2026 Awards Sponsors
A big thank you to our 2026 Awards evening sponsors. Their generous support allows us to continue to bring together Aotearoa's science, research, and deep-tech communities for a night of inspiration and celebration.
Ngā mihi nui.
These sponsors believe in the power of science and research to create world-changing innovations. Find out more about them below.
[Still TBC] – Breakthrough Innovator Award Sponsor
PwC – Sponsor of the Breakthrough Project Award
PwC is committed to accelerating the commercialisation of New Zealand innovation.
With more than 1,700 professionals across Aotearoa, PwC helps the research, investment, and industry communities to strengthen New Zealand’s innovation ecosystem. Our multidisciplinary teams help ventures navigate funding, optimise structures, and scale globally while contributing to a sustainable, high-value economy.
We are proud to collaborate with organisations such as KiwiNet to unlock the potential of science and technology that benefits New Zealand and the world.
Cytiva – Sponsor of the Commercialisation Impact Award
At Cytiva, we see a future where broader access to life changing therapies reshapes human health. Together with our customers, we work to bring that future closer—every day. Drawing on a long heritage in life sciences, we bring technical know how, a broad portfolio, and attentive service to support you across the full journey of therapeutic development—from discovery through to delivery.
Today, our critical raw materials help enable the production of more than 1 billion insulin doses, 300 million monoclonal antibody injections, and 200 million viral immunizations each year. In collaboration with researchers and biopharma organizations, we help advance therapies on a global scale. Cytiva is committed to supporting our customers discover, develop, and commercialize the next generation of therapeutics—so more patients can receive the medicines they need.
BNZ – Sponsor of the Research Entrepreneur Award
Bank of New Zealand was founded in 1861 and has been an integral part of New Zealand life ever since. Today the bank employs over 5,000 people in New Zealand; works with Personal, Business, Agri and Private Wealth clients; and has 135 branches and Partners' Centres across NZ.
We're committed to positive change, focusing on kaitiakitanga (caring for the natural world), and manaakitanga (caring for people and communities), and are actively taking steps to accelerate the just transition to a net zero emissions economy, one that supports the regeneration of the natural environment. We are delighted to partner with KiwiNet to support, promote and showcase research that is changing our world and which has led to commercial success.
KCA – Sponsor of the Commercialisation Rising Star Award
Knowledge Commercialisation Australasia (KCA) is the peak body representing research translation organisations and individuals participating in or supporting the commercialisation of Australian and New Zealand publicly funded research. It is the leading body for best practice in industry engagement, commercialisation and entrepreneurship.
KCA has existed since 1978 and is a founding member of the global Alliance of Technology Transfer Professionals. KCA currently represents an 800 plus member community of practitioners, collaborators and advisors spanning the broad publicly funded research innovation system, led by a passionate and dedicated Board of Directors. It conducts the annual SCOPR (Survey of Research Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research).
Sprout Agritech – KiwiNet Commercialisation Icon Award sponsor
Sprout is New Zealand's leading early-stage startup accelerator and investor, igniting the next wave of technology and innovation in the agrifood value chain.
We specialise in turning ground-breaking innovations into scalable startups that impact how life on Earth is nourished and sustained. At Sprout, we are dedicated to assisting entrepreneurs in building robust teams and scaling their startups globally. We do this by delivering carefully tailored programmes, early-stage funding, industry partnerships, and connections to key stakeholders, along with capability and company building.
Established in 2015, Sprout has 14 companies under our investment portfolio and has developed the capability of more than 260 entrepreneurs.
AJ Park – Networking sponsor
For over 135 years, AJ Park has helped companies and individuals identify, develop, protect, commercialise, manage, and enforce their IP rights in New Zealand, Australia, the Pacific Islands, and throughout the world.
We use our technical expertise in patents, trade marks, commercial and litigation services to enable innovation to thrive and grow in ways that can change the world. Within these groups, we have sector expertise in a range of industries including biotechnology, information technology, life sciences, mechanical and electrical engineering, and fast-moving consumer goods.