Featured Founder: Nicky Tregidga
Did you know that 62% of athletes who need mental health support never seek it?
For many, barriers like cost, limited access and fear of judgement mean support remains out of reach. Determined to change that, our latest Featured Founder, AUT graduate Nicky Tregidga, created SE1FMADE – an innovative platform designed to make mental performance support more accessible for athletes.
Building the Missing Feature
The foundations of SE1FMADE were shaped by Nicky's own experiences. Following her studies at AUT, where she completed a Bachelor of Sport and Recreation majoring in Exercise Science, she spent 17 years representing New Zealand as an elite karate athlete, earning Commonwealth, Oceania and national championship titles.
Despite competing at the highest level, one part of her training was always missing.
"I not only experienced the impact my mental game had on my own performance but saw the same thing in many athletes around me," she says. "Sports psychology was never something I had access to because of the cost, and I competed in a self-funded sport. I believe mental performance training should be available to every athlete, regardless of their financial means."
That belief became the catalyst for SE1FMADE – an AI-powered mental performance platform designed to make sports psychology more accessible. Through features such as its Personalised AI Mental Performance Coach, athletes can access on-demand support to build confidence, focus and resilience between sessions or when traditional support isn't available.
Turning Experience into Innovation
Like many early-stage ventures, SE1FMADE has evolved through continuous learning.
More than 130 athletes have already tested the platform, with their feedback helping shape its next generation. As Version Two continues to take shape, Nicky is exploring opportunities to support SE1FMADE's future growth, including plans for a potential pre-seed investment round.
Alongside this, Nicky has been working with AUT Ventures to explore the platform's commercial potential. With guidance from the AUT Ventures team and AUT researcher Connor Silvester, she has continued refining SE1FMADE while preparing for its next stage of development.
As Venture Director Chrill Hill explains:
"Nicky has combined her lived experience as an elite athlete with a clear understanding of a challenge faced by athletes around the world. We're excited to support founders like Nicky as they transform personal experience into ventures capable of creating meaningful real-world impact."
Democratising Mental Performance
For Nicky, SE1FMADE is about much more than improving sporting performance. It's about breaking down barriers so every athlete can access trusted mental performance support.
Looking ahead, she hopes mental conditioning becomes as fundamental to athletic performance as physical training because, as she believes: "Athletes who have strong mental fitness and a healthy mind not only perform better in sport but have a healthier transition out of sport and are better set up for success in life beyond sport."
It's this vision that continues to guide Nicky as SE1FMADE grows. To learn more, visit se1fmade.io.