1 November 2016

Mayor wants Wellington to be Digital Capital

Mayor Justin Lester wants Wellington to be the Digital Capital of New Zealand and says it is well on track to get there.

Speaking at last night’s launch of the KiwiBank FinTech Accelerator, Mayor Lester said Wellington was performing strongly in the technology sector led by companies like Datacom Group, Xero, Weta Digital, Intergen and Fronde Systems Group with smaller companies now getting established.

According to the TIN100 Report released last week, Wellington’s 26 major tech companies created 1516 jobs last year- 51 percent of all new tech jobs in New Zealand. The same companies also experienced revenue growth of 15.3 percent in the year to June 2016, taking total revenue to $1.9 billion.

Mayor Lester says he will work with Councillor David Lee – who holds the new Technology, Innovation & Enterprise (TIE) and Climate Change portfolio - and other stakeholders to further boost and support the growing tech sector in Wellington.

Cr Lee says ventures like the FinTech Accelerator are the tip of the iceberg for Wellington in the tech sector.

“Wellington is in a unique position to develop our tech sector because of the world-class film and technology companies we already have here and the talent they are bringing into the city.”

The KiwiBank FinTech Accelerator is co-funded by Callaghan Innovation and KiwiBank and supported by Xero. It will support 10 start-up companies specialising in financial technology (FinTech) products through a business incubator programme delivered by Creative HQ.

Creative HQ is a subsidiary of the Wellington Regional Economic Development Agency (WREDA) which is funded by Wellington City Council and other regional partners.

“Our job is to create an environment that encourages those people and businesses to stay in the region and collaborate on new projects. Wellington’s lifestyle and cultural offerings are a huge drawcard for mobile talent,” Mayor Lester says.

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