A 51% state-owned airline at the end of the world, a NZ$336m loss and the engines that caused much of it.
Startup · Topic
New Zealand Company Stories — Page 3
Fifty-five in-depth stories on how New Zealand business works: co-operatives, gentailers, iwi investors, founders and exporters, organised in eleven pillars.
- 55 guides
- 11 subtopics
- Updated Oct 4, 2026
New Zealand Dairy & Agribusiness 5
New Zealand Founders & Dynasties 5
New Zealand Telecom & Media 5
New Zealand Infrastructure & Logistics 5
New Zealand Tourism & Aviation 5
New Zealand Healthcare & Aged Care 5
New Zealand Tech & Software 5
New Zealand Retail & Consumer 5
New Zealand Energy & Utilities 5
New Zealand Banking & Finance 5
New Zealand Māori Economy & Global Trade 5
All guides · page 3
Pharmac: How New Zealand’s Drug Buyer Squeezes Prices and What It Costs
A 195-person agency with a fixed budget has made New Zealand the world’s toughest customer for drug companies.
Summerset and Arvida: How Retirement Villages Became an NZ Asset Class
Global infrastructure money and a growth-hungry listed operator are betting on the same thing: New Zealanders turning 75.
Ryman Healthcare: How a Retirement-Village Champion Met Its Debt Reckoning
Ryman spent two decades as the market’s favourite compounder, then discovered that villages do not fund themselves.
EBOS Group: How a Christchurch Supplier Became Australasia’s Drug Mover
New Zealand’s largest company by revenue earns its living on margins thinner than a blister pack.
Fisher & Paykel Healthcare: How Humidified Air Built a NZ$2bn Exporter
A washing-machine maker’s side project became New Zealand’s most valuable listed company by warming and wetting air.
Halter: How Solar Cow Collars Built New Zealand’s Agritech Unicorn
Halter has sold a million solar cow collars and is valued at US$2bn. Its product replaces fences with sound.
Gentrack and Vista Group: How New Zealand Builds Global Vertical Software
One bills your electricity, the other sells your cinema ticket. Both are from Auckland and both nearly failed.
Datacom: How New Zealand’s Biggest IT Services Firm Stayed Private
Datacom earns NZ$1.58bn a year, employs nearly 6,000 people and has never listed. Its two shareholders prefer it that way.
Rocket Lab: How a Mahia Launch Pad Became a Nasdaq Space Company
Rocket Lab launches from Mahia, but four-fifths of its revenue now comes from building spacecraft, not flying rockets.
Xero: How a Wellington Start-up Took Cloud Accounting to the World
Xero has 4.9m subscribers and NZ$2.75bn of revenue, yet its shares have halved. The Melio bet and AI explain why.
Whittaker’s: How a Family Chocolate Maker Out-Trusted Cadbury at Home
One factory, one family, no shrinking blocks: how Whittaker’s became New Zealand’s most trusted brand.
