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Announcement, News, Partner Series, Success, Unsorted ·

Five young Kiwi tech businesses prepare to hit the accelerator

Vodafone and BNZ announce the businesses starting the Vodafone xone Partner Series in January

Five innovative young New Zealand technology businesses have been selected to begin the Vodafone xone Partner Series programme next month – an accelerator programme powered by two of the best-known brands in the country, Bank of New Zealand and Vodafone New Zealand.

The programme beginning in January sees Vodafone New Zealand and Bank of New Zealand co-deliver an intensive three months of mentoring, workshops and unique testing environments for fledgling businesses. The aim is to develop the businesses to a point where a corporate partnership or commercial deal is possible.

Applications closed at the end of November, with ten shortlisted businesses invited to pitch to a panel of five experts in a high-pressure VC style format. From the ten pitches, the judging panel welcomed five businesses onto the accelerator programme.

Vodafone New Zealand Head of SME Richard Phillimore-Smith says the calibre of applicants bodes well for the next generation of technology businesses in New Zealand.

“There are some incredibly innovative solutions being developed and brought to market right now,” he says.

“It was a tough decision picking the businesses that were the best fit for this round of the Vodafone xone Partner Series. However, we are confident that the businesses that will be joining us in January have fantastic digital solutions that will benefit so many SMEs throughout the country.

“We can’t wait to see some or all of these exciting new businesses succeed in the same way as other distinguished xone alumni companies such as Spalk, Evnex, Ambit and Aware Group.”

The first cohort of the Vodafone xone Partner Series for 2020 includes solutions such as digital assistants using data analytics, artificial intelligence to act on voicemails, a 360 customer insights application, a “no-code” credit risk automation platform and an end-to-end Internet of Things solution.

BNZ General Manager SME Karna Luke says “Small-to-medium enterprises want to be more productive, more efficient and faster to react with the resources they have. The companies we have selected for the Partner Series have the potential to enable our customers to achieve this.

“We know how difficult it can be to get a new business off the ground. With the backing of BNZ and Vodafone New Zealand, the Partner Series is designed to accelerate the business growth and help connect with markets that matter to them,” he says.

The businesses starting the Vodafone xone Partner Series programme in January 2020 include:

Aider – a digital assistant for small business. Connecting to the cloud apps businesses use, the Aider mobile app delivers easy access to answers for data-led decision making.

Vxt is a smart phone application that helps users save time by converting their voicemail to text and automating tasks like event scheduling.

Micado uses artificial intelligence and data analytics to produce customer insights, helping businesses create better customer interaction and ultimately a better customer experience. Micado’s Sales and Marketing analytics empower business to win, grow and retain customers.

Credisense is a “no-code” credit risk automation platform, from digitising customer on-boarding and risk decision-making to billing engagement.

PiP IoT has an end-to-end Internet of Things solution comprising a unique IoT device, plus data analytics and visualisation services, to support a wide range of business use cases with ‘out of the box’ simplicity.

Vodafone Head of IoT and South Island Michelle Sharp says the team looks forward to welcoming the businesses onto the programme in January.

“Aider, VXT, Micado, Credisense and PiP IoT all have different and innovative solutions. The xone team are really excited to be working with them all and to see these solutions make a real impact on New Zealand SMEs in the very-near future.”

News, Success, xone 2018 ·

How businesses can tap in to the rise of chat

Earlier this month, a new employee started at Glassons. Her name is Charlie. Charlie has an outgoing, optimistic personality, making her well-suited for the retail environment. She’s also a chatbot created by Kiwi start-up, Ambit.

Charlie appears on Glassons FAQ and Help pages, and her job description includes e-commerce support, providing personalised information about things like exchanges, refunds, and tracking deliveries.

Glassons CIO, Chris Reid, explains the new hire: “The reason for Charlie is we realised our target demographic wants instant answers. What better way to deliver that than to use a bot.”

“We operate our customer service team from 7am to 8pm. Now thanks to Charlie, our customers can get an instant response 24 hours a day.”

Ambit co-founder Tim Warren says, “People love to chat. And not just socially. Facebook Messenger is a busier platform than the rest of Facebook itself, and a quarter of that chat involves a business.”

“The challenge for business is how you talk to thousands of customers about hundreds of topics in their language, in their style, and all at the same time. The answer is conversational intelligence.”

Ambit uses AI to teach computers to speak like humans with Natural Language Processing. The bot learns how to understand the intent behind what you say. It then generates a message to solve your problem, and then there’s a feedback mechanism to determine if the intent was met.

Says Reid, “Over time, Charlie will get smarter and smarter, continually developing an understanding of nuances and of what our customers want to talk to her about.” But, not all chatbots are created equal.

“Chatbots are still relatively new and, the truth is, there are some really bad ones. We found Ambit on LinkedIn where one of the founders, Josh Comrie, was talking about bots in a really uncomplicated way that shows how you use chatbots in the real world. They aren’t just coming at it from a tech perspective, they understand business needs and real world applications.”

Earlier this year, Ambit was awarded a position in Vodafone xone, Vodafone’s start-up accelerator and innovation lab, to support its growth plans. Comrie says those plans include expanding from txt to voice, and beyond that into being the “brain” that sits in behind digital avatars or virtual assistants.

Since winning its place on Vodafone xone, Ambit has also won Vodafone as its latest customer.

Says Warren, “We’re creating a virtual member of the HR team for Vodafone who’s going to help their people find the information they need like parental leave, leave balances, and details of benefits and offers available to staff and their families.”

Katie Williams, Vodafone Head of HR Centres of Expertise explains, “Our HR Navigator bot will always have time for each of our people, and will offer a private, secure, personal conversation. The rest of the team will be freed up to focus on supporting and developing our talented staff, while our bot looks after straightforward but often time-consuming questions.”

Ambit’s chatbots are built on their own AI own platform as opposed to ad-hoc builds from the ground up.

“A lot of the functionality is out of the box, much like getting a CRM installed. We co-design the bots with our clients during the initial build phase, and then we provide ongoing turnkey support service. Our platform is a code-free environment designed for use by business people not developers.”

Ambit’s bots are designed to serve businesses with 10,000 or more customers and over 500 staff.

Ambit Co-Founder Josh Comrie says, “Once you have an organisation of scale, you have vital processes that are repetitive. Humans are not great at repetitive tasks, but computers are. Chatbots take the repetitive processes and conversations and simplify them, freeing up your people to address more creative, complex, and higher value tasks.”

Later this month, Glassons’ Charlie will be joined by her Hallensteins counterpart, Benny, also designed by Ambit.

Announcement, News, Success, xone 2018 ·

The woman at the centre of the war on annoying forms

For 1Centre founder and CEO Miriana Lowrie, it was the numbers that did it.

“$192 is the cost to process one trade credit application form. 2.5 million – that’s the number of trade credit applications processed in New Zealand every year. Now just one of our business customers has over 200 suppliers, you can imagine the toll chasing up all those paper forms would take on her just to get them set up.

“1Centre is a cloud-based platform, the experience is far superior, and it’s very easy and much more efficient. There’s no back and forth about whether the forms have been filled out or where they are. You can work on the system on any device anywhere in the world,” Miriana said.

Applying for the 2017 Vodafone xone programme, a start-up accelerator and innovation lab, opened the door to a total package valued at more than $150,000, including seed funding and access to world-class technology and mentoring as part of a six-month programme.

“A lot has been happening for 1Centre. We’ve been in the market for several months now, and we have nearly 600 total users on the 1Centre platforms, so total businesses – that’s a phenomenal achievement in such a short space of time.

“The big thing I got out of Vodafone xone was where it might take you three months to figure something out by yourself, being exposed to the resources that Vodafone has available means you can cut that time down considerably – to a month,” Miriana added.

1Centre’s clients are effusive about the difference the system has made to their businesses.

Epic Brewing Company owner Luke Nicholas knows a good thing when he sees it.

“We brew craft beer, and we have a lot of different suppliers from raw materials to packaging materials, to logistics companies, and a host of services that help us get beer from its raw ingredients into a glass for people to drink. 1Centre was a really good choice for us in making our lives easier,” Luke said.

Epic Brewing Company Operations Manager Ellie Tocker was faced with two paper folders filled with credit applications when she took over running the books.

“I really didn’t want to trawl through all those pieces of paper, so 1Centre has definitely streamlined things and made it a lot easier. Online an IP address is your signature so it makes it a lot easier and a lot less daunting, so it’s also easier for our customers,” Ellie said.

For Miriana the fact that Vodafone, and Vodafone xone got what she was trying to do made all the difference.

“Vodafone gets it, they know the problem that we’re solving opening accounts and agreeing on legal trade terms they do it every day. I did the research, and when I learnt that 100% of people hate filling out forms that’s when I knew I have to do this. That’s why Vodafone xone is so good, you learn everything you need to know as a start-up as you go,” Miriana said.

For more on Vodafone xone, head to https://vodafonexone.nz

Announcement, Success, xone 2018 ·

The Kiwi company with a plan to quake-proof your life

For the team at Tectonus, finding a solution to keep buildings standing strong in the face of an earthquake is a true calling.

Tectonus CEO Pierre Quenneville and the team have developed a resilient seismic joint that can both dampen the seismic energy of a building in the midst of a sizeable quake, but also restore it to its original position.

“We’re really proud that our Kiwi technology will be able to protect people and buildings from earthquakes and aftershocks. We’ve been talking to structural engineers all over the country, and they’re really excited with the simplicity of the technology. They have ideas for using it in different buildings, skyscrapers, bridges, and even pallet racking. The applications are limitless,” Pierre said.

Being selected to take part in Vodafone xone class of 2017, a start-up accelerator and innovation lab programme valued at more than $150,000, gave the team the opportunity to take their invention to the next level.

“Our first project is the new Nelson airport terminal. It’s a beautiful structure with tall LVL columns supporting a timber roof. Our technology is superior in that it resists earthquakes, doesn’t require post-event maintenance and is there for the long term.

“Being part of the Vodafone xone programme has been such a great experience for the Tectonus team, to have access to mentors and business experts at this pivotal time was really important,” Pierre added.

Tectonus Marketing Manager Anya Valyashko agrees.

“We would really love a world where there isn’t the same devastation that we saw in Christchurch, and so partnering with Vodafone a company that is equally passionate about innovation was exceptional. To hear from experts and people who’ve gone through the start-up process enabled us to learn from what they’ve gone through and properly prepare ourselves,” Anya said.

Vodafone xone is now open for applications until 15 April 2018, and Tectonus Business Development Manager Keane Lee believes this year’s cohort are in for an amazing journey.

“Coming from a company that hasn’t started a business before, we needed support and expert advice from all aspects, and that’s exactly what xone provided. They were able to bring in experts from different fields to help guide us through the problems that we had, and each month we were fuelled with energy, motivation and inspiration to keep the momentum going in our business.

“I believe that we are going through the same journey as start-up companies together, so I think the biggest advice I can give is to keep your perseverance and never give up. If you believe that your idea is something that can change the world, and that makes you wake up every morning just go for it, and keep your grit together,” Keane said.

For more on Vodafone xone, head to https://vodafonexone.nz

Announcement, Success, xone 2018 ·

Vodafone xone opens the door to the next leap forward in AI and IoT

Media release – Today Vodafone is ushering in the next leap forward in AI (Artificial Intelligence) and IoT (Internet of Things), with applications open for the successful accelerator programme, Vodafone xone.

Vodafone xone is a start-up accelerator and innovation lab through which Vodafone partners with early and late stage start-ups, who have ground-breaking technology ideas. Eight start-ups will receive a total package valued at more than $150,000 each, including seed-funding, and access to world class technology and mentoring as part of a six-month programme.

Head of Xone and Innovation Manager Lauren Merritt said this year the emphasis is on working with Kiwi start-ups with clever ideas in the AI, IoT and data analytics sectors.

“We are keen to see applications from across the country, and eager to also see ideas that can be harnessed to drive social change, as Vodafone is all about connecting for good. We will be getting hands-on with the companies selected, ensuring their business mentors help take their ideas to the next level.

“We want ideas that will make a massive impact on New Zealand, and we will help those start-ups go global, by leveraging our international networks,” Lauren said.

Vodafone Consumer Director Matt Williams is delighted with the results achieved by last year’s cohort.

“We launched Vodafone xone with an ambition to find the best mobile and digital technologies in New Zealand, and take them to the world through Vodafone’s international network.

“Since xone’s inception the start-ups have generated more than $11.5 million in new revenue, attracted more than $9.6 million in capital funding, and created 46 new jobs, all while beginning operations in countries around the world. Individually they’ve created some amazing new technologies,” Matt said.

One of those companies is Parkable, an app that aims to change the way people park, through a system of shareable parking utilising unused space from driveways to company carparks.

CEO Toby Littin said being part of Vodafone xone was invaluable.

“Even the application process helped us get our pitch right, and then once we were in the programme it was absolute gold. We learnt new skills, got new contacts, development partnerships from an R and D perspective, it was all incredible in enabling a huge amount of commercial opportunity to develop.

“One of the more intangible things is the peer to peer counselling sessions, being able to rub shoulders with other great businesses sharing the same pains and opportunities that we do. We said when we launched Parkable we wanted to operate in 35 countries, and during our time at Vodafone we have had significant opportunities open up,” Toby said.

Vodafone xone is now open for applications from 15 March until 15 April 2018.

Announcement, News, Success, xone 2017 ·

Accurate, transparent and scalable customer feedback analysis: A Case Study

Thematic analyses customer feedback using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning algorithms, providing insights to companies so they can improve customer experience.

Thematic was founded by Dr. Alyona Medelyan and Nathan Holmberg in 2016. Alyona has a PhD in Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning which was funded by Google and where she first had her idea for Thematic.

Over the past year, Alyona and the team have developed a platform feature set to support enterprise requirements, built out a sandbox test environment, and continued to invest in improving the underlying Thematic engine. Rapidly scaling and delivering exceptional outcomes from trials, Thematic have signed Fortune 500 companies like Manpower Group, and CBRE, alongside well-known startups like Airbnb and Dropbox.

After a successful pilot, Vodafone New Zealand was so impressed with the insights provided by Thematic that a commercial deal was signed. Our Customer Operations Commercial Manager cited: “Thematic is an extremely easy-to-use, intuitive tool that helps us get real-time insights. We can see key themes at the click of a button and drill right down to the exact verbatim driving this theme.”

Thematic’s experience in xone allowed them to get insights about their customers, too. Alyona said, “Participating in Vodafone xone meant that we’ve learned how to work with corporates effectively and what matters for a large organisation like Vodafone. We also loved the sense of community and camaraderie Vodafone xone created among the participants.”

Thematic are now fielding enquiries and requests for trials from all over the world, including Vodafone Group.