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Forging a decisive position in new and fast-growing industries is essential for Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland as it underpins a more diverse, resilient and talent-rich economy according to the second annual The State of the City: Benchmarking Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland’s international performance report.
In a deep dive into innovation ecosystems the report says, “Cities with a strong innovation economy better utilise their networks, know-how and research to create good local jobs, attract many kinds of investment, and build productivity over the long-term. Innovation is also a driver of the products and services that will underpin improvements to the city’s future transport, land-use and citizen experience.”
Committee for Auckland director Mark Thomas says the report’s special feature on innovation finds the trajectory in successfully growing innovative and investable businesses in Auckland is broadly positive.
“Advantages in fintech, software and creative industries are becoming more apparent, as well as promise in food, climate and other sectors. However, innovation is one of Auckland’s biggest gaps compared to our international peer cities. We have pressing infrastructure, talent and funding barriers with access to early-stage capital a significant constraint. Auckland is missing a strategic vision to better align sector efforts across sectors, boost collaboration and develop more consistent funding and R&D.”
Tātaki Auckland Unlimited director of economic development Pam Ford says the report highlights that across several innovation metrics, Auckland has been edging up over the last six to eight years and is closer to the top 100. For example, in 2024 it climbed six spots to 116th for the maturity of its ecosystem reflecting an improving track record of companies setting up and scaling up.
“Auckland now impressively leads its peer group for the share of startups and scaleups that have reached later rounds of venture capital funding. This share is 10 per cent higher than on average among peers. Auckland also boasts the third highest share of tech firms in the mid-growth stage of 11 to 50 staff.”
Despite this progress Auckland’s overall innovation scale – represented by the total volume of investment in its growth businesses – is still much smaller than most peer cities.
“In some cases, Auckland is not viewed to have sufficient scale to be analysed independently as a city. Its overall scale is some way behind similarly sized cities Oslo and Dublin, and the rate of growth is behind several comparable cities in Central Europe.
“Additionally, Auckland’s rivals in the Indo-Pacific are rising as our wider region is set to account for 50 per cent of global growth and advances in key technologies. These trends and the rise of large city ecosystems in the region will shape much of Auckland’s future competitive context, and create opportunities for growth, collaboration and economic diplomacy,” says Pam.
The report says cities like Auckland that have improved their global innovation rankings have benefited from more co-ordination between culture, economic development and talent development.
“We need more collaboration at all levels – employers-to-employees, public-to-private, business-to-business and academia-to-enterprise,” says Deloitte New Zealand future of Auckland lead Kate Sutton.
“Moving forward, there are opportunities for more industry participation, convergence and co-sponsoring of programmes; incentives for tertiary collaboration on technical training and micro-credentialing, and clear centres of gravity for companies to convene, access insight and services.”
The report says Māori and Pacific peoples are contributing to the city’s technology, creative and other industries, supported by a range of initiatives such as Tupu Tai, Tupu Toa and others, stating it will remain important to ensure wider participation in the innovation economy, including among Māori and Pacific peoples.
“Tech Tāmaki Makaurau, Tātaki Auckland Unlimited’s three-year strategy to grow the region’s tech sector to drive economic prosperity includes a range of initiatives to foster participation in tech and establish Auckland as a ‘tech city’ on the world stage,” says Pam.
“From research to understand which factors influence the involvement and success of Māori in the tech industry, to establishing a network of innovation hubs across the region, we’re working with industry partners to improve participation, access to highly skilled jobs and take Auckland’s tech talent to the world.”
