2019 Awards Judges

Duncan Mackintosh

Duncan is the New Zealand Investment Manager with Brandon Capital and the MRCF, a premier life science venture capital fund, investing to change patient lives. Duncan has spent 18 years working in early stage technology commercialisation, including five years as Chief Executive of Waikatolink the commercialisation company of the University of Waikato. A recovering veterinarian, start-up junkie, healthcare investor, and founder, Duncan has led a range of new initiatives including seed funds, international internship and advisory programmes, and collaborations, including a key role in the founding, and launching of KiwiNet. Duncan has a particular interest in the life science sector, has held directorships in a range of investor backed technology companies, and is an independent member of the Return On Science, Biotech & Pharma, Medtech & Surgery, Agritech & Foodtech Investment Committees.

Debra Hall

Debra is an independent director, advisor and mentor. She draws on her experience as an engineer in the mining industry, a strategic marketing consultant, a business owner and exited entrepreneur to deliver clarity of thinking and strategic direction to the governance and advisory boards on which she sits. In addition to her board work, Debra mentors young entrepreneurs, trains aspiring directors of early stage companies, and invests in start-up businesses in the high growth / technology space, supporting the growth of NZ Inc. Debra is Chair of the KiwiNet Investment Committee.

Daniel Xu

Daniel is the co-founder of Spark 64, an AI company specialising in Chatbots, Computer Vision and Machine Learning. Their first product, UVLens has helped 500,000+ people stay safe in the sun. He’s a graduate of the Stanford Ignite entrepreneurship programme, PhD in wearable sensor technology from the University of Auckland, inventor on multiple licensed patents and was Chief Evangelist at StretchSense. At university, Daniel lead the winning team of the Microsoft Imagine Cup, representing New Zealand at the world finals. He is a board advisor for the Science for Technological Innovation, National Science Challenge.

Bridget Coates

Bridget is Chair of White Cloud Dairy Innovation Ltd, a New Zealand food and beverage innovation hub which is committed to taking the very best of New Zealand's outstanding food and beverage products and ingredients to world markets.

Bridget was instrumental in the establishment of ArcAngels, an angel investment network. She is also an active investor and mentor to New Zealand startup companies, especially in the food and consumer products space. Bridget has held several director-level board leadership positions in the past - Fisher and Paykel Appliances Holdings, Sky City, UniServices and the Council of the University of Auckland. Bridget has managed an investment company in New York, focused on investments in healthy living companies.

Prior to that, Bridget was the chief operating officer of New York City's strategic innovation consulting firm, Fahrenheit 212. She was the inaugural chair of the ICEHOUSE, an incubator developed to create business opportunities between the University of Auckland and the wider business and government community. Bridget also held leadership roles in the Knowledge Wave Trust and in KEA, the global kiwi network.