Tech founders back next generation of entrepreneurs

Thanks to two former students, a new fund at Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland, is set to improve access to innovation and entrepreneurship education.

The innovative alumni, Alliv Samson (Bachelor of Arts) and Hengjie Wang (Bachelor of Engineering), are gifting $30,000 through their family office and investment fund, Hiraya Ventures, to establish the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) Alumni Fund.

The fund will support the University's start-up programme Velocity, and other initiatives delivered by CIE, enabling more students to pursue their startup ambitions at no cost.

Samson and Wang are internationally recognised entrepreneurs. They founded education technology company Kami, an all-in-one platform designed to save teachers time and improve learning outcomes, supporting over 70 million users across 180 countries.

Kami began in 2012 as a student project, developed through the Velocity $100k Challenge. In 2022, TIME named it one of the world’s most influential companies following rapid growth and widespread classroom adoption. In 2025, Wang and Samson won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year.

Drawing on this experience, the duo established the CIE Alumni Fund to give back to the system that supported their early success, providing a formal pathway for like-minded alumni to reinvest in the programmes that nurture Aotearoa’s next generation of innovators.

Samson and Wang’s family office, Hiraya Ventures, invests in early to growth-stage Kiwi companies with global potential, combining capital with operational experience. The name Hiraya, drawn from Filipino, reflects a focus on enabling ambitious ideas to become reality.

Samson, director at Hiraya Ventures, and Chief Strategy Officer and co-founder of Kami, says: “One of the main reasons Hengjie and I founded Hiraya Ventures was to give back to the ecosystem that enabled Kami’s growth.

“As Velocity provided the spark that turned our student project into a global business, supporting the University’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship was a no-brainer. It’s our way of ensuring the next generation of ambitious Kiwi entrepreneurs have the support they need to turn their boldest dreams into reality.”

In 2025, CIE supported more than 8,000 individuals across its programmes and activities, with demand continuing to grow across faculties and disciplines. This scale reflects increasing interest in innovation-led careers, as well as the role of co-curricular programmes in helping students test ideas in practical settings.

The CIE Alumni Fund introduces a mechanism to sustain and expand that access with the initial $30,000 contribution distributed over three years. It’s then structured to receive future donations from other alumni and supporters.

CIE Director Darsel Keane says the gift signals a shift in how the University’s innovation ecosystem is supported over time.

“We are deeply grateful for this contribution, which establishes the foundation for a fund that others can contribute to. It creates a way for those who have benefited from innovation and entrepreneurship at the University to support the next generation coming through.

“The fund creates a starting point for a more connected alumni network, where experience, capital and mentorship can circulate back into the University.”

The CIE Alumni Fund will begin supporting programmes from 2026. As participation in innovation and entrepreneurship continues to increase across the University, it provides a mechanism to match that demand with sustained support.