Finalists for NZ Hi-Tech Awards 2014 named

The NZ Hi-Tech Awards 2014 finalists were announced at three simultaenous events conducted at Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch, yesterday evening.

Finalists were named across all twelve categories of the Awards, and included both MNCs as well as home-grown firms.

RELATED: In Pictures: NZ Hi-Tech Awards 2014 finalists announced

“This year’s finalists range from companies in their infancy through to some of our biggest, most high profile hi-tech companies. New Zealand hi-tech companies have a unique flavour that extends well beyond the realms of traditional ICT. It is great to see such a range of entries across the board and so many companies entering who are just embarking on their big journey,” said Wayne Norrie, Chair of the Hi-Tech Trust.

The finalists have been selected from entries that were 38 per cent more than the previous year.

According to the Hi-Tech Trust, the judging panel includes more than 40 judges, comprising some of New Zealand's technologists and entrepreneurs, as well as a selection of international names. This includes the likes of Craig Nevill-Manning, director of engineering for Google in New York, Howard Charney, senior VP for Cisco and Pat Kenealy, MD for IDG Ventures.

This year’s Awards mark its 20th and will see it return to Christchurch for the gala dinner event. Winners in each category will be announced at a black-tie gala dinner to be held at Wigram Aircraft Museum, Christchurch on 16th May 2014.

NZ Hi-Tech Awards 2014 finalists

The full list of finalists for the NZ Hi-Tech Awards 2014 are as below:

PwC Hi-Tech Company of the Year 2014

Fisher & Paykel Healthcare

Orion Health

Serko

Xero

Cisco Hi-Tech Emerging Company of the Year 2014

Aura Infosec

Dairy Automation

MarkerMetro

Movio

Vend

New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (NZVIF) Hi-Tech Start-Up Company of the Year 2014

RedSeed

Smart Water Technology

StretchSense

Timely

Callaghan Innovation Hi-Tech Pre-Commercialisation Company of the Year 2014 Clever Medkits

Geozone

Hunter Safety Labs

Mars Bioimaging

Mobotech

Vigil Monitoring

Duncan Cotterill Innovative Hi-Tech Software Product 2014

Carnival Mobile

Intranel

Mindscape

Orion Health

VMob

Wynyard Group

Grow Wellington Hi-Tech Service Product 2014

Carnival Mobile

MindScape

Snapper Services

Vend

VMob

Endace Innovative Hi-Tech Hardware Product 2014

Dairy Automation

Delta Strike International

ikeGPS

Mars Bioimaging

Smart Water Technology

UK Trade & Investment Innovative Hi-Tech Mobile Product 2014

Carnival Mobile

ikeGPS

MEA Mobile

MindScape

Serato

VMob

Fronde Hi-Tech Young Achiever 2014

Scott Barrington (Modlar)

Reuben Bijl (Smudge Apps)

Hannah Gray (Xero)

Guy Horrocks (Carnival Mobile)

Ben O’Brien (StretchSense)

New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Best Contribution to the NZ Hi-Tech Sector by an internationally headquartered Company 2014

Cisco

Fujitsu

Microsoft

NZMEA Hi-Tech Exporter of the Year over $5M 2014

Orion Health

Vista Entertainment

Xero

IBM Hi-Tech Exporter of the Year under $5m 2014

Animation Research

Movio

Snapcomms

Vend