Kiwi design and tech company offers $15,000 in support to woman-led start-up

After discovering there were more men called Dave than women in their client base, an Auckland-based design and technology studio is offering $15,000 worth of services to a female-led tech start-up.

The move comes after the co-founders of Edition Group, Jodie and Scott Kennedy, became increasingly aware of a disturbing pattern in their client base.

Going back through more than 80 tech companies Edition Group has collaborated with since it was launched in 2020, the vast majority were started by men – and quite a number of them were called Dave.

“I realised we’ve worked with more founders named Dave than companies founded by women,” Jodie Kennedy said.

“We knew female-founded companies were under-represented among New Zealand tech at large, but this was pretty damn sobering.”

As a result, the company is offering a $15,000 package of services tailored to the successful applicant to help them start a high-growth technology business.

The winner will receive personal workshops and mentoring; competitor and market research; product strategy help in understanding their client target; support to pitch for investor capital; a go-to-market road map; and 12-month action plan.

“Pretty much anything that is critical for any founder looking to launch a high-growth tech start-up,” Kennedy said.

Edition Group provides software, design, development, branding, and website support for early-stage and high-growth start-ups. Since its launch five years ago, the company has supported tech start-ups like Kernel, Kami and FirstAML, and listed tech enterprises including Eroad and Lanzatech.

Kennedy wants to put that expertise to good use to help another female start-up founder.

The “Dave” factor started as a joke after Kennedy and her husband wondered aloud how many Daves they had worked with.

“Because we do work with a lot of Daves, also Dans.”

So Kennedy decided to count, discovering there were more Daves in their client base than women.

“It was a pretty shocking realisation. It’s not to say that we don’t love Daves and all the clients that we work with. It’s just that we’d love to see more women founders come in and work with us.”

Dame Theresa Gattung and Jenny Rudd’s The Gender Investment Gap report shows that out of 100 start-ups receiving investment funding in New Zealand, only seven of those have female founders.

Globally the figure is even lower; less than 3% of venture capital funding goes to women.

“That’s exactly why we get so many Daves over women, because that’s the funding that’s being received,” Kennedy said.

Lack of investor funding means New Zealand is potentially missing out on a valuable sector in terms of start-ups.

“While Mark Zuckerberg talks with Joe Rogan about how there needs to be more ‘masculine’ energy in business, it’s obvious the evidence points in the exact opposite direction,” said Kennedy.

“The numbers speak for themselves. There’s a long list of women-founded companies like Sharesies or Kami [which] have succeeded despite roadblocks, but for so many others, there are still barriers in their way.”

Kennedy said the problem of a lack of investor funding for women-led start-ups would not be cured by one scholarship, but Edition Group wanted to contribute.

“If we can do small things to help, I think we all should if we can,” she said.

“If you have a start-up idea, aren’t named Dave and are ready to take the next step, Edition wants to hear from you.”

Jane Phare is a senior Auckland-based business, features and investigations journalist, former assistant editor of the NZ Herald and former editor of the Weekend Herald and Viva.