The Golden Ticket Programme

The Golden Ticket programme was set to launch at the start of this month, but the global pandemic abruptly cancelled these plans. 

We took a step back to figure out how we could respond practically to help start-ups in this new world. With a nationwide lockdown restricting our ability to plan ahead, we had no idea what the following weeks and months would look like. 

We were faced with a decision – postpone until normality returns, or launch the programme and share the results despite uncertainty. 

Realising that the unprecedented environment we face today makes the Golden Ticket Programme more relevant and valuable, it was an easy decision for us to just get on with it and make a start.

We’re embracing this crisis as an opportunity to help start-ups survive the ‘ultimate test’.

Covid-19 casts a sinister shadow over the ‘Valley of Death’ scenario faced by start-ups, as founders trying to withstand a negative cash flow must now adapt to survive a global pandemic. There’s an added pressure to prove to investors that your business is reliable and scalable, but also agile enough to overcome a crisis and still thrive.

With New Zealand’s businesses transitioning to a work-from-home environment, The Golden Ticket Programme will provide pro bono support to enable a FinTech start-up to navigate these changes and achieve their business objectives. As industry leaders in FinTech software and strategy, our combined expertise and practical support empowers business owners with the tools to thrive despite future uncertainty.

We’re focused on the innovation and positive change that this situation can create in the FinTech industry.

Despite global speculation about the economic impact of coronavirus, the current crisis creates a unique space for FinTech companies to develop innovative technologies and thrive in a new world.

As this pandemic highlights the power of digital connectivity and contactless services, New Zealand’s FinTech industry is in a unique position to respond with solutions and services that can help create a safer world.

The Golden Ticket Programme is set to catalyse a start-up’s scale up journey, and we want to support innovative businesses in the FinTech ecosystem we operate in ourselves.

We’re making a start by soft-launching The Golden Ticket Programme with Kernel Wealth.

Kernel Wealth’s vision is to empower Kiwis through investment. With a nimble and accessible investment platform and a team of passionate experts, Kernel Wealth offers the tools and technology to facilitate their customers’ success – whether they’re a financial advisor, an ambitious investor or a curious newcomer.

Kernel Wealth have a strong MVP and online presence, but in order to realise their scale up ambition they require expertise in areas they don’t specialise in – from digital platform design, to customer onboarding and user experience, through to artificial intelligence and capital raising. Kernel Wealth was at the perfect stage of its development to take advantage of The Golden Ticket Programme. 

For Catherine Emerson, Kernel Wealth’s marketing and customer strategist, unprecedented events were the perfect opportunity to see what The Golden Ticket Programme had to offer:-

“We recognised that we didn’t have the inhouse experience to achieve everything in our pipeline. We made the decision to embrace the current uncertainty and join the programme so that we’re ahead of the game when things are back to normal.”

Catherine Emerson. Marketing & Customer Strategy, Kernel Wealth

Kernel Wealth’s team were quickly inspired and energised by their workshops, appreciating the accessible and tailored expertise offered by The Golden Ticket Programme’s partners. 

“The workshops equipped us with both immediately actionable items and insights, as well as important guidance for our pipeline in the next 12 months. We were a little cautious before joining the programme, as most startups want to keep their cards close to their chest.. But this programme has been a low time commitment for us, with amazing value from each punchy session.” 

Catherine understands first-hand that many start-ups are hesitant to show vulnerability and seek external guidance, but after experiencing industry-leading support from The Golden Ticket Programme, it’s now a no-brainer:

“If you’re a start-up business that doesn’t have access to this industry-leading expertise, you should absolutely apply. This is the perfect opportunity to experience what it is like to have these resources available.”

The next few weeks will see iterative workshops enabling the Kernel Wealth team to distil their learnings into practical actionable strategies. We’re excited to see this dynamic business accelerate and succeed in the coming months.

Follow our journey – what the next few weeks will look like.

The founding partners include YouDo, Alphero, MinterEllisonRuddWatts, Arcanum, and FinTechNZ. We’ll be documenting our progress on LinkedIn and throughout our partner websites. Stay tuned to see how The Golden Ticket programme empowers start-ups to lead the way as a new FinTech world emerges.

Ignite your scale up journey with The Golden Ticket Programme. Sign-up here