Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland is the beating heart of Aotearoa New Zealand’s globally recognised medical technology (medtech) sector.
In Auckland, highly skilled and passionate researchers come together with business and entrepreneurial leaders to create innovative solutions to our most pressing health issues – and taking them to the world. It's also a meeting point of cultures, where one of the most diverse populations of any city on the planet intersects with leading-edge science to create unique, future-forward solutions.
Big ideas, global impact
The sector employs more than 10,000 staff,1 with two of every five working in key overseas markets, reflecting the global demand for New Zealand medtech products.
New Zealand medtech companies range from large, mature businesses, such as Fisher & Paykel Healthcare – which designs, manufactures and exports products for respiratory care, acute care and treatment of obstructive sleep apnoea to more than 120 countries from its Auckland campus – to early-stage businesses taking the world by storm, such as Alimetry, with its first-of-a-kind body surface gastric mapping, a non-invasive gut health diagnostic tool.
As New Zealand’s economic powerhouse, Auckland is the epicentre of the industry. More than half of New Zealand’s 230-plus medtech companies are based in the region. Many of these are spinoffs from the world-class scientific research programmes at Waipapa Taumata Rau University of Auckland and Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau Auckland University of Technology (AUT), reinforcing the sector’s global reputation as small but highly sophisticated. These deep-tech companies, founded on science and clinical expertise, are solving complex, real-world problems.
A supportive, connected ecosystem
Auckland and New Zealand have a uniquely connected medtech innovation ecosystem, says Dr Diana Siew, Strategic Partnerships Lead at the Auckland Bioengineering Institute, a large-scale research institute at the University of Auckland. It’s centred on Medtech-iQ Aotearoa, a national innovation hub with four interlinked physical hubs in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
Siew, who was instrumental in the establishment of Medtech-iQ, says its role is to connect medtech innovators with each other and the wider ecosystem, share resources, build capability and support scalable solutions that improve the lives of patients and clinicians.
“As a sector, medtech is supported by strong partnerships between universities, New Zealand’s health system Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora, private hospitals, as well as with industry and investors. There is a unique and defined pathway from research to exports through connections amongst the various organisations.
“Early research funding is available from Te Tītoki Mataora – MedTech Research Translator. From here, there’s funding from Return on Science and KiwiNet, which runs New Zealand’s Pre-Seed Accelerator Fund for research commercialisation and the HealthTech Activator set up to support early-stage founders and companies. Last but not least is New Zealand Trade and Enterprise, a government agency helping New Zealand businesses to grow internationally.
“That means we can essentially join up all the organisations and their activities, so that new ideas and technologies can be shepherded from one stepping stone to the next. Along with a straightforward and friendly regulatory environment, it also helps de-risk initiatives at an early stage.
“The interconnectedness of New Zealand’s medtech ecosystem gives us a real competitive advantage,” says Siew. “As a sector, we’ve worked hard to create an environment that supports innovators to translate their ideas into commercially successful real-world solutions.”
Auckland – a centre of medtech excellence
A key reason behind the success of Auckland’s medtech sector is its people. Auckland’s multicultural population brings a rich diversity and range of cultural perspectives, fostering innovation and the development of globally relevant products. It also fosters greater awareness of how products will be accessed and used by different populations, ensuring better overall usability.
Auckland also offers access to a highly skilled talent pool, with the University of Auckland and AUT being two of New Zealand’s leading institutions. Auckland’s Bioengineering Institute is also at the forefront of exciting new developments, such as digital replicas of humans (digital twins) and personalised health plans.
A great place to live and work
While Auckland is New Zealand’s largest city, with an established business and healthcare infrastructure, it is also relatively small by overseas standards – and that relative smallness has its own advantages.
One is the high level of collaboration among the medtech sector. That’s aided by physical proximity – it’s just a short walk, for example, from the University of Auckland campus to the CBD – making it easier for people involved in the sector to meet and share ideas.
Another is the quality of life Auckland offers, combining the feel of an international city with easy access to a wealth of outdoor and recreational activities. Auckland’s reputation as a highly liveable city and region makes it easier to attract and retain talented staff.
A compelling case for investment
For medtech investors, Auckland offers a wealth of opportunities. Its well-developed innovation ecosystem, diverse and highly skilled population, and proven track record in commercialising globally respected health research are driving Auckland’s growing reputation as a medtech leader.
It’s a place where purpose-driven innovators are creating technology for humanity – and building great companies in the process.
Success story: Junofem
Junofem was created to address a problem that no one talks about.
One in three women suffer from urinary incontinence, but many feel uncomfortable discussing it with their doctor. Junofem's femfit® pelvic floor training system supports women to improve their pelvic floor health, overcome the stigma associated with urinary incontinence and improve their quality of life.
Junofem grew out of the research interests of cofounder Dr Jennifer Kruger at the University of Auckland’s Bioengineering Institute. With a clinical background in nursing and midwifery, Kruger wanted to explore the impact of childbirth and ageing on a woman’s pelvic floor function and how to mitigate it. Her research led to the creation of femfit, a combination of a discreet intra-vaginal medical device and a mobile app. Femfit gives women clear biofeedback through the app, which helps optimise their technique and directs them through a progressive 12-week pelvic floor exercise programme. Users of the femfit system can track their progress, and work with clinicians if desired.
Junofem is a great example of the Auckland medtech ecosystem’s ability to translate university research into commercial success. With the help of UniServices, the University of Auckland’s commercialisation arm, Junofem eventually became a spin-out company of the Auckland Bioengineering Institute.
Today, Junofem is helping women in New Zealand, Australia and the United Kingdom improve their pelvic floor health, and is looking at other markets, including the United States. “It’s a unique product,” says Kruger, “and it’s helping solve a real problem for women.”
Success story: Toku Eyes
Helping save a life with every eye exam – that’s the aim of Auckland-based medtech company Toku Eyes.
When Toku Eyes founder Professor Ehsan Vaghefi was just four, his father experienced preventable blindness. Many years later, a desire to help others avoid a similar fate was the catalyst for Vaghefi’s PhD research at the University of Auckland, focusing on AI analysis of retinal images for the early diagnosis of eye diseases.
That research led to the creation of Toku Eyes as a spin-out company. Further development and integration of patients’ medical histories with their retinal images revealed that the platform could also identify the risk of other diseases, including cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease.
The huge potential of the US market led Toku Eyes to partner with major optometry groups there, offering the platform as part of regular eye exams. In addition to diagnosing eye, cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease, it can also determine a patient’s biological age, providing them with key information to help assess and manage their overall health.
Toku Eyes has also obtained CE and UKCA markings for its cardiovascular risk assessment product in the EU and United Kingdom.
Chief Commercial Officer Francesca Logan says originating in Auckland has been a significant factor in the company’s success. “There’s a great infrastructure here that you can tap into. In our case, organisations like the Auckland District Health Board and the Auckland Bioengineering Institute provided invaluable support in developing the platform,” she says.
“Auckland also has a great pool of highly skilled talent. That’s why, despite our focus on overseas markets, we’re keeping all our R&D, product development, compliance and regulatory and quality functions here in Auckland. It’s a great place to start, and to grow.”
Footnotes
- NZ Healthtech Insights Report 2024. Technology Investment Network (TIN), p. 4.