Pop superstar Pharrell, former All Black coach Sir Graham Henry, and Emmy Award nominee Melanie Lynsky were just some of the big names who joined in congratulating the eight winners of this year's Kea World Class New Zealand Awards at Auckland's Shed 10 last week.
The winners are those who lead and shape industries around the globe, helping build New Zealand's reputation on the world stage, are passionate advocates for Aotearoa and regularly give back to their communities.
Arama Kukutai (Ngāti Tipa, Ngāti Maniapoto, Te Aupōuri, Parihaka) was a world class award winner, recognised for his work as a global leader in the agritech industry. With job titles to his name both domestically and internationally, Kukutai is committed to giving Māori people the chance to pursue careers in agritech and has assisted in connecting Kiwi tech entrepreneurs with Silicon Valley.
Kukutai says he is honoured to be given the award and it is a recognition not only of his mahi but is a credit that belongs to his community.
Having worked in the United States for over 15 years, Kukutai’s mahi today includes using that experience to bring together agriculture, technology and food in Aotearoa. He does this as a co-founder and partner of pioneering capital firm Finistere Ventures dedicated to agritech, and is also the chief executive of indoor vertical farming operation Plenty.
“I grew up in a whānau where we had whānau lands and farming. My kuia managed the gardens at Tūrangawaewae. Agriculture has been in our blood for many generations and I think there probably isn’t a Māori whānau that doesn’t have some connection back to their land.”
Plenty opened its first vertical farm in San Francisco in 2018, and now has its second largest vertical farm in Compton, California. Kukutai says to “watch this space” about having a vertical farm complex in Aotearoa.
“We’re in the vanguard of a new wave of technology to enable us to bring growing indoors. Why? Because the outdoors is getting less and less predictable, whether it’s heatwaves in the US or Europe or floods in Pakistan. We can rely less and less on the environment to give us the conditions we need to grow healthy, fresh, affordable food.”
Kukutai, along with some colleagues and iwi Māori in Aotearoa, is also setting up an internship programme, Te Ara Potiki, for rangatahi wanting to work in the agritech space from next year.
“The plan essentially is Māori STEM – science, tech, engineering, math students, to experience as actual working in start-up companies. This is not classroom, this is real-world contact.”
