CIE alumni named winners in EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards

Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland alumni and founders of fast-growing ventures Kami and Moodi have been named category winners in the 2025 EY Entrepreneur Of The Year Awards, one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most prestigious accolades recognising entrepreneurial excellence.

Alliv Samson and Hengjie Wang, co-founders of global edtech company Kami, won the Tech and Emerging Industries category, while Kate Gatfield-Jeffries, founder of wellness brand Moodi, took out the title for Young Entrepreneur Of The Year.

The EY Entrepreneur Of The Year programme celebrates bold, future-focused individuals who are redefining industries, creating new markets and building a better working world. Launched in Aotearoa New Zealand in 1998, the awards now stand among the country’s most respected business honours, aligned with EY’s global legacy of championing innovation.

While studying at university, Alliv and Hengjie saw a gap in the tools available for digital learning and ideated a solution, which they entered into the Velocity start-up planning competition. What began as a way to reduce printing has since become one of the world’s most-used classroom platforms, now reaching over 40 million users across 180 countries. Today, Kami is used in more than 92% of US schools, with teachers citing major time savings and students benefiting from more accessible and engaging content. The company continues to scale globally, recently raising investment to fuel growth in AI-driven tools, inclusive hiring and product development.

Kate Gatfield-Jeffries’ entrepreneurial journey began while she was still finishing law school. Motivated by her own health experiences and a desire to disrupt the wellness industry, she co-founded Moodi, a science-backed mental wellness supplement brand designed by women, for women. Built from the ground up while Kate juggled study and side hustles to self-fund, Moodi is now one of Australasia’s fastest-growing wellness brands. It champions holistic wellbeing and equity, offering naturopath consults, internships, and community grants, with expansion into the US market on the horizon.

All three entrepreneurs are alumni of co-curricular innovation and entrepreneurship programmes delivered by the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE).

Director of EY Entrepreneur Of The Year, for EY New Zealand, Jason Macgregor, says the category winners demonstrate leadership across their sectors, with clear strategy, strong performance and real-world impact.

“It’s evident there has been a stronger push towards purpose-led business, with entrepreneurs driven by the desire to contribute to positive change in their communities. The diversity of finalists was also impressive, both in the make-up of the finalist list and the communities in which they serve.”

In his first year as Entrepreneur Of The Year Chair™ of Judges, Phil Tomson, another CIE alumnus, co-founder and CEO of Auror and previous EY competition winner, says this year’s winners showcase an impressive standard of business excellence.

“The calibre of this year’s category winners is evident in the way they have taken risks, bet on themselves, and built on some of this country’s best companies.”

The final EY Entrepreneur Of The Year will be announced at a gala event in November 2025.