TechMates

TechMates
  • 0.0 (0)
  • ENTREPRENEURSHIP
  • UPDATED WEEKLY

Welcome to TechMates, the podcast where we spotlight the trailblazing founders and game-changing startups transforming Australasia. Hosted by Mark Pavlyukovskyy, a Silicon Valley success story, and Hendrik Remigereau, a former leader in Europe’s largest AI ecosystem turned venture capitalist, TechMates dives deep into the counterintuitive mindsets and bold strategies that drive extraordinary achievements. Powered by NZVC, the venture firm backing the next generation of iconic companies from New Zealand and beyond, TechMates offers fresh perspectives on the people and ideas shaping the future

  1. We Tried to Control the Weather (And Made It Worse)

    1D AGO

    We Tried to Control the Weather (And Made It Worse)

    Emily Blythe skipped university to launch a quad-bike accessory business, spent years trying to clear airport fog with drones, and eventually pivoted to solve aviation’s biggest headache through data. In this episode of TechMates, we sit down with Emily Blythe, the New Zealand tech entrepreneur and CEO of Pyper Vision. Coming from four generations of pilots, Emily seemed destined for aviation—but instead of flying planes, she’s saving them from being grounded. She shares the incredible story of her first startup "Flatpak," the brutal reality of deep tech R&D, and the gut-wrenching decision to pivot Pyper Vision from fog dispersal (using chemicals and drones) to fog forecasting after discovering a flaw in the fundamental science.This is a masterclass in resilience, "missionary" founder mindsets, and how to build a global deep tech monopoly from New Zealand. If you are interested in aviation, hard pivot stories, or the reality of building hardware and software for high-stakes industries, this episode is for you. ✈️ A 4-generation legacy in aviation 🚜 Skipping uni to build "Flatpak" (her first exit) 🌫️ The "Fog Factory" myth & early experiments 🚁 Trying to clear fog with drones & chemicals 📉 The painful pivot: When the science doesn't work 🔮 How Pyper Vision now predicts fog with 84% accuracy Connect with Emily Blythe: Pyper Vision: https://www.pypervision.com/ Emily’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/emily-blythe-2b4125156/ Connect with NZVC & Hosts: 🔗 Learn more about NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 01:55 - Emily's deep aviation family history 08:49 - Launching "Flatpak" & skipping university 15:36 - Lessons from bootstrapping a hardware business 20:39 - The "Fog Factory" lie & discovering weather modification 29:15 - How airports & pilots actually handle low visibility 46:37 - Early experiments: Fog chambers & modified leaf blowers 53:14 - Testing drones in Australia during COVID 55:09 - The Big Pivot: Why dispersal didn't work 1:00:19 - Shifting to high-accuracy forecasting 1:10:18 - Advice for New Zealand founders going global If you found value in this story of resilience and innovation, please hit the like button, leave a comment with your thoughts on deep tech pivots, and subscribe for more conversations with world-class founders! #startups, #business, #NewZealand, #aviation, #deeptech, #entrepreneurship, #EmilyBlythe, #PyperVision, #founders, #pivot, #tech, #innovation, #airlines, #flightdelays, #weathertech, #NZVC, #venturecapital, #success, #motivation, #techmates

    1h 15m
  2. I Hired My College Roommates to Build a $300M Empire

    DEC 18

    I Hired My College Roommates to Build a $300M Empire

    Jamie Beaton managed a hedge fund portfolio at Tiger Management while simultaneously taking maximum course loads at Harvard and building a startup that now generates over $300M in revenue. In this episode of TechMates, we sit down with Jamie Beaton, the New Zealand tech entrepreneur and CEO of Crimson Education. Jamie’s story is nothing short of relentless; he breaks down the massive cultural shift from New Zealand’s "tall poppy syndrome" to the "capitalism cubed" ambition of Manhattan. He reveals how he turned a dorm-room consulting hustle into a global education empire, all while working under legendary investor Julian Robertson. We dive deep into the mechanics of scaling a service business to 20+ countries, the controversial truths about elite college admissions, and Jamie's bold take on the future of schooling in the age of AI. Whether you are interested in EdTech, high-stakes investing, or just want to know what it takes to build a unicorn from a corner of the world, this conversation is packed with actionable insights. 🇳🇿 New Zealand vs. USA: Ambition & Mindset 🎓 Building a $300M business from a Harvard dorm 🐯 Lessons from Tiger Management & Julian Robertson 📈 Global expansion strategies & hiring "unicorns" 🤖 The role of AI in the future of education 🏫 Launching New Zealand’s first online charter school Connect with Jamie Beaton: Jamie’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jamiebeaton/ Crimson Education: https://www.crimsoneducation.org/ Connect with NZVC & Hosts: 🔗 Learn more about NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ Timestamps: 00:00 - Introduction 01:37 - Growing up in a "hustle" household 07:11 - The train ride that changed his life 12:12 - Arriving at Harvard: "Capitalism on Steroids" 17:10 - New Zealand vs. Manhattan Mindset 20:37 - Launching Crimson from a dorm room 23:51 - Doing $300k revenue in Year 1 32:45 - Raising capital from Julian Robertson 37:57 - Working at Tiger Management while studying 46:58 - The formula for Ivy League admissions 51:44 - How to launch a business in 20+ countries 54:29 - Reaching $300M in sales 58:25 - New Zealand’s Online Charter School 01:06:00 - Alpha School, AI, and the future of learning 01:23:24 - Will AI destroy white-collar jobs?Support the Channel: If you enjoyed this episode, please hit the like button, leave a comment with your thoughts on the future of education, and subscribe for more deep dives with world-class founders! #startups, #business, #NewZealand, #JamieBeaton, #CrimsonEducation, #Harvard, #entrepreneurship, #investing, #TigerManagement, #EdTech, #scaling, #growth, #founders, #venturecapital, #education, #success, #motivation, #techmates, #NZVC, #economy

    1h 20m
  3. Fintech Frontiers: Reinventing Money from the Edge of the World | NZVC Portfolio Day

    DEC 5

    Fintech Frontiers: Reinventing Money from the Edge of the World | NZVC Portfolio Day

    In this live NZVC Portfolio Day panel, Jovan Pavlicevic (Emerge & SquareOne), Dermot Butterfield (Wych), and Steven Zinsli (Extraordinary) join hosts Mark Pavlyukovskyy and Hendrik Remigereau to show what it actually looks like to build fintech in New Zealand. They talk candidly about lobbying for access to ESAS and Payments NZ, designing products around tax law to make public transport salary-sacrifice eligible, and navigating an industry where four Aussie banks still control the vast majority of the market. Along the way you’ll hear very human origin stories—firefighting, Intel R&D, healthcare reform—and why they still think New Zealand is one of the best places on earth to build fintech startups if you’re willing to play the long, regulated game. 🔗 Learn more about NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz 🔗 Mark Pavlyukovskyy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ 🔗 Hendrik Remigereau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ 00:00 – Intro: why NZ’s fintech scene is bigger than people think. 00:37 – Jovan on SquareOne & Emerge: kids’ banking, business accounts, and launching personal accounts.02:00 – From 6–7 months to 6–7 minutes: fixing business onboarding. 03:15 – Dermot on Wych: “plug and socket” for data and payments. 04:25 – Steven on Extraordinary: 34k active cards and making public transport tax-free. 05:49 – Are regulators friends or enemies for fintech? 07:49 – When regulators ask for your “recipe” and why that’s risky. 09:14 – Lobbying to build New Zealand’s first digital challenger bank. 12:42 – Why it’s so hard to start a new bank in New Zealand. 14:14 – Designing NZ’s only pre-tax public transport benefit. 17:29 – Unique access to MPs and policy writers in New Zealand. 20:15 – Fighting “toll booths” on open banking and unfair pricing. 23:29 – Getting bank-grade licenses with a team of one-and-a-half people. 25:02 – Why Emerge is focused on New Zealand first, not “world by next week.” 27:08 – Founder origin stories: firefighter, Intel engineer, healthcare operator. 31:59 – Financial inclusion, socially capitalistic fintech, and lived experience. 36:05 – Why SquareOne and Emerge went card-first; prepaid vs debit vs credit. 40:09 – How each startup would handle another GFC-style shock. 44:39 – What transaction data says about NZ’s real economy. 47:17 – Sponsor plans, $4.99 subs, and cost-of-living pressure. 49:32 – Closing reflections and applause. If this gave you a new lens on fintech, regulation, and startups in New Zealand, hit 👍, drop your questions or takeaways in the comments, and subscribe for more founder and investor deep-dives from the NZVC ecosystem. #startups, #NewZealand, #business, #fintech, #openbanking, #payments, #regulation, #banking, #SaaS, #NZTech, #futureofmoney, #financialinclusion, #employeebenefits, #cards, #venturecapital, #founders, #australasia, #startupstory, #TechMates, #podcast

    45 min
  4. Grassroots to Global: Innovation the Kiwi Way

    NOV 23

    Grassroots to Global: Innovation the Kiwi Way

    Four founders: tackling milk without cows, carbon-free composites, AI farming, and plant-grown proteins—only in New Zealand could this panel exist. This special Portfolio Day panel brings together four New Zealand innovators building companies that literally couldn’t have been born anywhere else: Nicole Freed (Daisy Lab, precision-fermented dairy proteins), Ben Scales (KiwiFibre, high-performance Harakeke composites), Jeremy Bryant (Aimer Farming, AI pasture insights), and Amos Palfreyman (Miruku, plant-based molecular farming). Hosted by Mark Pavlyukovskyy and Hendrik Remigereau of NZVC, the conversation dives deep into why New Zealand’s agricultural legacy, dairy infrastructure, talent pools, native plants, and high-trust ecosystem create uniquely fertile ground for breakthrough agtech and bio-innovation. From barbecued plastic prototypes to growing milk proteins in yeast and plants, this episode shows exactly how Kiwi founders go from grassroots to global. 🥛 Dairy without cows — precision fermentation (Daisy Lab). 🌿 Harakeke → carbon-free composites — KiwiFibre’s indigenous-led materials. 🤖 AI for pasture — Aimer’s farm-scale measurement & insights engine. 🌱 Molecular farming in plants — Miruku’s dairy proteins grown via photosynthesis.🇳🇿 Why NZ is uniquely suited for agtech — dairy infrastructure, native plants, talent. 🔬 Deep-tech with no shortcuts — labs, pilots, and long R&D cycles. 🧪 Origin stories — barbecue prototyping, student-lab MVPs, and prophetic patents. 🌍 Global scale — UK/Ireland rollouts, EU materials demand, talent pipelines. 🧭 Founder resilience — near-empty payrolls, naivete as superpower, and obsession with the mission. Connect with the Guests: Ben Scales (KiwiFibre): https://www.linkedin.com/in/benscales Nicole Freed (Daisy Lab): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nicole-nikki-freed-phd-86b63630 Jeremy Bryant (Aimer Farming): https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeremy-bryant Amos Palfreyman (Miruku): https://www.linkedin.com/in/amos-palfreyman-58841579 Learn more about NZVC & Hosts: 🔗 NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz 🔗 Mark Pavlyukovskyy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ 🔗 Hendrik Remigereau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ Timestamps: 00:00 — Intro 01:10 — Nicole (Daisy Lab): precision-fermented dairy proteins. 02:38 — Ben (KiwiFibre): Harakeke composites & NZ’s first industry. 04:20 — Amos (Miruku): molecular farming—proteins grown in plants. 06:17 — Jeremy (Aimer): AI pasture insights for farmers. 07:50 — Why NZ dairy roots shape founder journeys. 09:54 — How traditional dairy is reacting to deep-tech. 11:31 — Leveraging NZ’s dairy infrastructure for new proteins. 13:30 — KiwiFibre: building a new materials industry from zero. 15:26 — Talent challenges: wet labs, molecular biology, bioprocessing. 17:11 — Attracting overseas scientists to NZ. 19:05 — Daisy Lab on using NZ dairy experts in precision fermentation. 20:04 — Government subsidies & why tech must stand alone. 22:07 — Selling to farmers; NZ reputation abroad. 24:47 — KiwiFibre’s stolen snowboard story (Munich). 28:01 — Origin stories: barbecues, student labs, prophetic patents. 34:11 — Aimer: replacing 8-hour farm walks with AI & camera vision. 36:24 — Miruku: founding during COVID & pitching with zero cash. 38:10 — Founder resilience: pay-run courage & obsession. 40:42 — KiwiFibre: beer experiments, byproduct uses, cultural roots. 42:16 — Policy change & gene-tech reform in NZ. 43:00 — Closing: Kiwi innovation from soil to global scale. If this expanded your view of what New Zealand startups can build, hit 👍, drop your questions for the founders below, and subscribe for more deep-tech conversations. #startups, #NewZealand, #business, #agtech, #biotech, #dairy, #precisionfermentation, #molecularfarming, #AI, #farmtech, #sustainability, #deeptech, #climate, #materials, #syntheticbiology, #engineering, #NZTech, #venturecapital, #founderstory, #TechMates

    37 min
  5. He’s Creating Australasia‘s PayPal Mafia

    NOV 17

    He’s Creating Australasia‘s PayPal Mafia

    SAP’s youngest hire at 19, Dominic Pym went on to build Up—Australia’s first cloud-hosted bank—and sold three companies during COVID. Dominic Pym is an Australia-based, New Zealand-minded tech entrepreneur, builder, and investor behind products used by millions—from Up (the mobile bank he co-created and later sold to Bendigo & Adelaide Bank) to Buildkite (CI/CD rails powering top tech companies). In this episode, Dom unpacks his path from early internet projects at SAP and Toyota kiosks to bootstrapping fintech, scaling a digital bank, and designing hardware + OS for expert builders.We also get Dom’s ecosystem thesis for New Zealand + Australia: keep IP local, go global (“go big, grow home”), and create multi-generational startup “turns” by seeding founder mafias after meaningful exits—exactly what he’s now doing with Euphemia and the Triple Bubble fund. 🧒 SAP at 19 → ABAP → SAP Markets “speedboat” for the web. 🧰 Early web builds: kiosks at Toyota, MySAP.com → NetWeaver. 🎧 Record-label detour → iTunes aggregator → first iPhone apps (WordPress, Lonely Planet). 🏦 Up: frustration with banks → infinite activity feed, merchant logos, instant wallets; kept independent post-acquisition. 📈 1.5M+ customers, billions in deposits & home loans; why he sold and how staff shared the win. 🧱 Buildkite originated inside Pin Payments → now powers teams at companies like Airbnb, Shopify, Slack, Lyft. 🌏 NZ as launchpad: meeting Emerge, Dosh; the case for regional fintech and keeping IP at home. 🧠 Euphemia & Triple Bubble: backing regulated fintech + secondaries/publics across AU/NZ/Pacific. 🖥️ Caligra: new expert OS + hardware (retro-inspired, distraction-free) for engineers & researchers. Connect with the Guest Dom Pym — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dompym Euphemia: https://www.euphemia.comTriple Bubble: https://triplebubble.com Up: https://up.com.au Learn more about NZVC & Hosts NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ Timestamps: 00:00 — Intro & why Dom’s story matters now 01:23 — Early years, curiosity, Apple IIe → DOS → QBasic 08:43 — Building PCs after school; first OEM Windows installs 09:59 — Meeting Steve Wozniak; a spark for starting up 12:12 — SAP: first undergrad hire; youngest at 19 16:05 — “Titanic & speedboat”: SAP Markets and the browser era 19:36 — Toyota kiosk & early e-commerce UX 24:03 — Side projects → CMS → Band Manager 31:02 — iTunes aggregator; first iPhone apps (WordPress, LP) 37:16 — Clear Interactive → Clear Grain Exchange 38:42 — 22 companies built; hits and misses 41:11 — Pin Payments → the Buildkite spin-out origin 49:51 — Why Up had to exist; building for love & engagement 55:20 — Infinite feed, merchant logos, instant wallets 58:05 — Up x Bendigo: first cloud-hosted bank in AU 59:32 — Selling Ferocia; keeping Up independent 01:01:40 — NZ visit: Emerge, Dosh, and the fintech wave 01:07:37 — Three COVID-era exits; why timing matters 01:12:15 — Euphemia & Triple Bubble: thesis and structure 01:17:47 — Caligra: expert OS + retro-inspired hardware Enjoyed Dom’s playbook for startups and business in and beyond New Zealand? Smash 👍, drop your questions, and subscribe for more founder deep-dives. #startups, #NewZealand, #business, #fintech, #banking, #payments, #Buildkite, #software, #venturecapital, #entrepreneurship, #cloud, #design, #UX, #AI, #Australia, #NZTech, #SaaS, #founderstory, #TechMates, #podcast

    1h 19m
  6. From Edge to Epicenter: Building the NZ Innovation Ecosystem | NZVC Portfolio Day

    NOV 6

    From Edge to Epicenter: Building the NZ Innovation Ecosystem | NZVC Portfolio Day

    How founders, investors, and institutions are shaping the next decade of ANZ innovation. Live on stage with TechMates (hosts Mark Pavlyukovskyy & Hendrik Remigereau), three heavyweight voices dive into the state of the NZ startup ecosystem: Shaun Quincey (rowed the Tasman; now building Simfuni for insurers), Janine Grainger (co-founded Easy Crypto; exited earlier this year), and Jacques Richter (Investment Director at NZ Growth Capital Partners, managing the Aspire seed fund). They get specific on what’s great here—access, trust, regulators who take meetings—and what’s hard: under-capitalization, distance, and the cultural “tall poppy” tax on big ambition. This panel strips out the fluff: how to use New Zealand as a sandbox then go global, why “enterprise infiltration” is a real skill, what investors actually fund at seed, and why exits, mafias, and more diverse founders are the next unlock. You’ll also hear hard numbers on ecosystem growth (6× since 2019) and a challenge to scale from ~1,000 to 5,000 startups in the pipeline. 🌏 NZ as incubator → world as market: high-trust access, global translation is the test. 🏛️ Regulation: open-door chats vs “regulation by enforcement” overseas.🧭 Enterprise infiltration: find the real buyer, ask for money early. 💸 Capital & culture: the comfy $10M plateau, under-capitalization, and fund size reality. 🌿 Tall poppy & ambition: cheer louder, tell a bigger story, survive the pivots. 👩‍💻 Diversity matters: “stop funding the same founder mold”; women still under-funded.🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Talent & bravery: remote-first teams, culture as hiring edge, lower the barrier for movers. 📊 Ecosystem math: 6× EV since 2019; aim for ~5,000 startups, not ~1,000. Connect with the Guests Shaun Quincey — https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-quincey-53548132 Janine Grainger — https://www.linkedin.com/in/janine-grainger Jacques Richter — https://www.linkedin.com/in/jacques-richter-a216b324 Learn more about NZVC & Hosts NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ If this sharpened your startup/business brain, hit 👍 and subscribe for more New Zealand founder deep-dives. 00:00 – Intro 02:59 – Would you build again in New Zealand? 04:21 – Working with regulators in New Zealand vs. abroad 05:18 – Investor perspective on scaling beyond NZ 06:28 – Comparison with building companies in Germany 06:50 – Pros and cons of building from NZ (Sean on access and ambition) 08:17 – The $10M lifestyle business trap in NZ 08:40 – Under-capitalization and growth of local VC ecosystem 10:12 – The importance of startup “mafias” in NZ 11:01 – Janine on exiting and mentoring new founders 12:28 – Investor view: learning from exits and spinouts 12:52 – Mark and Janine on founder culture in Silicon Valley 14:25 – Developing startup culture and access for new founders 15:29 – Underselling ambition: the Kiwi mindset 16:41 – Sean on Tall Poppy syndrome 17:57 – Janine on selling to an Australian company and founder ambitions 19:53 – Jacques on VC fund maturity and exit sizes 20:46 – How investors decide which founders to back 22:19 – What investors look for: meaningful problems and narratives 23:18 – What needs to change in the NZ startup ecosystem? 23:47 – Sean’s vision: capital, education, and share options reform 26:00 – Janine: Stop investing only in “Mark Zuckerberg types” 26:53 – Jacques: NZ’s VC growth and what’s next 28:22 – Audience question: Where do the best startup ideas come from? 30:15 – The role of passion in solving problems 31:03 – Human capital and building great workplaces 32:00 – Sean on attracting global talent to NZ 33:10 – Discussion: Is NZ talent density enough? #startups, #NewZealand, #business, #venturecapital, #founders, #regulation, #talent, #ESOP, #globalexpansion, #womenintech, #innovation, #fintech, #crypto, #AI, #robotics, #ecosystem, #SaaS, #NZTech, #TechMates, #podcast

    35 min
  7. Beyond Startup Hype: 5 Founders on Real Difficulties

    OCT 30

    Beyond Startup Hype: 5 Founders on Real Difficulties

    Five New Zealand–linked founders drop hard-won truths! This highlight episode brings together five New Zealand tech entrepreneurs at very different stages—Shaun Quincey, Liam Kampshof, Nick Damiano, Steven Zinsli, and Anna Henwood. It’s a punchy reel of what actually moves the needle in startups: selling into enterprise, building brutally simple products, and staying alive long enough for the compounding to kick in. You’ll hear why enterprise sales is a “dark art” that starts by finding the real buyer, the founder mindset of “stop what’s not working and don’t die,” the moment a recap turns an engineer into a founder, and why loving uncertainty can keep you in the game for 15 years. 🕸️ Enterprise infiltration: map budget cycles, find the true decision-maker, ask for money early. 🧰 Prototype grit: shower tests, mastitis milk samples, and a raincoat-and-laptop cowshed setup. 🔁 Pivot discipline: “stop doing the wrong thing,” survive, and let time create trust. 🧠 Founder trigger: when a recap pushes a product-first engineer to build their own company. 🎢 Roller-coaster reality: loving uncertainty, community, and autonomy in startups. 🤖 AI & robotics: software-first medtech, simple sensors over dashboards, and pragmatic adoption. 💼 Go-to-market: from field demos to enterprise programs that actually close. Connect with the Guests: Shaun Quincey — https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-quincey-53548132 Nick Damiano — https://www.linkedin.com/in/nickdamiano Liam Kampshof — https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-kampshof Steven Zinsli — https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-zinsli-💳-aa813184 Anna Henwood — https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-henwoodLearn more about NZVC & HostsNZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ Timestamps: 00:00 — Intro00:30 — Shaun on “enterprise infiltration” and finding the buyer 03:31 — Liam’s prototypes and cowshed data 04:32 — Steven: stop what’s wrong, don’t die, play the long game 06:26 — Nick: a recap, a product plan, and the founder decision 08:00 — Anna: the roller coaster, autonomy, and loving uncertaintyIf this sharpened your startup/business brain, hit 👍, drop your questions for the founders below, and subscribe for more New Zealand founder deep-dives. #startups, #business, #NewZealand, #AI, #robotics, #agtech, #fintech, #insurtech, #SaaS, #venturecapital, #productmarketfit, #founderstory, #enterprise, #B2B, #medtech, #marketresearch, #dairy, #compliance, #innovation, #podcast

    13 min
  8. Why Big Tech Failed at This Simple Farming Task

    OCT 9

    Why Big Tech Failed at This Simple Farming Task

    🐄 Engineer Liam Kampshof turned an early milking-shed prototype into a simple, low-cost sensor now used on 145+ New Zealand farms, catching mastitis early to protect milk quality and payouts! Liam is a New Zealand tech entrepreneur and founder of Bovonic, makers of QuadSense—a snap-in, battery-powered sensor that measures each teat’s conductivity in real time, compares quarters, and throws a red light in ~30 seconds if mastitis is likely. It retrofits into the short milk tube, has no moving parts, a ~3-year battery life, and costs ~5× less than legacy lab systems—so farmers actually install it. 🐄 Mastitis 101: why manual “stripping” fails at scale and how quarter-level conductivity catches it earlier. 📈 Adoption: ~145 farms (≈2% NZ) in year one; near 5% in early regions; hardware + profitability. 🧭 NZ edge: no subsidies → ruthless ROI; “number-8 wire” practicality meets biomedical chops. 🥛 Macro: NZ = #1 dairy exporter (not producer); EU cell-count standards and antibiotic rules shaping demand. Connect with the Guest: Liam Kampshof — LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/liam-kampshof Company (Bovonic / QuadSense): https://bovonic.com Learn more about NZVC & Hosts NZVC: https://www.nzvc.co.nz Mark Pavlyukovskyy: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pavlyukovskyy/ Hendrik Remigereau: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hendrik-remigereau-09a03067/ 00:00 — Intro & NZ dairy roots 01:11 — Farm childhood in Waikato & Bay of Plenty 07:16 — Choosing Biomedical Engineering at Auckland 10:16 — London deep-tech: DNA Electronics sepsis project 21:10 — Back to NZ during COVID; MIQ and reset 23:41 — The mastitis problem & why manual checks fail 31:17 — Why quarter-level conductivity is the unlock 37:47 — First prototypes; cowshed raincoat + laptop tests 41:07 — Fieldays validation: 110–120 signups; pre-orders 45:56 — QuadSense demo: sensor in the short milk tube 48:38 — Red-light alerts in ~30s; 3-year batteries; self-install 54:22 — 145 farms live; ~2% market; ~5% in early regions 01:01:27 — NZ collar adoption shows ROI-driven uptake 01:03:41 — Global fit: UK/Ireland → EU → US plan 01:10:52 — Founder moving to UK to open markets 01:19:02 — NZ: top dairy exporter; 95–96% exported If this sharpened your startup/business brain, hit 👍, drop your questions for Liam below, and subscribe for more New Zealand founder deep-dives. #startups, #NewZealand, #business, #AgTech, #dairy, #dairyfarming, #animalhealth, #mastitis, #sensors, #hardware, #biomedicalengineering, #precisionagriculture, #farmtech, #veterinary, #robotics, #AI, #Fieldays, #NZTech, #founderstory, #TechMates

    1h 10m
See All (42)

About

Welcome to TechMates, the podcast where we spotlight the trailblazing founders and game-changing startups transforming Australasia. Hosted by Mark Pavlyukovskyy, a Silicon Valley success story, and Hendrik Remigereau, a former leader in Europe’s largest AI ecosystem turned venture capitalist, TechMates dives deep into the counterintuitive mindsets and bold strategies that drive extraordinary achievements. Powered by NZVC, the venture firm backing the next generation of iconic companies from New Zealand and beyond, TechMates offers fresh perspectives on the people and ideas shaping the future

Information

  • Creator
    TechMates
  • Years Active
    2024 - 2025
  • Episodes
    42
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © TechMates
  • Show Website
    TechMates