Mahuki takes innovation on the road

3 April 2017

A spot of particularly bad weather hasn't kept our innovation hub from taking roadshows across the country.

Mahuki at Auckland University of Technology. Photograph by Colab_AUT/Twitter

The roadshows are to shine a light on what Mahuki offers, including our 2017 incubation programme.

Applications for the programme have opened. We're looking for companies or individuals who are working at the cutting edge of technology across experience, museum or creative enterprise and learning innovation.

Entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to work with our experts and collections, and will work on real-world culture sector challenges, informed by our experience as a global leader in cultural experiences.

"Mahuki can develop a seed or startup company into the next 8i,” General Manager Tui Te Hau said.

“As part of the programme, entrepreneurs have Te Papa in its entirety at their fingertips. At any moment they can walk through the doors and engage with the 1.8m visitors we have every year.”

In 2016, we engaged seven business concepts developed at Mahuki, for deployment within the museum.

Wellington based company Breadcrumb used their time in Mahuki to develop a location intelligence platform combining hardware and software that can pinpoint visitor’s location within 10cm accuracy.

This can be used to develop new visitor experiences, gain insights about visitor preferences and help make resourcing decisions.

Breadcrumb have attracted international interest and are looking to grow into the China market where the culture sector is targeted to grow to 5% of the China’s GDP.

Breadcrumb founder Lifeng Zhu believes the Mahuki programme has helped the team solidify their market opportunity.

“During the Mahuki programme we were able to talk with Te Papa staff and pilot our technology on the museum floor. This has helped us build a valuable product that Te Papa and other cultural entities want,” said Mr Zhu.

We invested around $1 million to establish Mahuki last year, and will invest $780,000 for the 2017 programme.

This will support up to 40 entrepreneurs across ten teams while they work, and help them access international networks when their innovations are market-ready.

This includes a $20,000 payment to each team (for up to ten teams) to enable them to solely focus on the programme.

Roadshow dates:

Monday 3 April

10:30am – 11:30am
Te Manawa, Palmerston North

5:00pm – 7:00 pm
Sarjeant Art Gallery Te Whare o Rehua Whanganui, Whanganui

Tuesday 4 April

5:00pm – 7:00 pm
Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, Len Lye Centre, New Plymouth

Wednesday 5 April

5:00pm – 7:00pm
Taupo Museum, Taupo

Thursday 6 April

5:00pm– 7:30pm
BizDojo, Christchurch

5:00pm – 7:00pm
MTG Hawke's Bay, Napier

Friday 7 April

11:00am – 2:30pm
Innov8 HQ, Dunedin

4:30pm – 6:00 pm
Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Dunedin

Monday 10 April

1:00pm – 4:00pm – Mahuki open home (all welcome)
Te Papa, Wellington

5:30pm – 7:00pm
Te Papa, Wellington