NEWSROOM
Velocity alumni named in the University of Auckland’s annual 40 under 40 list
7 December 2020
The University of Auckland’s 40 under 40 list is created anew each year to inspire New Zealand with the stories of the University’s young alumni who are shining in their personal and professional lives. The list celebrates success in the categories of business leaders, influencers, performers, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, and disruptors and innovators.
This year 22 of the 40 people featured in the list are alumni who have taken part in the Velocity entrepreneurship development programme.
Director of the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Wendy Kerr says she is delighted to see so many of the CIE community recognised in the 2020 list. “Given that the University graduates around 10,000 alumni every year, the people honoured in this list really are exceptional. It is great to see that the people who were attracted to develop their entrepreneurial mindset and innovative capability through Velocity have continued to have the drive to try and make a difference in the world through their particular passions and talents.”
Velocity alumni in the 40 under 40 list:
Kunal Bhargava – Velocity 2003 participant
Kunal was a partner in PowerByProxi, whose wireless charging technology was bought by Apple.
Hamish Elmslie – Velocity participant in 2013 and 2014
Hamish is one of the founders of Wine Grenade, an Internet of Things (IoT) wine maturation technology company.
Graeme Fielder – Velocity participant in 2005, 2007, 2008
Graeme is Director of Corporate Development at Audentes Therapeutics Inc. based in San Francisco, the company develops genetic medicines for people living with rare, inherited, life threatening diseases.
Mark Finch – Velocity participant in 2013
Mark is a co-founder of IMeasureU which couples Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) with biomechanics and computational models, to deliver end-to-end solutions around body motion.
Alex Kendall – Velocity participant in 2013, 2014
Alex is the co-founder and CEO of tech start-up Wayve, the first company to test self-driving vehicles in central London.
Angela Lim – Velocity participant in 2015, 2018
Angela is the co-founder and CEO of Clearhead – a free, online mental health platform that utilises AI chatbot technology to mimic a GP consult, referring users to an appropriate next step in their quest to improve mental wellness. It is New Zealand’s first AI-driven diagnostic and triage tool for mental health.
William Lockie – Velocity participant in 2011, 2012 and 2014
William is the General Manager of award-winning food box company Woop.
Sam Lucas – Velocity participant 2016
Sam is the founder of Madagascan social venture Onja, which educates children in need.
Charles Ma – Velocity 2012 participant
Charles is a large scale property developer.
Ipshita Mandal-Johnson – Velocity participant in 2009, 2010
Ipshita is the founding partner and CEO of the Global Bio Fund.
Pania Newton – 2019 Velocity participant
Pania is a social innovator and activist who has campaigned for the preservation of Ihumātao.
Ben O’Brien – Velocity participant 2013, 2015
Ben is the founder of wearable tech company StretchSense, which have developed the world’s leading motion capture glove.
Bowen Pan – Velocity participant 2005 2006, 2007, 2008
Bowen is a Product Manager at Facebook who helped establish Facebook Marketplace.
Manoj Patel – Velocity participant 2003, 2004, 2005
Manoj is the Director of Medical Services at MercyAscot Private Hospitals.
Craig Piggott – Velocity participant 2015, 2016
Craig is the founder and CEO of agritech company Halter.
Dipra Ray – Velocity participant 2007, 2008
Dipra is the Managing Director and CEO of 3D body mapping company mPort.
Wared Seger – Velocity participant 2010, 2011
Wared is the CEO of media analytics company Parrot Analytics.
Dmitry Selitskiy – Velocity participant 2010, 2011
Dmitry is the co-founder and CEO of Thought-Wired, a company producing non-invasive universal brain-computer interface that provides an assistive tool for people who cannot move and talk.
Priya Singh – 2010 Velocity participant
Priya is the founder and CEO of Karma Collective, Mentor me Fiji Foundation and Pop the Question.
Elinor Swery – Velocity participant 2014, 2015
Elinor is the Director of Technical Sales at Tel Aviv based automotive technology company Nexar Inc.
Arash Tayebi – Velocity participant 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Arash is the co-founder and CEO of Kara Technologies, a start-up that translates content into New Zealand sign language using a digital avatar.
Hayley Yu – Velocity participant 2016
Hayley is an Agency Account Strategist at Google.
7 December 2020
The University of Auckland’s 40 under 40 list is created anew each year to inspire New Zealand with the stories of the University’s young alumni who are shining in their personal and professional lives. The list celebrates success in the categories of business leaders, influencers, performers, entrepreneurs, humanitarians, and disruptors and innovators.
This year 22 of the 40 people featured in the list are alumni who have taken part in the Velocity entrepreneurship development programme.
Director of the Business School’s Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Wendy Kerr says she is delighted to see so many of the CIE community recognised in the 2020 list. “Given that the University graduates around 10,000 alumni every year, the people honoured in this list really are exceptional. It is great to see that the people who were attracted to develop their entrepreneurial mindset and innovative capability through Velocity have continued to have the drive to try and make a difference in the world through their particular passions and talents.”
Velocity alumni in the 40 under 40 list:
Kunal Bhargava – Velocity 2003 participant
Kunal was a partner in PowerByProxi, whose wireless charging technology was bought by Apple.
Hamish Elmslie – Velocity participant in 2013 and 2014
Hamish is one of the founders of Wine Grenade, an Internet of Things (IoT) wine maturation technology company.
Graeme Fielder – Velocity participant in 2005, 2007, 2008
Graeme is Director of Corporate Development at Audentes Therapeutics Inc. based in San Francisco, the company develops genetic medicines for people living with rare, inherited, life threatening diseases.
Mark Finch – Velocity participant in 2013
Mark is a co-founder of IMeasureU which couples Inertial Measurement Units (IMU) with biomechanics and computational models, to deliver end-to-end solutions around body motion.
Alex Kendall – Velocity participant in 2013, 2014
Alex is the co-founder and CEO of tech start-up Wayve, the first company to test self-driving vehicles in central London.
Angela Lim – Velocity participant in 2015, 2018
Angela is the co-founder and CEO of Clearhead – a free, online mental health platform that utilises AI chatbot technology to mimic a GP consult, referring users to an appropriate next step in their quest to improve mental wellness. It is New Zealand’s first AI-driven diagnostic and triage tool for mental health.
William Lockie – Velocity participant in 2011, 2012 and 2014
William is the General Manager of award-winning food box company Woop.
Sam Lucas – Velocity participant 2016
Sam is the founder of Madagascan social venture Onja, which educates children in need.
Charles Ma – Velocity 2012 participant
Charles is a large scale property developer.
Ipshita Mandal-Johnson – Velocity participant in 2009, 2010
Ipshita is the founding partner and CEO of the Global Bio Fund.
Pania Newton – 2019 Velocity participant
Pania is a social innovator and activist who has campaigned for the preservation of Ihumātao.
Ben O’Brien – Velocity participant 2013, 2015
Ben is the founder of wearable tech company StretchSense, which have developed the world’s leading motion capture glove.
Bowen Pan – Velocity participant 2005 2006, 2007, 2008
Bowen is a Product Manager at Facebook who helped establish Facebook Marketplace.
Manoj Patel – Velocity participant 2003, 2004, 2005
Manoj is the Director of Medical Services at MercyAscot Private Hospitals.
Craig Piggott – Velocity participant 2015, 2016
Craig is the founder and CEO of agritech company Halter.
Dipra Ray – Velocity participant 2007, 2008
Dipra is the Managing Director and CEO of 3D body mapping company mPort.
Wared Seger – Velocity participant 2010, 2011
Wared is the CEO of media analytics company Parrot Analytics.
Dmitry Selitskiy – Velocity participant 2010, 2011
Dmitry is the co-founder and CEO of Thought-Wired, a company producing non-invasive universal brain-computer interface that provides an assistive tool for people who cannot move and talk.
Priya Singh – 2010 Velocity participant
Priya is the founder and CEO of Karma Collective, Mentor me Fiji Foundation and Pop the Question.
Elinor Swery – Velocity participant 2014, 2015
Elinor is the Director of Technical Sales at Tel Aviv based automotive technology company Nexar Inc.
Arash Tayebi – Velocity participant 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
Arash is the co-founder and CEO of Kara Technologies, a start-up that translates content into New Zealand sign language using a digital avatar.
Hayley Yu – Velocity participant 2016
Hayley is an Agency Account Strategist at Google.
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