Ideas are easy. Impact takes Work.

Ka pai tō mahi to the Winter '26 cohort of the Ara Hua | Idea2Impact programme.

This week, we celebrated the culmination of weeks of learning, collaboration and growth as our participants pitched the ventures they had been developing throughout the programme.

It was an inspiring evening filled with innovative ideas, thoughtful presentations and plenty of entrepreneurial energy.

Congratulations to all the award winners:

• $3,000 Innovation Award: Yashar Agha – OSA-W
• $2,000 Innovation Award: Erin Melbourne – PintyCar
• $1,000 Innovation Award: Thusithanjana Thilakarathna – PomoLog
• JW Legal Award: Crystal Myat Myat Soe – Burmese Pantry Essentials
• Ignite Award: Ehsan Arabanvari – GCCI Carbon Retrofit

None of this would have been possible without our incredible programme facilitator, Sabrina Nagel, who once again led the cohort with passion and expertise.

Thank you also to our mentors, judges and supporters, whose generosity, knowledge and encouragement helped make this programme such a success.

Finally, congratulations to the entire cohort. It has been exciting to watch your ideas evolve over the past few weeks, and we can't wait to see where your ventures take you next.

Here's to the next generation of innovators and founders!