Edmund Hillary Fellowship helping entrepreneurs climb to new heights

The Edmund Hillary Fellowship (EHF) consists of global and local investors, entrepreneurs and changemakers who want to create solutions to global problems from New Zealand and make a lasting positive impact on the world.

Their fellows also support aspiring university entrepreneurs by advising and mentoring students who are participating in programmes run by the University of Auckland Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE).

EHF’s work broadly encompasses themes of climate change, cybersecurity, healthcare, aerospace and blockchain, in addition to social justice, education and equity for Tangata Whenua.

EHF CEO Rosalie Nelson says the fellows are passionate about bringing their skills, resources and connections to support young talent and entrepreneurs and help our innovation system mature.

“In the past four years, fellows have invested $94 million into New Zealand start-ups, funds and businesses and helped NZ businesses raise $572.2 million.

"They have established at least 42 new ventures, and we are seeing at least five new funds being established to help start-ups grow and scale globally. But, where the real value is added is where fellows bring their know-how, resources and connections to support Aotearoa.

“Fellow Rob Vickery is an entrepreneur-turned-investor who is working to invest in great people who are solving hard problems that matter through his venture capital firm, Hillfarrance.

"Recently, two fellows, Owen Gaffney and Félix Pharand-Deschênes, contributed to a book and Netflix documentary, Breaking Boundaries, narrated by David Attenborough. There is so much energy, talent and knowledge amongst our fellows."

EHF was founded on a four-year global impact visa pilot in partnership with New Zealand Immigration. The pilot has resulted in the fellowship standing at 532 fellows from 58 countries, including 118 New Zealand fellows.

EHF is now focused on activating its members to help influence the growth of New Zealand. Rosalie says it is a natural fit for the EHF Fellows to want to work with the University’s students as they have similar values and interests.

“The need for subject matter experts and well-resourced research and development continues to be critical to successful innovation. Universities play a critical role in empowering people to ensure we’re always evolving towards best practice, particularly in inclusivity, biculturalism and sustainability within our innovation sector.

"Universities are also uniquely positioned to support collaborative approaches between organisations, communities and the government.”

A number of EHF fellows have signed up to make themselves available to share their knowledge through CIE’s mentor sessions. Students can tap into the knowledge and networks of established innovators and entrepreneurs.

CIE also has a number of alumni who are EHF fellows, amongst them the founders of Kara Technologies, Arash Tayebi, Sahar Izadi and Farmehr Farhour, Clearhead founder Angela Lim and Pacific Med Tech co-founder Larissa Michelsen.

Larissa says, “I have been lucky enough to be able to share my wide range of professional contacts with international fellows (who are a mix of socially minded entrepreneurs and investors) to allow them to get their projects off the ground in New Zealand.”

Rosalie says they are now scoping what the future of EHF looks like in a post-Covid world.

“The EHF mission is to incubate solutions to global problems from Aotearoa New Zealand, and make a lasting positive impact on the world. This is a decades-long work of impact, and we are still at the early stages.

"EHF is currently undertaking a six-month process to co-create with our fellows an updated impact, operational and resourcing model for the fellowship. We are excited to codesign the future with our members, addressing the needs of our communities."

More information:

Edmund Hillary Fellowship