NZ companies dominate Australasia internet awards

Five New Zealand businesses have received awards for excellence online at the Australia and New Zealand Internet Awards (ANZIA's).

Held jointly by InternetNZ and auDA, the ANZIA's are an annual event celebrating the achievements of organisations, businesses and individuals who are at the top of their game in delivering online content.

The new Tech StartUp category was held hostage by mainly NZ companies, with Auckland based Latipay taking out the main prize, and Christchurch's Linewize being named as highly commended.

Massey University was also a winner on the night, with its Design + Democracy project taking out the Information Award for thei work on online voter engagement.

Jordan Carter, CEO of InternetNZ, says that it is a testament to the quality of the New Zealand entries that five out of the seven finalists received awards.

"The quality of New Zealand finalists show that New Zealand's tech sector is in good hands," he says.

"We have a lot of positive ideas coming out of New Zealand, and it is great to see that the New Zealand winners represented a number of communities nationwide.

Cameron Boardman, CEO of auDA says that his first ANZIA event as CEO was great.

"I was struck by the incredible atmosphere and genuine excitement of the community to celebrate such valuable contributions from our finalists," explains Boardman.

"It is encouraging to see such diversity and innovation across the wider tech sector."

InternetNZ says it's so pleased that 2016 has not only attracted a huge amount of entries to these awards - but also such a high calibre of finalists from across Australasia.

The organisation says it goes to show that work in the Internet space is continuing to advance and improve.