My name is Lalitha Wemel, I am the Regional Director (APAC) of Community at Techstars. Techstars is the worldwide network that helps entrepreneurs succeed. As part of that mission, we run a series of startup programs around the world, engaging 1000s of local community leaders to deliver, lead and grow their local entrepreneurs with experiential education and network programs. 

We’ve worked with Venture Centre, in particular their incredible co-founder, Pascale Hyboud-Peron, for the better part of the last 5 years, leading programs like this to engage the local entrepreneur community. We have continued to collaborate and deliver on multiple Techstars Startup Weekend throughout the years, where the team at Venture Centre continue to build the ideal environment for startup magic to happen, surrounding the program with smart, passionate people and the best tools and approaches to help participants take giant leaps toward creating a business, becoming a founder, and connecting with the right people and resources.

The team at Venture Centre works, daily, with dynamic, diverse and brilliant founders to support their entrepreneurial journey. They bring that network, knowledge and resource to all collaborations we’ve engaged on together thus enabling participants and partners alike to experience the depth of knowledge being part of their community bring to you! 

The Venture Centre team have been active leaders in both our local and national community development programs across New Zealand, as well as key thought leaders in our ecosystem development activities on a regional and international state. They are greatly valued members of our community and bring important perspectives to every conversation. 

Supporting the growth of Venture Centre can only bring more value and support to both local, national and international founders alike. Their continued work in network, community and ecosystem building will bring meaningful growth to the founders in their network, enable partners to cohesively learn from each other and expand the opportunities available to Tauranga + New Zealand communities. I look forward to continuing our support of their work, and I hope you will too!