Kurutao: Entrepreneurship through a Māori lens

For many students, entrepreneurship can feel out of touch when the language, networks, and examples around them feel unfamiliar. Kurutao was designed as a starting point to make entrepreneurial pathways visible through a distinctly Māori lens.

This year, 14 tauira Māori (students) from Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland joined the 2026 expedition alongside programme leads Neria Brewerton and Maru Maxwell, marking the third Kurutao Entrepreneurial Leaders Expedition.

Led by the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE), the free five-day haerenga (journey) connected participants with Māori founders, researchers, investors, technologists and community leaders across Tāmaki Makaurau and Te Arawa, Rotorua.

The expedition began in Tāmaki Makaurau before travelling to Rotorua, where Te Whakarewarewa Marae became the group's kāinga (home) for their stay. Students moved between boardrooms, laboratories, innovation hubs and start-ups, gaining first-hand insight into the many ways innovation can create value.

Visits included Te Ngāhere, Microsoft and Serko, where students met with the professionals leading careers and ventures in technology, investment and business. They also connected with researchers at Nuka Lab and the Bioeconomy Science Institute where they explored how mātauranga Māori (Māori knowledge) can work alongside engineering and science to develop new solutions.

Other visits to Wai Ariki Hot Springs and Spa, Digital Natives and Te Kāhui Raraunga highlighted innovation across tourism, data, youth development and community-led initiatives.

"Kurutao is only possible through the extended hands of many. To the new relationships, pākihi (businesses) and connections we made along the way, I couldn't be more thankful," says CIE Programme Coordinator Maru Maxwell.

Each visit offered a different answer to the question of what innovation can look like.

“It might mean building a globally scalable technology company, creating new opportunities from Indigenous resources, supporting whānau aspirations through whenua, or designing digital platforms that strengthen communities,” says Maxwell.

For participant Breeana Wharemate, hearing directly from Māori entrepreneurs was one of the programme's defining experiences.

"Throughout the week, we had the opportunity to hear the stories behind a range of Māori-led businesses and initiatives. As we listened, connected and shared whakaaro (ideas), I watched as our kete (baskets of knowledge) were filled with new knowledge, inspiration and hope."

Some of the most valuable learning happened between visits. Travelling, eating, and staying together gave students time to ask honest questions, exchange ideas, and reflect on what they had experienced. They became a supportive rōpū (group), building relationships that will continue well beyond the expedition.

“For some participants, the next step may be launching a venture or pursuing a different career pathway. For others, it may be approaching research differently, developing greater confidence in their own leadership, or recognising opportunities to create positive change within their communities,” says Maxwell.

CIE Programme Manager Neria Brewerton says the programme opens up new possibilities for tauira.

“We've seen Kurutao become a launchpad. It opens up new possibilities for tauira, helping them see themselves as innovators and imagine where their ideas could take them.

“We’ve seen them grow in confidence, build lasting connections, move into other CIE programmes, secure internships, start ventures and create meaningful impact in their communities. Seeing that shift in what they believe is possible is exactly what we hoped Kurutao would inspire."

While Kurutao focuses on empowering students, Maru says the programme is equally a reflection of the generosity of the wider Māori innovation ecosystem.

"To every kaikōrero (speaker), every pākihi (business), every organisation and every supporter who opened your doors, shared your wisdom, your stories and gave your time to our tauira, kāore he kupu. Thank you. Your generosity has left a lasting impact."

The name Kurutao, meaning "inverted arrowhead", was gifted by Whare Tū Tauā expert Michael Steedman. It symbolises agility, strength and purpose. These are qualities that underpin a programme designed to help Māori students see innovation and entrepreneurship as pathways that can reflect their own values, identities and aspirations.

Rather than asking students to fit a conventional model of entrepreneurship, Kurutao demonstrates that ventures can grow from whakapapa (ancestry), whenua (land), whānau (family) and collective purpose. Technology, research and investment all have an important role, but so do culture, service and responsibility to community.

The programme was established in 2024 after engineering student Hiraia Haami-Wells returned from CIE's Vanguard Entrepreneurial Leaders Expedition to Silicon Valley recognising the need for a Māori-led experience grounded in kaupapa Māori.