TechMates.
TechMates is the NZVC podcast. Mark Pavlyukovskyy and Hendrik Remigereau sit down with the founders building from Australasia. Every episode is a working conversation about what the company is really solving. 63 episodes since 2025, on Spotify, YouTube and Apple Podcasts.
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Auckland's Mayor to Founders: "Skip the Valley, Come Here"
Auckland's engineer mayor makes his case for the city as the South Pacific's startup capital, from the 100 T-shirt campaign to fixing grids and floods.
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In 5 Years, Every Kid Will Have an AI Teacher
Four founders on AI in learning, from Kara's sign-language avatars to AI tutors at home, AI professors and an internal AI curriculum at work.
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Data Centers in Space, 5 Years Away?
The first superconductor run in space, and why conflict in orbit may be closer than we think.
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Could NZ Birth the Next SpaceX? Dawn Aerospace Closes Series B
A $25M Series B, 82% market share, the Aurora space plane and in-space refueling.
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Why VC Funds Are Suddenly Pouring Billions Into Defense
The defense-tech gold rush, from the perspective of founders and an institutional investor.
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What Happens When AI Listens to Sick Pigs for Six Days Straight?
Sensory AI for livestock and the global distribution deal that followed.
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The Startup Powering ANZ's Open Banking Moment
Seven years bootstrapped and 677 investor rejections before the open-banking moment arrived.
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How to Hit #1 on the App Store with a $0 Marketing Budget
Topping the App Store with nothing but product and word of mouth.
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Inside the Startups Bringing AI to the Physical World
Robotics and applied AI, from surgical autonomy to the physical frontier.
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Meet the Founders Disrupting Australia & NZ's Banking Monopolies
Up, Wych and Sharesies on taking apart the ANZ banking establishment.
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Why Brand Is the Only Moat Left in SaaS
In a world of commoditised software, brand is the last defensible edge.
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The Secret Space Revolution in Australia & New Zealand
Dawn, Esper Satellites and Aquila on the quiet ANZ space boom.
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From Advising HBO's Silicon Valley to Selling Startups to Big Tech
Lessons from the writers' room and the M&A table.
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How to Deploy $5 Billion in New Zealand's New Wave of Tech Startups
The strategy behind deploying billions into the next wave of NZ tech.
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Anatomy of a 2,000x Return: Lightspeed Founder Barry Eggers on Spotting Outliers
Lightspeed founder Barry Eggers on the Snapchat bet, concentration over diversification, and why New Zealand reminds him of early Israel.
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A Dynasty of Inventors: From the Photocopier to Orion
Harry Gestetner on a 150-year family legacy of invention, selling Fanfix at 21, and building Orion to take on Eight Sleep.
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Scaling from the Edge: NZ’s Global Champions | NZVC Portfolio Day
Sharesies, VeVe and Crimson Global Academy founders on scaling from New Zealand to 900k users, $2.2B in sales and $120M raised.
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Born Global: Founding from New Zealand to the World | NZVC Portfolio Day
Newton Space, Stickybeak and Bonnet founders on going global from day one, the divide-by-two rule for US investors, and building with kids at home.
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The Robot That Lives in Your Pipes Forever
Puralink co-founder Harrison Crowe-Maxwell on pipe-crawling robots, the 30% of drinking water lost to leaks, and raising from Peak XV.
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The Agentic AI Future | NZVC Portfolio Day
A lawyer, a Xero co-founder and a NEAR core developer debate agentic AI on stage at NZVC Portfolio Day, with a robot dog.
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I Built a Machine to Delete Fog
Pyper Vision's Emily Blythe on years of fog-clearing trials and the pivot to forecasting fog at 84 percent accuracy.
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I Hired My College Roommates to Build a $300M Empire
Crimson Education's Jamie Beaton on building a $300M business from a Harvard dorm while working at Tiger Management.
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Fintech Frontiers: Reinventing Money from the Edge of the World | NZVC Portfolio Day
Three fintech founders on lobbying regulators, open banking toll booths, and building a challenger bank in New Zealand.
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Grassroots to Global: Innovation the Kiwi Way | NZVC Portfolio Day
Four agtech and biotech founders on why their companies could only have started in New Zealand.
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He's Creating Australasia's PayPal Mafia
Up co-founder Dominic Pym on building Australia's first cloud bank and seeding founder mafias across Australasia.
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From Edge to Epicenter: Building the NZ Innovation Ecosystem | NZVC Portfolio Day
A Portfolio Day panel on what New Zealand gets right for founders, what it gets wrong, and how to grow from 1,000 startups to 5,000.
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Beyond Startup Hype: 5 Founders on Real Difficulties
Five founders in one reel on enterprise sales, simple products, and surviving long enough to compound.
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Why Big Tech Failed at This Simple Farming Task
Bovonic's founder on a cheap snap-in sensor that catches mastitis in 30 seconds, now on 145 farms.
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He Rowed the Tasman, Then Built and Sold a Fintech
Simfuni's CEO on a solo Tasman row, a BNPL exit, and rebuilding life insurance with AI.
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Building the Tesla of Surgical Robots
Andromeda's Nick Damiano on software-first surgical robots, HoLEP, and the FDA.
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Exit at 27: Chasing Bigger Horizons
Extraordinary's founder on exiting a clinic group at 27, a pivot away from healthcare BNPL, and an IRD ruling that became a moat.
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Healthcare is a $4.5 Trillion Broken System
Elo's Ari Tulla on BetterDoctor's pivot and exit, and using AI plus biomarkers for preventative health.
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Startups vs Hype: VeVe's Real Web3 Business
VeVe's founder on $1.5B in digital collectibles GMV and pitching Disney when NFTs sounded like a scam.
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Ads Are Broken. Feedback Fixes Them
Stickybeak's CEO on testing ads with real people in 48 hours, and lessons from Les Mills during COVID.
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Australia's Most Ambitious Defense Tech Startup
Go1 co-founder Vu Tran on why he moved from EdTech to Australian defense tech.
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Energy's Internet: Beaming Power Globally
Aquila's founder on beaming power to drones with lasers, and why transmission beats storage.
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This Startup Knows What You'll Eat Next
Appetise's founder on side hustles, a COVID pivot, and predicting what people will eat next.
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Building the School of the Future
Crimson Global Academy's CEO on running an online school and what AI does to education.
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Inside the Australian Startup Launching Hyperspectral Satellites
Esper's founder on hyperspectral satellites for mining, agriculture, and climate monitoring.
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Why Sam Altman Backed This Kiwi Startup
Kami co-founder Bob Drummond on punch cards, past failures, and a classroom platform that grew through the pandemic.
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How AI Is Revolutionizing Language Learning
Finn Puklowski on going from bankruptcy to a $50M creator-led language platform in Brazil.
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Dairy Without Cows: The Science Changing Food Forever
Daisy Lab's founder on making dairy proteins without cows through precision fermentation.
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Why Fusion Energy is Closer Than Ever
OpenStar's founder on first plasma, levitated dipole reactors, and the path to commercial fusion.
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Inside Blue Origin's Latest Space Trip
Mark Rocket on flying Blue Origin's NS-32 mission as the first New Zealander in space.
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How I Built & Sold NZ's #1 Crypto Startup
Easy Crypto's founder on banks that said no, a crypto market crash, and selling to Swyftx.
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First Kiwi in Space
Mark Rocket on co-founding Rocket Lab, Kea Aerospace's stratospheric drones, and going to space.
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Can AI Really Fix Academic Research?
Litmaps founder Axton Pitt on AI citation mapping, 400,000 users, and a co-founder exit.
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From $50 to Millions: Investing Tips I Wish I Had at 17
Sharesies co-CEO Leighton Roberts on teenage investment clubs, a coin toss, and 800,000 users.
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How Bitcoin Mining Could Save the Planet
Daniel Batten on why Bitcoin mining could help the climate, and what coaching gives founders that advice cannot.
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How This Young Founder Beat Elon Musk
Dawn Aerospace's CEO on a rocket-plane that flies to space twice a day.
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How I Sold My Robotics Startup
Rocos co-founder David Inggs on selling to DroneDeploy and why robots are still dumb.
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America's Secret Weapon Against China? A New Zealand Startup
Foundry Lab's founder on melting metal in a microwave and landing defense contracts.
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What It Takes to Build a Tech Unicorn from New Zealand
Xero's co-founder on going public with no revenue, and on Upstock's marketplace for wholesale ordering.
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Why I Left Silicon Valley for New Zealand: A Tech Founder's Journey
Xero co-founder Philip Fierlinger on General Magic, Beastie Boys VR, and why design beats engineering.
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TechMates News: AI Tutors, Environmental Innovation & Financial Independence in New Zealand
A news episode on AI tutors, AI for environmental management, and financial independence for young adults.
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He Flunked School, Now Runs a Multi-Million Business
VXT's founder on going from World of Warcraft to a phone system that automates work for 500 law firms.
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How to Get Investors to Say YES
Sam Kim on the cold email that raised $1M and the startup school that takes every founder.
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How to Electrify Space
Zenno's founder on seven years building the first superconducting magnet for space.
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Kiwi Startup Builds a Bank
Emerge's CEO on launching a neobank in lockdown and taking on New Zealand's big four banks.
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The Secret Hack for Happy Couples
Cupla's co-founder on building a relationship app after founding Synthony.
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How do They Turn Plants into Cars?
KiwiFibre's CEO on making a carbon fiber replacement from native New Zealand flax.
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Flying Boats: the Future of Moving on Water
Vessev's CEO on leaving Apple to build electric hydrofoiling passenger boats.
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Translating the World's Content into Sign Language with AI
Kara's co-founder on turning a hearing disorder into a company that puts sign language avatars on the world's content.
What our guests say.
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“A pleasure to spend some time talking to Mark and Hendrik of NZVC about the NZ venture ecosystem.”
James PinnerCEO, NZ Growth Capital Partners -
“Thanks for the incredibly fun and spicy interview!”
Jamie BeatonCEO, Crimson Education -
“Great to spend some time with the TechMates team. NZVC has been on the Simfuni journey from the beginning and they have been an awesome team to work with.”
Shaun QuinceyCEO & Co-founder, Simfuni -
“New Zealand has been so key to Andromeda Surgical's trajectory and it was great to share our story with the best tech podcast in the region.”
Nick DamianoCEO & Co-founder, Andromeda Surgical -
“I sat down with TechMates to talk about the journey so far. Thanks to the NZVC team for the chat and ongoing support!”
Anna HenwoodCEO, Stickybeak -
“Thanks for having me on the podcast, TechMates. I always love talking tech.”
Penelope BartonCEO & Co-Founder, Crimson Academies
Your hosts.
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Mark PavlyukovskyyGeneral Partner, NZVC -
Hendrik RemigereauGeneral Partner, NZVC