Konaki |University Student Accelerator
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Nau mai, haere mai ki Konaki, Welcome to Konaki - where academic potential meets real-world impact, and the next generation of Māori business leaders comes to life.

What is Konaki?

Konaki is a pioneering business activator, delivered by Innov8HQ in partnership with Te Kura Pakihi, the University of Otago's Māori Business School. We connect tauira|students with pakihi |businesses - giving students hands-on experience and giving businesses the benefit of committed, well-informed rangatahi ready to make a real difference.

At the heart of Konaki is a simple but powerful belief: Learning has deeper impact when it's lived.

What we do

- Match Māori business students with real startup challenges
- Bridge the gap between classroom knowledge and real-world application
- Embed te ao Māori values - Whanaungatanga, Manaakitanga, Tuakiritanga, and Whakaruruhau  into every part of the experience
- Continuously measure impact through the Konaki Research Project, so the programme evolves with industry needs
- Grounded on a tuakana-teina model, where former students mentor and guide the next intake

Our impact in 2026

Now in its ninth year, Kōnaki continues to connect tauira, enterprise and applied learning through a uniquely kaupapa Māori approach to entrepreneurship.

Since launch, Kōnaki has supported:
- 50 tauira through the programme
- 22+ pakihi and project partners
- A portfolio spanning startups, established enterprises and community-led initiatives
- Ventures across creative enterprise, rongoā Māori, tourism, technology and AI, kai, sustainability, wellbeing, social enterprise and health-related innovation
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Across the programme, impact extends well beyond launching a product or service. Kōnaki has helped pakihi to validate ideas, strengthen strategy, test markets, build capability, explore funding and governance pathways, and make well-informed pivots.

For tauira, Kōnaki provides something equally powerful: the opportunity to apply their learning to real business challenges, building confidence, cultural identity, professional networks and practical business capability they can carry into future careers and entrepreneurship.
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Our Cultural Framework.
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At the heart of Kōnaki is Pou Tarāwaho Kōnaki, our cultural framework connecting University, Innov8HQ, pakihi and tauira around a shared cultural and relational foundation.
Grounded in Ako, Utu and Hauora, and shaped by Whanaungatanga, Tuakiritanga, Manaakitanga and Whakaruruhau, the framework continues to guide how relationships are built, knowledge is shared and learning happens across the programme.

As Kōnaki has evolved, so too has the ecosystem around it, with an increasingly diverse range of partners, industries and opportunities strengthening the experience for both tauira and pakihi.

‍Explore our 2026 Insights and Impacts report and the evolution of Kōnaki here
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‍To review the original 2024 research document, click here

Join Us
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‍Whether you're a tauira ready to level up, a pakihi looking for fresh thinking, or a supporter of Māori-led futures - there's a place for you here.

‍Haere mai ki Konaki - where we turn academic potential into entrepreneurial success, and cultural identity into your greatest business advantage.
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‍Lesss goooo!!
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