List of top tech firms grows
An annual list of New Zealand’s best tech companies and start-ups to work for has doubled to 100 since last year, reflecting the huge growth of the industry in Aotearoa.
The group of New Zealandowned and operated firms excluded large and more established organisations in order to raise the profile of lesser-known companies, said Greg Denton, co-founder of Matchstiq, which compiled the list.
Spotting the next Xero before it became a multibillion-dollar business was an exciting opportunity for people who wanted to work in a start-up or tech company.
‘‘The holy grail for anyone working in tech or in start-ups is to get into one of these companies that’s growing really quickly as early as possible,’’ Denton said. ‘‘They can not only have a large amount of influence on the direction of that company, but also the earlier you can get into one of these companies you are more likely to get a larger proportion of ownership or participate in an employee share ownership programme.’’
New Zealand’s tech and start-up industry was attracting a large amount of international capital as it produced more international success stories, and experienced talent was being recycled back into companies at an early stage.
In 2021, there were more than $2 billion worth of acquisitions of New Zealand tech companies including Vend, Seequent and Timely.
But New Zealand had a long way to go to make working for start-ups and tech companies the first choice for people when they left high school or university, despite it being an industry with a high median average salary, he said.
‘‘I think there is a problem in regards to the education opportunities that are preparing people for this industry. I believe there’s a lot of organisations as well as the Government as well as higher education starting to look to address that, but there’s a big gap still to close.’’
Working for a start-up was considered potentially risky, with people wanting a big name company on the CV as a prestigious, low-risk way to start their career.
But getting into a start-up or tech company close to the ground level provided people an opportunity to accelerate their career, gain more responsibility and experience, Denton said.
‘‘From my perspective, the bigger risk is to not go down that path, because you’re missing the opportunity to grow your career at a much faster pace than you otherwise would.’’
Among the companies on the list were Astrix Astronautics creating lightweight power systems to decrease the cost of satellites and Ubco creating electric bikes.