Rewa 2020 About Programme Outline Application Process FAQs

Rewa 2020, the Trans-Tasman Pre-Accelerator Programme

A KiwiNet initiative, proudly supported by SfTI

The first Rewa Pre-Accelerator took flight in 2020.

Rewa means “to be elevated”, and this is exactly what the programme delivered for our teams and their mentors, as well as their science ideas.

Rewa 2020 enabled seven teams from public research organisations to validate their deep tech solution to a real-world problem. Then, through rigorous market engagement and expert mentor support, they modified or refuted their solutions. It was an opportunity to test paths for IP, know-how and technology, through a proven process of customer discovery and market validation.

While the 2020 programme had to be delivered virtually, it was still a hugely rewarding and successful experience for the teams.

The programme began with a four-day boot camp and concluded with a showcase event that profiled the teams' achievements to a large audience. So far, four of the seven teams are pursuing opportunities that have come out of the programme, to apply for PreSeed funding that will help bring their ideas to life.

7 Teams

26 Participants

15 Australian and NZ Mentors

4 teams progressing projects to PreSeed funding

“Rewa has utterly transformed the way I will do my work – I’ve discovered how science can deliver social and commercial value, and that really excites me.”

- Mike MacKay, Social Scientist, AgResearch

Great learning!

“The core idea of our project has changed dramatically. It didn't really meet the needs of our customers. We wish that we had learned what we learned here 4 years ago when we started out.”

- Accelerator Graduate

It made us stronger

“We were challenged about the core elements of our idea and encouraged to think bigger which created new questions, new opportunities and new hypotheses to validate or discard. The exposure to criticism and a willingness to reflect on that and embrace it made us stronger, more thoughtful and more resilient as a team, and our idea a better fit to the outside world.”

- Accelerator Graduate

Rewa 2020 About Programme Outline Application Process FAQs