Supporting Innovation and EntrepreneurshipTAUTOKO AUAHATANGA

Being a founder can be tough and lonely sometimes, so sharing your thoughts with an experienced and impartial expert can help you grow faster and stronger, both personally and professionally. If you’ve got the motivation and inspiration, then we’ve got the know-how and can-do.

The Ventures team offer several ways in which staff and students can explore your commercialisation ideas or business concepts:

• KiwiNet PreSeed Accelerator Funding (PSAF) – access to PSAF Tier 1 and Tier 2 funding to discover, explore, and develop commercialisation for AUT research projects.
• Idea2Impact Research Commercialisation Programme – an introductory programme designed to educate and inspire students to explore commercialisation.
• Book a Session – no obligation confidential meetings with a Ventures team member to discuss ideas and concepts and determine what your “next steps” could look like.
• Drop-in Clinics – Tuesday’s (12pm) and Thursdays (1pm) at the Employability Lab.
• Industry Partners – by collaborating with like-minded organisations, we can connect the AUT community to an industry partner that is the right fit to explore your options. Collaborators include The King’s Trust Aotearoa, Ministry of Awesome, Momentum, Startup Aotearoa, KiwiNet , and #startupnz.

Te Kāhui Poipoi Rangahau | AUT Research Office

The Research Office exists to assist AUT staff and students to explore their ideas for potential research collaboration. Their team supports research excellence, researcher capacity , and researcher performance across the University in the following ways:

• Coordination of research performance strategies and audit
• Management of external research funding processes, including support for researchers engaging with Vision Matauranga
• Reporting on AUT’s research activity and funding
• External engagement with research partners and funders, including government agencies with responsibility for delivering the National Statement of Science Investment
• Establishment of external research partnerships to support the development of collaborative research projects
• Monitoring and reporting on developments within the external research environment and their potential impact on the research activities of the University

Visit their website

AUT STARTUP CLUB

Founded in 2020, the Startup Club is part of AUT Student’s Association and is an entrepreneurial, business-minded community with regular meetups, networking events, and keynote speaker presentations. The club is led by students for students with an open-door club policy where ALL are welcome to join and participate. Events include quiz nights, founder Q&A panels, Vision to Venture event series, and more!

To find out more, simply reach out via email startupclub@aut.ac.nz or follow them on Instagram