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Free, verified startup directories and guides for New Zealand founders.
Grants, accelerators, investors, legal templates, and startup perks. Nobody pays to be listed, and nothing here is promotion.
Save Money
Over $1M in verified startup perks, free templates, and government support you can claim without joining anything.
Raise Money
Every capital source for NZ startups: VC funds, angels, accelerators, grants, and debt. With the actual terms attached.
Make Money
The guides, tools, and case studies that get NZ founders to first revenue and beyond.
What Founders Want × HackAotearoa
New Zealand's free co-working day for builders.
We're launching HackAotearoa's Wellington chapter and helping it reach the rest of the country.
WFW is the reference layer online: how to raise, who does what, what it costs, free and neutral. HackAotearoa is the other half, one full day every second Friday building your own thing next to other founders.
Auckland is open, Wellington is getting started, upvote the next city.
What’s New
WFW Monthly - August 2026
Grants, accelerators, pitch competitions, and events open to NZ founders right now, with deadlines. Updated the first of every month.
What Founders Want × HackAotearoa
Our new co-working chapters: a free day to build alongside other founders. Auckland is open, Wellington is getting started, and you can upvote the next city.
The DIY RDTI - Claim New Zealand’s R&D Tax Credits Yourself
Claim both R&D tax credits yourself, built by Cormac Denton, a fractional CFO who does these claims and tells you to do it yourself first.
NZ Startup Ecosystem Directory - Updated for 2026
NZ's founder support organisations, mapped by region and founder type, so you reach the right door first instead of three referrals later.
Where’s Serge?
A 2026 calendar of NZ's biggest startup events, curated by Serge van Dam, Movac Operating Partner and one of the country's most active angels.
Subscribe for Updates
One email, once a month. Every time-sensitive opportunity for NZ founders, with deadlines
Join hundreds of NZ founders already on the list.
Follow What Founders Want on LinkedIn
We post 4-5 times a week, all laser-focused on one thing: helping New Zealand startup founders save money, raise money, and make money.
Expert Editions
Tactical NZ startup guides written by people who've done it: fundraising, governance, legal, government support, selling SaaS overseas.
A new guide every month, each written with a named expert who does this work for a living. Free.
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What Founders Want Directories
Free, verified directories covering funding, government support, accelerators, and everything else NZ founders need. Nobody pays to be listed.
WFW Monthly
Startup founders can’t afford to miss opportunities.
But it’s easy for things to get lost when there is no central point of connection.
WFW Monthly is the five minute read that will save, raise or make you money. Every (time-sensitive) opportunity for Kiwi founders - in one monthly, scannable list.
Kiwi Startup Case Studies
40+ case studies of NZ companies: how they got started, funded, and scaled, and where it nearly fell apart. Volpara, Six Barrel Soda, FTN Motion, Ārepa, Girl Native, and more.
Read them before you make the decision they got right or wrong.
Kiwi companies going global
How NZ brands grow
The stories behind NZ’s household names
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Contribute to What Founders Want
The NZ startup ecosystem changes fast.
WFW is built by founders, for founders. Share an update or resource to strengthen the ecosystem.
→ Submit an update or share feedback
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Open AGM 2025