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Nine Kiwi startups could offset emissions at the scale of NZ forests
Today’s launch of the New Zealand Cleantech Impact Report 2026 shows New Zealand has a pipeline of cleantech companies with the potential to reduce emissions on a global scale. The report notes that just nine of these companies could cut global Greenhouse Gas emissions by 19.2 million tonnes a year by 2030, roughly the same as the carbon absorbed by New Zealand’s forests.
Commenting on the report, MacDiarmid Institute Director Professor Nicola Gaston said what stands out is that many of these companies are based on talent and IP coming straight out of research labs.
‘We’re seeing our scientists and engineers step into founder roles and turn New Zealand’s world-class research into real-world climate solutions.’
The report authors say there’s an opportunity to leverage New Zealand’s strengths and grow the commercial and environmental benefits of our public research here and that Cleantech innovators are scaling quickly, with the need for capital outstripping supply.
The preface to the previous Cleantech report in 2024 included the aspirations of Will Barker, CEO of Mint Innovation, who said:
‘In the landscape of global innovation, New Zealand occupies a unique position - a fertile ground for the seeds of clean technology. Yet, despite its promising environment for development, the domestic market does not fully capture the potential of these emerging clean technologies and the longer-term impact they could have on the New Zealand economy.’
Mint Innovation has since established commercial partnerships with Jaguar and HP to recycle lithium batteries and recover metals from circuit boards, respectively.
Nicola said that the 2024 Cleantech Report had identified New Zealand’s Cleantech sector as full of promise with real global potential.
'This 2026 Cleantech Report shows it’s now actually happening,' she said. 'Companies are scaling quickly and delivering real impact across energy and sustainability, but they are starting to run up against a lack of capital to keep that momentum going.'
She said this reinforced the importance of a strong ecosystem to support those leading this work in New Zealand.
‘It has taken a long time to build this capability, and the expertise now moving from research labs into commercial Cleantech is something we need to protect and cherish,’ Nicola said.
‘This report really shows the role of researchers in building this Cleantech ecosystem,' she added.
Sophie Braggins, Ara Ake chief executive, says energy innovation remains a major opportunity for New Zealand. This follows Ara Ake’s recent backing of Cetogenix, a New Zealand Cleantech start-up transforming organic biomass into energy, nutrients, and biobased products.
‘We’re committed to supporting start-ups such as Cetogenix and OpenStar Technologies, and we hope this sends a strong signal to the sector,’ she said.
MacDiarmid Institute Deputy Director for Commercialisation, Associate Professor Natalie Plank said New Zealand is doing well for a small country in terms of quality of tech but needs more capital to scale up.
‘The potential here is huge, both for emissions reduction and economic growth,’ she says. ‘But to realise it, the Cleantech report is saying these companies need faster access to capital and stronger support to scale.’
The 2026 Cleantech Report has four key recommendations to enhance the impact and commercial success of New Zealand Cleantech researcher innovators:
- Grow Innovation into Impact – International investors in Cleantech are invited to partner with local innovators to help them scale at pace.
- Improve Impact Measurement and Communication – Cleantech innovators are urged to calculate their future impact and share these insights with investors and policymakers.
- Enhance Government Support and International Investment – Government should support Cleantech innovators to scale up for global reach in sourcing capital and market access in the green economy.
- Integrate Cleantech into Policy – New Zealand policymakers should use this new powerful tool to plan our economic transition to a low carbon economy.
Nicola also said the report reinforces what the government is already hearing from across the research and innovation sector.
‘The government will have seen several recent reports from NZGCP, TIN, NZTech and SBC all pointing to similar conclusions. What sets this report apart is the focus on earlystage Cleantech innovators, many of them operating in the hard to abate areas and offering solutions to energy and supply chain resilience, and critical materials access.’
The report quantifies for the first time the decarbonisation opportunity for local climate innovation.
The report was launched at the first national Cleantech Expo, which was organised by Auckland Council’s Economic Development Office. The expo was hosted by the Auckland University of Technology (AUT) and supported by the New Zealand Cleantech Mission.
Expert Reaction
These comments have been collated by the Science Media Centre to provide a variety of expert perspectives on this issue. Feel free to use these quotes in your stories. Views expressed are the personal opinions of the experts named. They do not represent the views of the SMC or any other organisation unless specifically stated.
Dr Dave Rankin, Green Futures Group Leader, Lincoln Agritech Ltd.
"The 2026 report identifies the scale, growth and potential impact of NZs burgeoning cleantech industry. There are real opportunities to improve energy security, productivity and profitability with a common theme of simultaneously reducing carbon emissions.
"However, there are obvious headwinds with that goal in the current geopolitical environment – with an increasing attitude of climate denial or 'kicking the can down the road' with respect to emissions reductions in certain countries (including NZ). This directly affects the cleantech industry since, without using carbon pricing to put a financial cost on carbon emissions, adoption of these new technologies is slower, more fragmented and often reliant on secondary benefits (like increased profitability due to lower energy use) rather than on well-priced emissions reduction alone.
"Solving this problem is critically important for NZ – for our own nationally determined contribution to the Paris agreement and several of our international trade agreements – and more generally for the world as we blow through our 1.5 degrees Celsius targets with real and massive consequences.
"But we should also be celebrating our wins in the cleantech industry, especially the growing technology exports and ultimately even the purchase of these home-grown companies as they shine on the global stage."
Dr Basil Sharp, Emeritus Professor of Economics and former Director of the Energy Centre, University of Auckland
"Two of the three key findings around energy security, supply chain resilience and sustainability impacts; and GHG emissions are aspirational, offering potentially beneficial outcomes. The third finding reveals the real challenge facing Cleantech – capital.
"Raising over $100m in private capital during tough economic conditions is impressive. The report does not record what the capital is used for, possibly investment in equipment and technology that supports applied science. Salaries account for around 65% of revenue generated.
"Commercial sensitivity obviously precludes detail but the metrics do not provide insights into how the two aspirational findings might be achieved. This links to the one of the recommendations that impact investors are looking for better data. Quantitative analysis of returns on
investment is essential. The analysis need not be available to the public domain, but available in confidence to potential fund managers. Why is it that New Zealand ranks last among like economies in terms of funds raised?
"The report is silent on the web of institutions actively engaged in clean tech innovation. The case studies are informative. What connections exist between these leaders and the broader research community? What are the channels that attract clever innovative folk into the sector? This might be worth considering given 2/3 of annual revenue going into salaries.
"Overall, the report provides an aspirational impression of what Cleantech can contribute to reducing GHG emissions and material throughput. The message is relevant and important to our future. More empirical analysis of the return to investment will attract private sector capital."
Dr Rod McNaughton, Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Auckland Business School
"The report shows that New Zealand has a credible cleantech pipeline with the potential to make an international impact. Our biggest climate contribution may come not only from cutting emissions at home, but from building companies whose technologies help cut emissions abroad.
"That means cleantech should not be treated as a narrow environmental story. It is also an economic and strategic one. It touches productivity, exports, energy security, and resilience.
"The real question is whether New Zealand can turn strong science into globally competitive companies. That takes more than good ideas. It takes capital, customers, procurement pathways, and a system that helps firms move from the lab into the market.
"In cleantech, capital does not just speed growth. It determines which technologies survive long enough to prove themselves.
"The report underplays one important weakness. New Zealand may be good at producing researchers, but we still have work to do in building the capabilities, incentives, and partnerships needed to turn strong science into new ventures. A promising pipeline is encouraging, but it may also conceal the ideas and technologies that never made it far enough to be seen."
Alan Hucks, Ecosystem & Commercialisation Development Lead, KiwiNet
"The report reflects what we’re seeing on the ground — New Zealand is producing genuinely world-class science that is already delivering globally relevant decarbonisation solutions. The challenge is ensuring more of these make it to scale, where their impact can be fully realised.
"That depends on access to capital, but also on the publicly funded research and commercialisation system that sits behind these ventures. Through the Commercialisation Partner Network of KiwiNet and Return on Science, New Zealand has built a platform to translate research into investable companies. Continued support for this system will be key to unlocking further cleantech growth.
"Within this ecosystem, university and PRO (Public Research Organisation) technology transfer offices play a pivotal role in identifying opportunities, shaping intellectual property, and connecting researchers with investors and industry. Alongside this, capability-building programmes help researchers develop the skills needed to navigate complex, capital-intensive scale-up pathways.
"Sustained, predictable support for technology transfer offices, the Commercialisation Partner Network and associated capability programmes will be essential to maintaining a strong, diversified pre-seed pipeline, attracting private investment and realising the economic and climate benefits highlighted in the report."
Professor Nicola Gaston, Director of the MacDiarmid Institute for Advanced Materials and Nanotechnology
"In the landscape of global innovation, New Zealand occupies a unique position - a fertile ground for the seeds of clean technology. Yet, despite its promising environment for development, the domestic market does not fully capture the potential of these emerging clean technologies and the longer-term impact they could have on the New Zealand economy.
"This 2026 Cleantech Report shows it’s now actually happening. Companies are scaling quickly and delivering real impact across energy and sustainability, but they are starting to run up against a lack of capital to keep that momentum going.
"It has taken a long time to build this capability, and the expertise now moving from research labs into commercial Cleantech is something we need to protect and cherish. This report really shows the role of researchers in building this Cleantech ecosystem.
"The government will have seen several recent reports from NZGCP, TIN, NZTech and SBC all pointing to similar conclusions. What sets this report apart is the focus on early-stage Cleantech innovators, many of them operating in the hard to abate areas and offering solutions to energy and supply chain resilience, and critical materials access."
Analeise Murahidy, Executive Director Strategic Growth, UniServices
"The cleantech report is a timely reflection and acknowledgment that the New Zealand’s cleantech sector remains resilient and globally relevant, despite the geopolitical uncertainty and the constrained capital environment.
"Reflecting on the cleantech journey, it has always been grounded on the kiwi values of caring for people and our planet. The challenge has been how to solve a problem that the rest of the world cared about and was willing to invest in. This report highlights how NZ cleantech companies are reframing their solutions to respond to global priorities of energy security and supply chain resilience to unlock new pathways to investment.
"While the report focused on start-ups, it’s important to recognise the broader ecosystem that has championed their innovations and their success. The original Cleantech Mission, established by Callaghan in 2021, has been a group of agencies and organisations across the innovation ecosystem who aligned their discretionary effort to help lift cleantech innovators and accelerate their commercialisation journey. It was never a formal structure. It was a collection of people that believed in the opportunity and in NZ’s ability to lead. As the science system has evolved, the leadership has shifted to other organisations such as Ara Ake and MacDiarmid Institute, and this group continues to operate with conviction that cleantech is an area where NZ can shine globally. There is something special about this.
"Beyond start-ups, many established NZ companies are also developing and deploying impressive cleantech innovations locally and at scale. This includes low-carbon roading materials, plant-optimisation that delivers energy efficiencies and waste management processes that reduce emissions. The cleantech innovation story is bigger and includes both start-ups and more established companies, and aligns deeply with our national values."
