Te Pūtahitanga had an amazing response from whānau who decided to harness the spirit of Māui-tikitiki-a Taranga and chose to submit an application. As a result we received over 201 applications in our first-ever funding round. We were so excited by the response from whānau, providers and businesses and of those applications received, 138 came from within the Ngāi Tahu rohe.
On 12-14 September, we held our inaugural Hot House event with Minister Tariana Turia in attendance.
“I was utterly blown away to learn there were 201 applications received by Te Pūtahitanga – this is tangible proof that our people are generating solutions at the flax roots, they are experimenting, experiencing, developing amazing ideas and Te Pūtahitanga is helping to bring them into life,” says Hon Tariana Turia.
Twelve teams were selected to enter the Hot House. The event was just that – a hot house of skills, emotions, experience, ideas, values, and talent.
The teams are pioneering whānau transformation in many different ways including rejuvenating ahi kā at marae, growing the next generation of mahinga kai practitioners, building cultural connectivity through technology, whānau businesses developing tikanga based products and nurturing Māori human capacity, creating a network of kaupapa Māori gyms across Te Waipounamu, strengthening community resilience and social enterprises that will employ and train our people.
The weekend consisted of our teams working intensively with coaches, mentors and professional advisors to test and develop the key aspects of the venture, which included financial model, market testing, social/cultural impact, competitor landscape and pitching. The Hot House concluded with teams pitching their amazing ideas to a supportive whānau audience and Te Pūtahitanga Board.
The Hot House was designed to be an intensive development programme to accelerate initiatives that Te Pūtahitanga potentially may invest in. In nature, the Hot House adapts Start Up weekend and Dragons Den models to suit Māori social enterprise and to meet the desired investment objectives of Te Pūtahitanga.
The Hot House would not have been possible without significant pro-bono support from Kahui Legal; Westpac, Price Waterhouse Cooper, Māori Women’s Development Inc and Poutama to name a few.
Chair Norm Dewes concluded the event by saying it takes courage to have a dream, even more courage to share a dream but mostly it takes courage to believe in yourself and follow the dream.
The DNA group work together. From left to right; Sampson Karst, Trent Mankelow, Nathan Pere, Hori Te Ariki Mataki, Kerepeti Paraone, Hana Mereraiha.
Whānau playing a tongue twister game together.
Eruera Prendergast-Tarena and Justin Tipa at the Hot House event.
Melanie Riwai-Couch working with Ixist design team.
