Education New Zealand’s Innovation Fund Enables Ka Hao Indigenous ECommerce To Lead The Way

Tuesday, 30 August 2022, 9:55 am
Press Release: Te Whare Hukahuka

Te Whare Hukahuka has won the Education New Zealand Innovation Award for an online indigenous eCommerce programme that uplifts Indigenous entrepreneurs that experience inequality and has quickly expanded into 18 countries abroad.

Education New Zealand | Manapou ki te Ao (ENZ), the government agency responsible for promoting the country’s education exports, awards Ka Hao Indigenous eCommerce (Ka Hao) the Education New Zealand Innovation Fund. An award recognises innovation in education and services for international learners.

“It is a tremendous honour for an esteemed government agency such as Education New Zealand to recognise the innovative efforts our team has made,” Travis O'Keefe, the founder of Ka Hao, said when describing the importance of this award.

"We have this mission to improve the lives of 10 million Indigenous people, and we believe that the only way to achieve this is by thinking differently and being brave enough to just do it."

Ka Hao Indigenous eCommerce Programme has an innovative cause-based business model that makes it free for Indigenous students; has an innovative curriculum that is constantly updated as students participate in feedback loops; has an innovative delivery mode in which cohorts of students learn together from many international locations; has connected with 56 different organisations to create value for the students; and has innovative processes that enable a dramatic change from the "business as usual" approach to education.

Regarding his experience with the programme, Ka Hao's student, Martin Coromandel, said, "If I had to put a dollar figure on Ka Hao's impact, I'd say we have surpassed [our expectations of] the $250k mark in new revenue, and we are ontrack to earn $1 million via eCommerce."

ENZ Chief Executive, Grant McPherson, said, "The quality of the entrants was a clear indication of New Zealand ingenuity, market knowledge, and cutting-edge innovation."

"The sheer variety of fields and technology being utilised shows how advanced the thinking and capability of New Zealand education providers has become. The potential of each of these projects can now be fully explored, and I am confident the lessons learned can be shared to benefit our whole education sector, inspiring others to follow their lead. "

At the New Zealand International Education Conference (NZIEC), Travis delivered a speech that revealed the innovation secrets he attained throughout his 30+ years as an entrepreneur - the conference's central theme. NZIEC brings together practitioners and leaders from New Zealand and those around the world to explore opportunities for international education.

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