The biggest crowd of people to date gathered across Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to hear the finalists for the 2017 NZ Hi-Tech Awards.
Entries this year were scattered from Kaitia to Invercargill, resulting in a record number of entries – 30 percent up on last year.
And it's not just the quantity that's up, as chair of the Hi-Tech Trust, Wayne Norrie says the quality of entries is the highest ever seen in the history of the Awards.
"This year's finalists span the full spectrum of the hi-tech sector and the country. It's great to see so many areas of the country represented. Some amazing new companies have made an appearance in the 2017 Awards and it's so exciting to see so many entries in the Start-Up and Young Achiever categories – our industry is truly in great shape," says Norrie.
The local judges are joined by a world class line up of international judges that include Gary Hamel, Pascal Finette, Linda Jenkinson, Rohit Shukla, Savannah Peterson, Dr Catherine Mohr, Claudia Batten, Michael Boustridge, Katherine Corich, Erik Dijkstra, Pat Kenealy, Richard Keyse, Nick Lambert and Andy Lark.
The Hi-Tech Awards continue to be the New Zealand technology industries most important celebration of success and a wonderful showcase for our innovation and talent, following a sell out crowd last we fully anticipate the same for 2017 Gala Dinner which will be held at the ANZ Viaduct Events Centre, Auckland on 12th May," says Norrie.
The 2017 Hi-Tech Awards finalists are:
PwC Hi-Tech Company of the Year · ARANZ Geo · Invenco · Pushpay Holdings · Serko · Vend · Xero
Coretex Hi-Tech Emerging Company of the Year · Figured · Harmoney · Link Engine Management · SilverStripe · Timely
New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF) Hi-Tech Start-Up Company of the Year · AskNicely · Dexibit · Latipay · Performance Lab · Property
IBM Most Innovative Company · Auror · Pushpay · RedShield Security · Simplicity
Callaghan Innovation Maori Innovation Award · Biolytix · Navilluso · Origins Software · Pango Productions
Duncan Cotterill Innovative Hi-Tech Software Product · Auror · Moxion · RedShield Security · Spotlight Reporting
Kiwibank Hi-Tech Innovative Services Award · EROAD · MyBitcoinSaver · Navilluso Medical · RedShield Security · Snowball Effect
Endace Innovative Hi-Tech Hardware Product · Adherium · DARC Technologies · EROAD · Shotover Camera Systems
Quick Circuit Innovative Hi-Tech Mobile Product · beweb · oDocs Eye Care · Motim Technologies
NZTE Innovative Agritech Product · Compac · Figured · PPP Industries · StockX
Xero Hi-Tech Young Achiever · Aleisha Amohia · Jamie Beaton · Kendall Flutey · Aleisha Staples
ATEED Best technology for the Creative Sector · Dexibit · Moxion · Shotover Camera Systems · Shuttlerock
Qual IT Best technology for the Public Sector · Auror · Dexibit · EROAD · Orion Health
