in companies including Xero and Nyriad.
David Downs, New Zealand Hi-Tech Trust chair, says it was great to see such a diverse range of companies from right across New Zealand represented in the awards this year.
“The other key theme that comes through is how many of our Kiwi companies really are making technology with purpose that can really scale internationally.” continues Downs.
The full list of winners is:
Xero Hi-Tech Young Achiever
Winner: Fraser Paine
Spark Best Hi-Tech Solution for the Public Good
Winner: Recycle a Device
IBM Most Inspiring Individual
Winner: Janine Grainger
Tataki Auckland Unlimited Most Innovative Hi-Tech Creative Technology Solution
Winner: Writer’s Toolbox
Callaghan Innovation/Poutama Trust Hi-Tech Maori Company of the Year
Winner: AskNicely
Duncan Cotterill Most Innovative Hi-Tech Software Solution
Winner: Formus Labs
Braemac Most Innovative Hi-Tech Hardware Product
Winner: Dawn Aerospace
Kiwibank Most Innovative Hi-Tech Service
Winner: Tend Health
Highly Commended: Orion Health
NZTE Most Innovative Hi-Tech Agritech Solution
Winner: Halter
Consult Recruitment Best Contribution to the NZ Tech Sector
Winner: Digital Future Aotearoa
Punakaiki Fund Hi-Tech Start-up Company of the Year
Winner: Zerojet
ASX Hi-Tech Emerging Company of the Year
Winner: Dawn Aerospace
Highly Commended: Halter
Soul Machines Most Innovative Deep Tech Solution
Winner: Formus Labs
PwC NZ Hi-Tech Company of the Year Award
Winner: Cin7
Tait Communications Flying Kiwi Award
Recipients: Guy and Sue Haddleton
