As part of the recent Geeks on a Plane (GOAP) tour of New Zealand, some of our best and brightest startups pitched in rapid succession to the Geeks and the local community in Icehouse’s “Rocket Pitch” event.


Kiwi Landing Pad was pleased to sponsor the event with three prizes of complimentary time at Kiwi Landing Pad in San Francisco. The winners;
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• Outpost Central: Real-time water monitoring system.
• EcoFibre: Carbon fibre alternative manufactured from flax.
• Klickex: Low-cost foreign exchange service.
Congratulations to the winners and we look forward to seeing you in San Francisco some time in 2013 !


GOAP, lead by 500 startups brings together investors and industry commentators from Silicon Valley to travel to countries around the world, meeting with entrepreneurs and trying to better understand the challenges and opportunities that exist.


The event was a fantastic opportunity for Kiwi startups to test their business ideas with people who spend their time evaluating hundred’s of pitches and business plans in the heart of entrepreneurialism – San Francisco Bay Area.


To watch video of the pitches plus interviews with the Geeks, head to Icehouse’s You Tube channel here.
Press round- up of the Geeks trip;
New Zealand Herald – Geeks on a Plane find vibrant entrepreneur environment here
Techcunch interview with Sir Ray Avery – You’ve got 30,000 days to live.. Reverse engineer your life to make them count 
Pop17 - New Zealand the new source of technology and innovation
Techcrunch – Punching above their weight: opportunity and challenges for kiwi start ups
Idealog – Geeks on a Plane help kiwis take off to San Francisco
Radio NZ – Geeks on a Plane

Guest Post by Ryan Johnson.


Just last week I went to the SoMa district of San Francisco to check out Kiwi Landing Pad (KLP), which is situated between startup giants Twitter and Square. As I was talking with Catherine Robinson, director of KLP, I reflected on how much my wife Vicki and I have accomplished in our first month in San Francisco. We moved to San Francisco from Wellington in November to advance our startup, ProFellow.com. It’s incredible how far we’ve come – figuratively and literally!


ProFellow is dedicated to helping people find and win professional and academic fellowships. Since stepping off the plane, we’ve had a stacked calendar of meetings, events and conversations with new and established industry partners as well as advisors with expertise in our industry. For example, we’ve met with 10 fellowship organizations and held a networking dinner in SoMa for alumni of prestigious fellowships. We’ve also participated in several startup events, such as the SFBay Startup Weekend, and even met the founder of the international Hackers and Founders Meetup, who was thrilled to learn more about the Wellington chapter that I help co-manage. Vicki even spoke to a large captive audience about fellowships at the American Geophysical Union conference that just took place at the Moscone Center downtown. We can see the direct impact to our new sign-ups, which have nearly doubled since moving to the U.S.


For an entrepreneur living and working in San Francisco is extraordinary because the city is teeming with founders. You meet new people every day who will both celebrate and commiserate with you on the ups and down of startup life. It’s something every entrepreneur should experience. For early stage startups, I recommend checking out KLP’s program, which helps get you to San Francisco and arms you with a plan so you can make the most out of your time here.


Also, through Geekplane, an early stage startup focused on travel exchanges for technical help, Vicki and I are offering a free two-week stay at a private room in our flat in central San Francisco in exchange for some added features to our website. Email me (ryan[at]profellow.com) to learn more!


Ryan Johnson, Cofounder of ProFellow.com
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Twitter: @rjohnson008
Website: http://www.profellow.com
LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/rjohnson008

Well,120 miles and we are heading back to San Francisco.  If you are thinking of checking out Silicon Valley or you are making appointments to visit companies in Silicon Valley, make sure you allow plenty of time between meetings and seriously consider driving. The Cal-Train from San Francisco is good, but you will still need to criss cross the valley to head to your destinations. There are few places that are walking distance to anything.
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There’s no denying that the sun drenched peninsula has fostered a tech industry now unrivaled anywhere else in the world. The big guys are all here, just don’t expect them to invite you in for a cup of tea. Unless of course you know a Kiwi that works at one of them, then you could be in luck. Thanks Andrew!


KLP’s Facebook page is now up and running. Like Us on Facebook to keep tabs with all the latest community happenings.
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Go Vocab founders Michael Dowse and Jeremy Geros headed back to Wellington a couple of weeks ago, but before they left, I sat down with them to get a feeling for what they had learnt during their time here at KLP.

Michael and Jeremy won the BNZ Start-Up Alley prize at Webstock which gave them a month at KLP plus money for most of their expenses. They were impressed at just how focussed San Francisco is on technology – and it really is a wholly immersive experience. Standing on Harrison St, tech billboards are visible in every direction. Main stream network channels like NBC Bay Area cover all the latest technology news, there is an app for almost anything you can think of. You don’t order a taxi – you Uberit. Feel like some truffle fries – then Get it Now. Need that “thing” done now – Task Rabbit.

Coffee at The Creamery or SightGlass Coffee is an immediate introduction to how entrepreneurs  venture capitalists, consumers and job seekers keep this community an active and exciting environment. Both Michael and Jeremy commented that they have very general skill sets, primarily web design. They were blown away at how specialised people’s skill sets are here. Most nights Michael and Jeremy headed out to events like Airbnb Meetups where they meet with other entrepreneurs and listened to inspiring stories at Airbnb Fireside Chats.
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Read more about their experience at KLP and how winning the BNZ Start-Up Alley prize at Webstock will accelerate Go Vocab here.

Guest Post written by Christian Hirsch founder of Mohio.

Since I started a PhD in Computer Science at the University of Auckland in 2007, I always took an applied approach to my research. Being able to address real-world problems with new software tools has guided much of my work. Now seeing the results of this research form a startup is extremely exciting! Recently I had the opportunity to be based at Kiwi Landing Pad for a few weeks and explore opportunities in the US market for our early-stage startup Mohio.

My research at the University of Auckland was focused on the intersection of Software Engineering, Knowledge Management, and Visualization Tools – and we could see commercial applications from early on. Since completing my PhD last year, I have been working on bringing the technology to the market with the help of UniServices. Mohio, still in its pre-launch stage, will be positioned in the “Social Business Intelligence” domain.

During my time at the University, I was also involved with the Spark entrepreneurship challenge – a great platform for students to turn ideas into startups. Prior to my stay at Kiwi Landing Pad I had also spent some time at Stanford University, attending the Stanford Ignite programme, where I gained insights into the entrepreneurial environment of Silicon Valley.

The Kiwi Landing Pad was the ideal next step to learn more about opportunities in the US market and refine our business model and product. It was a great base to connect with people, conduct market validation for our technology, and attend industry conferences in the area. Catherine at Kiwi Landing Pad has been very helpful for getting us in touch with the right people and for further developing our strategy. My visit to San Francisco was a great opportunity to evaluate the market and establish important contacts. It has added invaluable input to our startup from a global perspective.

Once ready for launch, more information about Mohio will be available at: www.moh.io

Lightning Lab is a new accelerator that blends seed investment with an intensive startup accelerator programme. It’s an in-residence program based in Wellington that is open to any team of startup founders across New Zealand and internationally. A member of the Global Accelerator Network, Lightning Lab puts startups in front of a world of knowledge, talent and connections to turn a 12-week sprint into a high-growth digital business with momentum and follow-on investment.

New Programme Director Dan Khan popped into the KLP during a quick stop over in San Francisco and in the following video, Dan gives a quick and insightful overview about Lightning Lab.
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Applications for the first intake close on 5 December 2012.  If you think you have what it takes, then check out the Lightning Lab website and apply!!

David White has spent the last four weeks with us at the Kiwi Landing Pad and his final words of advice – “Get over here and make it happen”.  Before he jumped on Air New Zealand Flight 07 back to Auckland, I sat down with him and asked what he learned about being here in San Francisco and what advice he has for fellow Kiwi tech startup companies launching in the USA.

David is the Founder and CEO of IndieReign and came here as part of the Catapult program.  Catapult  is aimed at early stage entrepreneurs with viable business ideas in an “early startup” phase.  The primary objective is to accelerate the design and development of their product or service business model by exploring in-market business development, investment, mentorship and strategic partnership opportunities.  Read IndieReign’s Catapult case study here.

The Catapult program is run by Kiwi Landing Pad in San Francisco with full support from its private sponsors and the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment.

Guest Post written by Michael Dowse founder of Go Vocab.

Earlier this year our start up, Go Vocab won the BNZ Startup Alley Competition.  Our prize consisted of flights to San Francisco, some spending money and time in the Kiwi Landing Pad. 2 weeks ago Jeremy and I left behind the wind and rain of a Wellington winter for the eternal sunshine and fog of San Francisco. We’ll be here in the SoMa district of San Francisco, in the thick of it all, for 2 months.

Go Vocab launched 18 months ago as an e-learning site for high school students learning languages. Students use Go Vocab to learn and revise Vocabulary, Pronunciation and Verb Conjugations. Teachers use Go Vocab to set homework and track students progress. We first launched 18 months ago and thousands of students in hundreds of schools across Australia and New Zealand are now using Go Vocab.

This trip is an amazing opportunity to scope out the US and Canadian markets for Go Vocab. As well as immersing ourselves in the San Francisco Bay Area tech community we want to show Go Vocab to some teachers!  Next week we’re taking Go Vocab on the road to attend Language Teacher Conferences in Portland and Vancouver.

As the name promises, the Kiwi Landing Pad has allowed us to land on our feet with desks, internet, even accommodation at Startup House right next door. Catherine and Reuben have also been helping us with everything from introductions to other e-learning startups to finding decent coffee.
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It’s only been 2 and a half weeks so far and already I can see that this trip will change how we run our startup. When we leave we’ll be taking with us a more global perspective on building a startup that can compete with the best in the world.
You can check out Go Vocab here: www.govocab.com

Great night last night here in San Francisco celebrating the launch of Project Catapult.  An initiative  to help Kiwi entrepreneurs open doors into the San Francisco market.

Launch attendees, many of whom are accomplished Kiwi and US entrepreneurs were given details of the Project and heard from the latest participant, David White from Hamilton who pitched his startup IndieReign.

Kiwi Landing Pad Managing Director John Holt also formally welcomed Catherine Robinson to her new role as the San Francisco Director. Robinson has extensive startup experience and co founded Wellington based startup Aptimize which was acquired by San Francisco based Riverbed Technologies in 2012.

“We are very excited to have Catherine on the team and to have new Landing Pad residents and visitors welcomed by someone who understands the journey of building a global business from New Zealand successfully.”

“Project Catapult is just another example of how we can maximize the benefits of Kiwi Landing Pad and help established companies grow faster in market while also exposing earlier stage entrepreneurs to the realities and requirements of going global through Project Catapult says Holt.”
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Full press release about Project Catapult here

Check out our new video profiling Kiwi Landing Pad.  Our friends at Kordia came to visit us at  the Kiwi Landing Pad.  Together we created a video highlighting some of our achievements in our first year here in San Francisco.  James talks about his role in creating soft landings for Kiwi companies breaking into the US.  James has been at the Kiwi Landing Pad since day one and has provided a lot of advice and support to companies wanting to grow their business in the US.  The video also features Reuben Metcalfe.  Reuben is the founder of Idreamofspace.com and he is the first participant of our newly launched program Catapult.
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Kordia are a New Zealand based telecommunications  provider that actively supports the New Zealand technology sector.  Thanks to Luke and the team for putting this video together.