Idea2ImpactPŪKENGA KI PAINGA

Got a business idea or research project you want to translate into impact? We’re calling for expressions of interest for the Autumn26 cohort, which kicks off in February/March 2026 – Register your interest today.

Congratulations to the Spring25 cohort on their triumphant showcase event! Once again, the pitch presentations were of the highest calibre, but acknowledgement must be given to:

• $3000 Innovation Award winner, Julian Zhang for TableTale
• $2000 Innovation Award winner, Leah La Hood for LawMind
• $2,500 JW Legal Award winner, Rifqah Azzahra Naulidia for GlucoGold Yoghurt
• $200 Ignite Award winner, Sreedath Ikarath for RAIN (Resilient AI for Infrastructure Networks)
• $100 Ignite Award winner, Gustav Kahn for gus-energy

Previous Idea2Impact winners include:

• Federico Sarzi Braga for LandLend
• Stephanie Wagner for Soul Sip
• Boyuan Qian for Qior

Recent PhD graduate Dr Balakrishnan Nair is now CEO of PreventS-MD, a company implementing life-saving stroke risk assessment tools in clinical settings. PhD candidate Tanuj Wadhi won the 2023 Innovation Challenge with his athlete monitoring technology #EliteVu. And Dr. Sandra Grau-Bartual turned her PhD research on humidifying ‘smart fabrics’ into a company called RespirAq, which recently secured $3 million in venture capital.

AUT Ventures has played a part in each of these success stories. We are responsible for turning university research and expertise into opportunities for real world impact and commercialisation is a key part of our pathways to impact. We’re proud to partner with Ignite Innovation to present a cohort-based commercialisation programme designed to educate and inspire postgrad students to consider commercialisation.

Results from the first cohort include 100% of participants saying they’d recommend the programme to their peers, giving it an average 4.7/5 rating and facilitator Sabrina Nagel received a 5-star rating.

This introductory programme with four modules runs over eight weeks (approximately 30 hours).