Rees on the rise in business world
Young Nelson entrepreneur Rees Vinsen is going from strength to strength with his career.
His latest achievement is being named a finalist in the Kiwibank Local Hero Award.
Vinsen, 20, said that he was surprised at the award recognition and thought it was ‘‘quite an honour’’.
Vinsen started Adduco, a social marketing startup, four years ago at 16 years old as part of a business course at Nelson College.
He grew the business to a team of 12 people with in the first two years.
Adduco is a social marketing company that developed artificial intelligence influencer marketing software to send campaigns to millions of people via social media.
‘‘We’re focussed on being able to offer the means to distribute campaigns, brand messages and set trends on social media to reach vast audiences in very little time.
‘‘We’ve worked with smaller consumer brands all the way up to large business to business enterprises and locally we’ve worked with companies like Bayleys Real Estate, Tasman Makos and NBS.’’
Vinsen said he recently made the move with the company to Auckland because the city allowed for a bigger business scale, but he kept an office in Nelson.
He said he realised how nice Nelson was now that he lived in Auckland.
‘‘I don’t enjoy Auckland that much, it’s good for business but it’s not great lifestyle wise.’’
He said Adduco was heading in the right direction.
‘‘We’re going to do some cool things, I’m enjoying it.
‘‘But it’s two steps forward and one step back.’’
Vinsen also maintains positions in three other New Zealand companies, including Hazwaste, an eco-driven waste disposal startup.
He’s a partner in Icehouse’s First Cut Ventures Fund and mentors 23 students through the Young Enterprise Scheme, providing connections, advice and free work to encourage young entrepreneurship.
He is also one of the dragons at the new business idea contest, Nelson Dragon’s Den, at the Theatre Royal.