An Unmissable Lineup of Electrifying Speakers.
Leadership & People Workshops
Mahesh Muralidhar
Phase One
Day one
Mahesh is Founder and CEO of Phase One Ventures, backing tech startups like Ivo.ai and NextWork. Previously Canva’s first Head of People, he’ll share his expertise to guide founders on growth and scaling.
Vanessa Radich
Appetise
Vanessa is Head of People & Culture at Appetise, leading teams across NZ and Australia. She’ll share her expertise to help founders build high-impact, resilient cultures.
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Harry Uffindell
Partly
Harry Uffindell, founding team member and Chief People Officer at Partly, scaled the team from 5 to 100+ globally. An active angel investor and VC, he'll share insights on building world-class teams, scaling fast, and sustaining high-performance culture.
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Operating Lean Workshops
Ankita Dhakar
Capture the Bug
Ankita is the founder of Capture The Bug, a real-time penetration testing platform. She mentors women in tech and works with startups and enterprises to strengthen their security posture.
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Steven Baker
Vendor Sage
Steve is Co-Founder and CEO of VendorSage, Their software helps companies scale faster, smarter by removing guesswork from software adoption. He’ll share his expertise to help founders build tech-enabled, efficient businesses.
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Debbie Stowe
Vince
Debbie is the founder of Vince, helping people eat more vegetables at home, in the office, or out on the trail. She shares honest insights from building a values-driven food brand in New Zealand.
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Haylee Killip
NOD
Haylee is the Founder and CEO of NOD, a childcare marketplace rethinking how families access support. Built from experience and scaled with minimal resources, she shares insights on building, shipping, and finding product–market fit under real constraints.
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Fiona Bycroft
NAUT
Fiona Bycroft is CEO and co-founder of Naut, building electric marine propulsion which sits in a traditionally predominantly male industry. She is passionate about helping women succeed and lead in technical, capital-intensive, STEM-driven sectors.
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Chloe Van Dyke
Chia Sisters
Chloe is Founder of Chia Sisters and co-founder of Businesses for Climate Action, leading sustainable, climate-positive ventures. She’ll share practical insights on founder-led sales, retail relationships, and turning early customers into advocates.
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Kate Radcliffe-Reid
Backkr
As Founder and CEO of Backkr — a SaaS platform helping small businesses grow without burning cash on agencies — Kate has spent her career in the gap between what great marketing can do and what most founders actually have access to. She's a startup strategist, community builder, and a regular voice in New Zealand's founder ecosystem.
Danni Duncan
The Others Club
Danni Duncan is the founder of The Others Club, a fast-growing global community for childfree adults. At Electrify Aotearoa, she’ll share insights on design, positioning and early-stage marketing growth on zero budget.
Money & Investor Workshops
Anna Guenther
PledgeMe
Anna is Co-Founder of PledgeMe, New Zealand’s first crowdfunding platform, helping communities and companies fund their plans. She shares her experience guiding founders on the highs and lows of fundraising and growth.
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Camille Hunt
Mainland Angels
Camille is a startup operator and angel investor. She mentors founders on fundraising, growth strategy, and turning ideas into scalable, high-impact ventures.
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Nadine Hill
Punakaiki Fund
Nadine is a Partner at 2040 Ventures, backing ambitious founders in B2B, clean tech and deep tech. At Electrify, she’ll share how investors evaluate opportunities and what it takes to build globally scalable companies.
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Dr Kathleen Lucere
Foggy Valley Aotearoa
Dr Kathleen Lucere is the Investment Manager at Foggy Valley Aotearoa, a family office investing in early-stage startups and VC funds, with a focus on female founders and positive impact. She’ll share real-world funding stories and investor perspectives, particularly on supporting women-led ventures.
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James Pinner
NZ Growth Capital Partners
James, CEO of NZGCP, brings 20+ years in venture capital, private equity, and global corporate finance. He'll share investor insights and what founders need to succeed.
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Georgia Robertson
Blackbird
Georgia, Investment Associate at Blackbird, partners with ambitious Kiwi and Australian founders building generational companies. She'll share her insights on what investors look for in Inside the Investor’s Mind.
Candice Tait
Founded To Be Counted
Candice is the Founder of Founded to Be Counted, providing female founders with finance coaching. She’ll share tools, insights, and frameworks that help you become fundable and financially confident.
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Joanna Greaves
Kiwibank
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Brand & Storytelling Workshops
Ashley Bass
Phocas Software
Ashley is Senior Director of Product Marketing at Phocas. She’ll share how to understand customers deeply, uncover real pain points, and turn insights into strong brand positioning.
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Phoebe Devine
Previously Unavailable
Phoebe is Chief Design Officer at Previously Unavailable. She’ll share insights on building compelling visual identities and storytelling, guiding founders to create brands that resonate and stand out in competitive markets.
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Scott Kennedy
Edition Group
Scott is Co-Founder and Head of Strategy at Edition. He’ll unpack the brand fundamentals startups need to stand out, build trust fast, and convert - at a time when that’s never been harder.
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Deep Tech Workshops
Olivia Ogilvie
Opo Bio
Olivia Ogilvie - Co-Founder & CEO, Opo Bio, will share her journey turning cutting-edge IP into a scalable product. Learn her approach and practical tips for productising deeptech innovations.
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Karyna Young
EnPot
Karyna Young is CEO of EnPot and Yunca Engineering, commercialising deep-tech that turns aluminium smelters into flexible energy storage. She brings firsthand experience securing corporate pilots to scale complex industrial innovation.
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Christina Houlihan
Bspkl
Christina is Co-Founder and CEO of Bspkl, specialising in commercialising technology for real-world impact. She’ll share practical strategies for getting your IP out of the lab and into market.
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Keynotes and Panels
Dale Stephens
Ministry of Awesome
Dale, Chair of Ministry of Awesome - will open Electrify Aotearoa and welcome attendees to the event.
Nicole Retter
PAM
We're thrilled to have the remarkable Nicole Retter as our MC this year. As the Founder & CEO of PAM – Personal Admin Manager, the mental-load-crushing app built for busy families, Nicole embodies everything we admire in a founder: bold, passionate, relentless, and purpose-driven.
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Marian Johnson
Electrify Aotearoa
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Bo Burns
Auckland Council
Howick Ward Councillor, entrepreneur and longtime community advocate, Bo Burns welcomes attendees to Auckland on behalf of Auckland Council, bringing her passion for local business, leadership and community connection to Electrify Aotearoa.
Dr Justine McIntyre
Injury Hub
Justine is Co-Founder of InjuryHub, the world’s first digital marketplace for injury care. She shares her experience to help founders build impactful healthtech solutions that improve access and outcomes.
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Ruby Kolesky
Joyous
Ruby is CEO of Joyous, an AI platform delivering actionable insights through one-on-one conversations at scale. Originally set on stand-up comedy, she blends humour, curiosity, and technical skill to build human-centred technology.
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Siân Simpson
Bountifull Media
Siân Simpson is a New Zealand entrepreneur, global podcast host, and investor who explores how people create more joy in their lives, sharing stories and insights from inspiring leaders worldwide.
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Emil Schroder
NZGCP
Emil is an Investment Manager at the Aspire fund which is addressing the gaps in the New Zealand early-stage capital ecosystem by investing into the promising and underserved Kiwi tech sector
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Emma Lewisham
Emma Lewisham
Emma Lewisham is the founder of her namesake intelligent skincare brand, that gives women confidence in what they put on their skin. An antidote to an industry overwhelmed by ingredient trends, they have a considered refillable range of skincare formulated for how your skin actually works, never around a single ingredient. With an uncompromising commitment to science over trends, their thinking has been recognised by some of the world's most respected minds, including Nobel Laureate Dr Peter Agre and Dr Jane Goodall.
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Ursula Haywood
Scanabull
Co-founder and Chief Commercial Officer of Scanabull, Ursula brings hard-won insight into rural innovation, capital raising and commercialisation, sharing what it really takes to turn practical industry problems into scalable ventures.
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Alyona Medelyan
Thematic
Founder and CEO of Thematic, a Y Combinator-backed AI company helping enterprises turn customer feedback into actionable insights at scale. She will share lessons on the realities of cracking the US market.
Ankita Dhakar
Capture the Bug
Ankita is the founder of Capture The Bug, a real-time penetration testing platform. She mentors women in tech and works with startups and enterprises to strengthen their security posture.
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Joanna Greaves
Kiwibank
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Madeleine Patel
Delightable
CEO and Co-Founder of Delightable, Madeleine Patel is building AI shopping assistant tech that turns customer conversations into intelligence for beauty brands. At Electrify Aotearoa, she shares founder insights on securing startup funding and navigating early-stage business growth.
Olivia Dyet
Empathix
Founder and CEO of Empathix, Olivia Dyet builds AI recruitment tech and brings 15+ years in HR. At Electrify Aotearoa, she shares how founders can rapidly turn ideas into MVPs using AI.
Shona Grundy
Source
Shona is Co-Founder and Kaitiaki at Source, blending commercial strategy with tikanga Māori to build enduring brands. She’ll share insights on purpose-led entrepreneurship grounded in culture, healing, and global impact..
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Jenny Rudd
Dispute Buddy
Jenny Rudd founder of Dispute Buddy, the best app in the world to download texts for court, and co-founder of Gender Investment Gap NZ. Jenny shares how you can use being underestimated to your advantage when raising capital.
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Ellie Brade
Cleanery
Ellie Brade shares her journey from journalist to sustainability entrepreneur, building Cleanery to make impactful, everyday changes easy. She’ll explore how bold ideas and purposeful business can drive real-world impact.
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Got a burning questions for one of our speakers?