News of New Zealanders via Global Media

Joan Murphy of Frame Fitness collaborates with Whistles

Joan Murphy of Frame Fitness collaborates with Whistles

New Zealander Joan Murphy and her Frame fitness studio co-founder Pip Black know what women are looking for in sportswear, and are now collaborating with smart high street brand Whistles. “The whole collection is…

Dean Brettschneider Takes New World Baking to Singapore

Dean Brettschneider Takes New World Baking to Singapore

New Zealander Dean Brettschneider, 46, chief executive and head baker at Baker & Cook, has opened five outlets in Singapore since the artisan bakery was founded in 2012. Brettschneider draws a comparison between his homeland…

University of Otago Study Discovers Way to Boost Generation Reliability from New Zealand Wind Farms

University of Otago Study Discovers Way to Boost Generation Reliability from New Zealand Wind Farms

A recent study conducted by the Department of Geography, University of Otago, has proposed a way to boost generation reliability from New Zealand wind farms. After analysing New Zealand’s wind circulation patterns speed data from…

Rescue Drones Aid New Zealand Search Operations

Rescue Drones Aid New Zealand Search Operations

A New Zealand Volunteer Coastguard uses new purpose-built unmanned drones in search and rescue operations. Sending out drones fitted with cameras and other technology is much faster than traditional means such as planes…

Esquires Coffee Franchises Popping up All over China

Esquires Coffee Franchises Popping up All over China

Ellen Zhang, managing director of New Zealand coffee shop franchise Esquires in Beijing, has signed a new agreement with the Chinese retail conglomerate Bu Bu Gao – known as “Better Life” – which operates…

Forbes Rich List Includes Billionaires Richard Chandler, Graeme Hart

Forbes Rich List Includes Billionaires Richard Chandler, Graeme Hart

In the Forbes Rich List of 2015, New Zealand’s representation includes two billionaires – Graeme Hart and Singapore-based investor Richard Chandler. The 55-year-old Waikato-raised philanthropist was ranked at No 603 in Forbes’ latest list…

John Henwood’s NY Fitness Studio Not Run of the Mill

John Henwood’s NY Fitness Studio Not Run of the Mill

New Zealander John Henwood, a former Olympic runner and prominent name in the New York running community, has created the SoulCycle of running with TheRUN, a boutique treadmill studio in the Big Apple’s Flatiron…

Touchpoint Group Aiming to Develop World’s Angriest Artificial Intelligence Machine

Touchpoint Group Aiming to Develop World’s Angriest Artificial Intelligence Machine

New Zealand Touchpoint Group is developing an artificial intelligence machine, which will simulate angry customer interactions in order to help companies to understand how their customers’ angry outbursts are triggered. “The end goal…

Michaela Anchan’s Woolf Works for Women

Michaela Anchan’s Woolf Works for Women

When New Zealander Michaela Anchan, 34, decided to launch a career as a freelance writer in Singapore, she discovered few offices in the city-state that were suitable and that fitted her budget. So last…

Doyle Sails New Zealand Revolutionises Sail Art

Doyle Sails New Zealand Revolutionises Sail Art

Industry-leading New Zealand production facility Doyle Sails Auckland Stratis has launched Stratis Sail Art, which allows photo quality printing on sails for the first time ever. ‘Stratis Sail Art is the next generation…

New Zealand Property Boom Attracts Overseas Buyers

New Zealand Property Boom Attracts Overseas Buyers

Auckland’s beaches, clean air and environmentally friendly image are clear selling points for foreign property investors. There is no stamp duty or capital gains tax in New Zealand, which makes the country’s property market a…

Kiwi Cow Sold for over €13,000

Kiwi Cow Sold for over €13,000

A New Zealand Friesian dairy cow has sold for NZ$20,000 or €13,285 at an auction. “There were four of five bidders on this cow. It was amazing and it kept on going up and we…

Paul Ding Signs Mega Deal with S Korean Online Shopping Giant

Paul Ding Signs Mega Deal with S Korean Online Shopping Giant

New Zealand home shopping channel, Auckland-based Yes Shop, has signed a groundbreaking supply agreement with online shopping giant HMall of South Korea, which will see more goods being traded directly between the two countries. HMall…

New Zealand Emissions Cut Breakthrough

New Zealand Emissions Cut Breakthrough

New Zealand scientists have made a breakthrough in methane inhibitors that could reduce greenhouse gas emissions from sheep and cattle drastically without cutting production. “If successfully developed and commercialized, the new findings offer the potential…

Scrabble Genius Nigel Richards’ Talent Helping Science

Scrabble Genius Nigel Richards’ Talent Helping Science

The boardgame Scrabble is giving psychologists a better understanding of the underpinnings of complex skill and a clearer picture of the origins of greatness. New Zealander Nigel Richards is widely regarded as the best…

Rocket Lab Deems Space Open for Business

Rocket Lab Deems Space Open for Business

A New Zealand rocket company, founded by inventor Peter Beck in 2007, says it has found a way to drastically cut the cost of satellite launches, by 3D printing rocket components. The Rocket…

Vicky Robertson Appointed New Environmental Chief in New Zealand

Vicky Robertson Appointed New Environmental Chief in New Zealand

Former New Zealand hockey player Vicky Robertson has been appointed the new chief executive of the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) by state services commissioner Iain Rennie. As the Treasury’s deputy chief executive, Robertson is…

Rocket Lab Unveils 3D-Printed, Battery-Powered Rocket Engine

Rocket Lab Unveils 3D-Printed, Battery-Powered Rocket Engine

Auckland-based commercial space company Rocket Lab has unveiled their 3D-printed battery-powered Rutherford engine. The liquid-fueled, battery powered engine is capable of 4,600 pounds of thrust and will power propulsion of Rocket…

NZ attracts Aussie start-ups with funding opportunities

NZ attracts Aussie start-ups with funding opportunities

New Zealand is “recruiting actively in Australia” and tries to attract Australian start-ups with their wide funding opportunities. Banks in New Zealand pay $NZ33 billion to small and medium-sized businesses every year while angel investors…

Young NZer of the Year Guy Ryan an Inspiring Story

Young NZer of the Year Guy Ryan an Inspiring Story

Wellingtonian Guy Ryan, 29, who was recently named the 2015 Young New Zealander of the Year for his work helping young people realise their entrepreneurial goals and navigate numerous obstacles, is providing inspiration for…

Drive NZ’s Off Road in a Virtual Chevy Colorado

Drive NZ’s Off Road in a Virtual Chevy Colorado

“Chevrolet has developed an immersive virtual reality experience for its Chevy Colorado truck that lets showroom customers experience a drive through the mountains of New Zealand via not just an Oculus Rift headset, but…

Professor Harjinder Singh Elected a Fellow of the United States Institute of Food Technologists

Professor Harjinder Singh Elected a Fellow of the United States Institute of Food Technologists

Riddet Institute Co-director Distinguished Professor Harjinder Singh has been elected a Fellow of the United States Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) – the largest union of food scientists in the world. The leading New Zealand…

Kura Nutrition Showcases Its Protein’s Origin on Packaging

Kura Nutrition Showcases Its Protein’s Origin on Packaging

Kura Nutrition uses their packaging to tell the story of its protein’s New Zealand origins for their new Smoothie Powder, which is a healthy, wholesome addition to any meal. Each serving provides 14 g of…

New Zealand Wine Maker Invivo Breaks Crowdfunding Record

New Zealand Wine Maker Invivo Breaks Crowdfunding Record

Invivo Wines has become New Zealand’s first business to attract NZ$2 million in a crowdfunding campaign in less than two weeks after launching on the Snowball Effect crowdfunding platform. Tim Lightbourne and Rob Cameron, the…

NASA super-pressure balloon has been launched in Wanaka

NASA super-pressure balloon has been launched in Wanaka

A NASA super-pressure balloon has successfully been launched at Wanaka Airport around 1.15 am. It will continue to inflate and increase in size while rising 33 kilometers above Earth. The launch of the balloon and…

Research Looks at Preventing Genetically Inherited Cancers

Research Looks at Preventing Genetically Inherited Cancers

Deadly stomach and breast cancers that are genetically inherited could be treated or even prevented with existing drugs identified by Otago University cancer researchers. The researchers said their research showed that the key genetic mutation…

New Zealand Man 3D Prints the World’s Smallest Working Drill

New Zealand Man 3D Prints the World’s Smallest Working Drill

Kiwi maintenance engineer Lance Abernethy has 3D printed the world’s smallest working drill with his Ultimaker 2 3D printer. The functioning drill measures 17mm tall, 7.5mm wide, and 13mm long and holds a 0.5mm…

Rare Glimpse of Cloudless New Zealand from Space

Rare Glimpse of Cloudless New Zealand from Space

A rare image of New Zealand without a ceiling of cloud has been captured from the International Space Station as it orbits 418km above the South Pacific Ocean. According to NASA, New Zealand is seldom…

New Zealand’s NIWA Discovered 141 New Marine Species in 3 Years

New Zealand’s NIWA Discovered 141 New Marine Species in 3 Years

New Zealand’s National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) has discovered a range of 141 new marine creatures in the past three years. “Marine research in recent years have discovered new species on Wellington’s…

NAB Director Geraldine McBride Defines New Banking Technology Future

NAB Director Geraldine McBride Defines New Banking Technology Future

NAB director and digital guru Geraldine McBride is leading National Australia Bank (NAB) into “a new personalised experienced-based economy” as she describes it. “Digital disruption is the biggest fear of company boards,” McBride says in…

Kevin Roberts appointed Chairman of fast-growing My Food Bag

Kevin Roberts appointed Chairman of fast-growing My Food Bag

Global business leader Kevin Roberts become chairman of My Food Bag, a 2013 New Zealand start-up that delivers gourmet recipes and fresh pre-measured ingredients to the homes of 15000 customers in New Zealand, Sydney…

University of Auckland professors call on United Nations to lead efforts against smoking

University of Auckland professors call on United Nations to lead efforts against smoking

Professors Robert Beaglehole and Ruth Bonita, from the University of Auckland have called on the United Nations to lead ‘a turbocharged’ campaign to make the world tobacco free by 2040. “A world where tobacco is…

Glenn Martin’s Jetpack Dream Achieves IPO Liftoff

Glenn Martin’s Jetpack Dream Achieves IPO Liftoff

In 1981, a young aviation-obsessed university student, New Zealander Glenn Martin, began working on his dream to invent the world’s first commercial jetpack, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. In late February the company he…

New-Zealand based start-up Xero raises $110M Round

New-Zealand based start-up Xero raises $110M Round

New Zealand based cloud accounting software vendor Xero has announced a $110 million funding round from Silicon Valley venture capital firm Accel Partners and Matrix Capital Management. Xero has long stated that the US market…

Running Gets Epic in Asics’ Biggest Global Campaign

Running Gets Epic in Asics’ Biggest Global Campaign

Asics has just launched its biggest ever global campaign with an epic new advertisement which was shot on location in New Zealand, and features crowds of runners summoned by a hunting horn…

NZ Design Firm Helps Museumgoers “Touch” Cities Around the World

NZ Design Firm Helps Museumgoers “Touch” Cities Around the World

For nearly 20 years, New Zealand-based experiential design company the Gibson Group has designed and built one-of-a-kind, interactive, multimedia visitor experiences for museums, galleries, archives, libraries, tourist centers, and businesses around the…

Ross McEwan Gets down to Business at Royal Bank of Scotland

Ross McEwan Gets down to Business at Royal Bank of Scotland

Very few chief executives of big banks know how to brand a cow, what to do when calving season starts, or how to tell Angus from Shorthorn cattle. Except, that is, Ross McEwan, Financial…

Geologists Solve Tectonic Mystery with Explosives

Geologists Solve Tectonic Mystery with Explosives

Local geologists may have finally explained how tectonic plates shift by blowing up hundreds of kilograms of dynamite in a 100km line from Glendhu Rocks in the Wairarapa to Queen Elizabeth Park on the…

Australian Tech Millionaires Hold Queenstown Secret Summit

Australian Tech Millionaires Hold Queenstown Secret Summit

Some of Australia’s best-known tech millionaires were in Queenstown recently at a mysterious meet-up where the requirement for entry was having a company valued at over $100 million. Among the invitees were Seek co-founder Paul…

New Zealand Hails Expert For Crowned Chinese Scientist Award

New Zealand Hails Expert For Crowned Chinese Scientist Award

Dr. Phil Rolston, senior scientist at New Zealand’s AgResearch Lincoln institute, has been awarded China’s top science prize for his work in farming. Dr. Rolston, received the award at a ceremony hosted in Beijing earlier…

RBNZ Wins Central Bank Of The Year Award

RBNZ Wins Central Bank Of The Year Award

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand, which led industrialised nations in first starting to raise rates after the financial crisis, has won the Central Bank of the Year award. The kiwi is now approaching…

Near-Death Experience Inspiration for Mark Major’s Game

Near-Death Experience Inspiration for Mark Major’s Game

Seven years after New Zealander Mark Major, 28, fell down a 9m-deep hole in Beijing and broke his back, he has turned his near-death experience into a tongue-in-cheek mobile game called, Plummet Free Fall,…

Spiderways Plots with Helium Balloon Record-Breakers

Spiderways Plots with Helium Balloon Record-Breakers

New Zealand company Spidertracks, which specialises in airline tracking equipment, recently partnered with the pilots of helium-filled balloon expedition Two Eagles, enabling the American and Russian pair to set a world record. Spidertracks,…

Tesla Co-Founder Ian Wright Has More Electric Ideas

Tesla Co-Founder Ian Wright Has More Electric Ideas

A decade ago, New Zealander Ian Wright and a few tech-minded buddies got together bent on creating a fast and cool electric car. They called the company Tesla Motors. Now, Wright is…

Julian Robertson’s Legacy from Hedge Funds to NZ

Julian Robertson’s Legacy from Hedge Funds to NZ

Billionaire Julian Robertson is renowned on Wall Street for being a pioneer in the hedge-fund industry in the 1980s and, more recently, for being a philanthropist who is giving much of his fortune away…

Animation Tutor Oana Croitoru Wins International 3D Print Comp

Animation Tutor Oana Croitoru Wins International 3D Print Comp

Aucklander Oana Croitoru, aka “Oana Jones”, has won first prize in the MakerBot Ghostly Vinyl Challenge for her hand-cranked record player featuring a 3D printed 15 cm-cube turntable. Croitoru is a tutor at Auckland’s Animation…

Malaghan Institute Observes Extraordinary Cell Transfer

Malaghan Institute Observes Extraordinary Cell Transfer

New Zealand and Australian scientists have observed DNA moving between animal cells in a breakthrough discovery that may lead to a better understanding of a range of human diseases and new gene therapies. The team…

Soundtrack Tool Booktrack Now Has 1 Million Members

Soundtrack Tool Booktrack Now Has 1 Million Members

Booktrack, a tool designed for self-published writers and publishers to add soundtracks to their eBooks, now has more than a million users. The company, which launched 11 months ago, expects to reach 2 million…

Sarah Robb O’Hagan Influencing and Innovating in NY

Sarah Robb O’Hagan Influencing and Innovating in NY

New Zealander Sarah Robb O’Hagan, 42, was recently named as one of the New York Business Journal’s “Women of Influence” at an inaugural award ceremony honouring business leaders in New York City who innovate,…

Carbon Converter LanzaTech Has Significant Global Potential

Carbon Converter LanzaTech Has Significant Global Potential

Illinois-based LanzaTech, which got its start in a New Zealand basement in 2005, plans to revolutionise ethanol production with a gas-eating microbe, which converts waste gases into useful chemicals and fuels, including ethanol. LanzaTech has…

Building a Better Possum Trap

Building a Better Possum Trap

“In New Zealand, killing small mammals brings people together,” writes staff writer Elizabeth Kolbert in her long-form article in the December 22-29 issue of The New Yorker. Kolbert’s story, “The Big Kill,”…

GM President Dan Ammann Instilling Culture of Accountability

GM President Dan Ammann Instilling Culture of Accountability

General Motors executive Dan Ammann talks to Fortune about manufacturing in Mexico, and because of a number of recalls over the past decade, how he aims to instill a culture of accountability among the…

Serko’s Darrin Grafton One of World’s 25 Most Influential Travel Execs

Serko’s Darrin Grafton One of World’s 25 Most Influential Travel Execs

New Zealander Darrin Grafton, co-founder and CEO of Serko, an online travel and expense management software company, has been named one of Business Travel News’ 25 most influential industry executives of 2014. Grafton’s win marks…

New Zealand Scientist Attains International Pinnacle In His Field

New Zealand Scientist Attains International Pinnacle In His Field

The Riddet Institute’s Principal Investigator, Professor of Food Chemistry Laurie Melton, has been appointed as an editor of the prestigious Food Chemistry publication. Professor Melton’s appointment confirms New Zealand’s leading role in the Food Sciences…

Plastic Surgeon Simon Talbot Completes Double Arm Transplant

Plastic Surgeon Simon Talbot Completes Double Arm Transplant

Originally from Hamilton, Dr Simon Talbot, 38, a reconstructive plastic surgeon specialising in hand surgery, has led a team in a ground-breaking double arm transplant on a quadruple amputee at Brigham and Women’s Hospital…

Rodd & Gunn Opens Flagship Store in NY Showroom

Rodd & Gunn Opens Flagship Store in NY Showroom

New Zealand-owned menswear retailer Rodd & Gunn, which was established in 1946, is stepping up its global expansion plans with a flagship showroom on Madison Avenue in New York. Managing director Mike Beagley, who joined…