Final Round of Recipients for the 2023/24 Ākina IIRP Announced

Final announcement

Ākina is delighted to announce the final round of recipients for the 2023/24 Ākina Impact Investment Readiness Programme. (IIRP)

Congratulations to Hikurangi Enterprises from Te Tairāwhiti and Envico from Te Moana-a-Toi, Bay of Plenty.

These pakihi Māori are creating positive impact outcomes for whānau through housing and for conservation  te Taiao (the environment). Envico is using innovative technologies to improve conservation of the ngahere, while Hikurangi Enterprises have designed a whānau-led approach to increase accessibility of affordable housing. 

Both organisations are examples of the urgent and innovative action required to create positive impact for people and the planet.

Final recipients:

Envico

Based in: Te Moana-a-Toi, Bay of Plenty
Impact area: Conservation and Land Management
About: Conservation technology ecosystem that incorporates drone plus land-based innovations for eradication and control of invasive pests, disease risk reduction and revival of native fauna and wildlife

“Envico is proud to be a Tauranga based Māori-led conservation technology company, bringing innovation to land guardians across the globe, enabling them to achieve greater outcomes from their spend. Our domestic and international success to date highlights the opportunities that are available in the "tech for good" space. Such success can be an attractant for talent, showcases NZ's innovation muscle on the world stage, and exposes local youth to exciting STEM pathways. Being a recipient of Ākina funding and expertise enables us to further strengthen our IP strategy and ready our company for investment. It's an exciting stage for Envico and for the conservation sector”
- Cameron Baker, Co-founder and CEO, Envico

 

Hikurangi Enterprises

Based in: Te Tairāwhiti
Impact area: Affordable housing for whānau
About: Whare Ora provides a unique whānau centric financing solution focused initially in Te Tairāwhiti but with broader application in Aotearoa, affecting low-income whānau who face barriers to homeownership.

”We have been working for a number of years towards our housing kaupapa being investment ready. This support from Ākina will provide much needed external support to secure our next round of impact investment and ultimately house more whānau in need."

- Mateawa Keelan and Panapa, Co-founders, Hikurangi Enterprises

 

Check out the first round of recipients here.

The Impact Investment Readiness Programme (IIRP) is run by Ākina, with support from our generous programme partners:

This concludes this year’s Impact Investment Readiness Programme. Ākina will be working alongside our programme partners, and impact-led businesses, to take the insights to plan for future programmes.

Thank you to our programme partners, and to everyone that took time to apply for the programme.

 

About the Ākina IIRP

Ākina exists to transform New Zealand's economy through the power of impact. One way we're doing this is by helping to grow a bigger and stronger impact investing market in New Zealand; one where more funding is available for social, cultural and environmental initiatives.

This programme is designed to encourage more investment into impact-driven pakihi (businesses), and increase the overall impact made by social enterprises and other purpose-led businesses in New Zealand.

The IIRP provides funding of up to $25,000 for impact-led businesses to spend on professional support that gets them ready for investment. After completing the readiness work, recipients typically go on to receive significant investment, and grow their business and impact accordingly. Since the programme started in 2017, Ākina IIRP recipients have been granted $1.1m in funding, and then went on to raise over $89.0m in impact investment … that’s 81 times the amount granted!

The Ākina Impact Investment Readiness Programme is currently the only one of its kind in Aotearoa. In Australia, the government supports an investment programme similar to this one; and Ākina is calling for the New Zealand Government to accelerate the growth of the New Zealand impact investing market.

 

Thinking about how your organisation can create more positive impact?

 
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