Meet the new CEO of Velocity

Velocity is the University of Auckland’s student-led entrepreneurial development programme. Based in the Business School, Velocity is now in its fifteenth year. Over this time, Velocity has helped forge over 110 ventures, created over $221 million of capital and created 700-plus jobs.

Velocity’s flagship programme is the Velocity $100k Challenge, which combines mentoring, workshops and venture ideas to launch a diverse range of exciting new ventures each year.

Leading Velocity this year as CEO is Matt Canham, a final year BCom/BE(Hons) student majoring in Software Engineering, Economics and Finance. Matt is in his third year with Velocity, having previously held the role of Marketing Lead.

Tell us about you as a person and your background – what led to your interest in innovation and entrepreneurship?
One of my first encounters with entrepreneurship was in the early days of high school when I started a company that hired audio and lighting equipment for live stage productions. I didn’t know it at the time, but I had identified an opportunity in the market, taken a risk, and ultimately solved a problem. In my final year of high school, this entrepreneurial journey was continued when some friends and I set up a Young Enterprise company. We sold bottled water in gas stations around Auckland that gave conscious consumers an alternative to the big brands when purchasing water.

I now find myself in a chaotic balance between the final courses of my degree, my role with Velocity, and a start-up that a friend and I have co-founded.

What made you decide to apply to be CEO of Velocity, and what will your role be?
Going into my third year on the Velocity Committee, I was looking to challenge myself. I couldn’t think of anything more challenging than leading the team of 35 incredible people who make up the Velocity student committee. My focus this year is to enable each and every person on the committee to achieve incredible things with the resources that Velocity can provide.

What are you most looking forward to for Velocity in 2018, and what opportunities do you think it provides to students?
Velocity has another action-packed year planned for 2018. This year, we are overhauling our educational offering, making it far more hands-on and engaging, while also tapping into some of the best online content from around the world. We are also introducing new prizes for our challenges. These prizes, such as our Artificial Intelligence and UniServices Female Founder prizes, recognise the need for greater support for emerging technologies and underrepresented groups in the entrepreneurship space.

What do you see yourself doing in the future?
If I had a clear answer to this question, I’d be worried. More than anything, I value the huge array of opportunities that I have in front of me and the many different paths that life may take me on. Naturally, this brings with it lots of uncertainty, but I’m ok with that. Whatever I end up doing, I’d like to be meeting new people all around the world, working hard to positively impact people and to be having a lot of fun along the way.