In Next in Motion, we check in with members of our Next cohort, a group of purpose-driven businesses drawn from the finalists of the past three years of the Sustainable Business Awards, to see how they’re tracking. This edition brings fresh capital, international recognition and practical proof that yesterday’s waste can become tomorrow’s resource.
Capital follows the sun
Lodestone Energy listed on the NZX Main Board on 22 October after raising $75 million. It was the country’s first significant sharemarket float in around five years. Around 10,000 new shareholders came on board, a clear sign of public appetite for homegrown renewable energy. The funds will help build more solar farms and grow Lodestone’s electricity customer base. Read more
Turning heads at home and abroad
Aotearoa New Zealand had a strong showing in TIME’s Best Inventions of 2026, a global list of 300 products and ideas.
Leaft Foods made the list with Leaft Blade, a ready-to-drink sachet made from Rubisco, the protein found in every green leaf. From a Canterbury paddock to a global stage.
BioLumic was also named for technology that uses ultraviolet light to switch on beneficial traits in seeds. The Palmerston North company, which won the Disruptive Innovation Award at last year’s Sustainable Business Awards, helps crops perform better without chemicals or genetic modification. Read more
Scentian Bio won the PwC Breakthrough Project Award at the 2026 KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards in October. Its technology combines insect smell receptors, electronics and AI to create an electronic nose that picks up tiny chemical signals. Potential uses range from checking food quality to spotting disease. Read more
A bigger platform for Kiwi science
Daisy Lab has been acquired by Mycofeast, a UK biotechnology company with a 16-million-litre fermentation plant in Poland. The Auckland company uses precision fermentation to make dairy-identical proteins without cows, led by lactoferrin, a high-value milk protein. Its New Zealand team stays on and now has access to global manufacturing and commercial networks. In a tough market for alternative proteins, it’s a practical pathway to scale. Read more
Giving materials a second life
GoodWrap Recycling is making timber wrapping for Abodo from 100% recycled plastic. GoodWrap runs take-back schemes that collect soft plastic wrap after use and send it to recyclers here in Aotearoa New Zealand. Turning that material back into wrap for a Kiwi timber brand is the circular economy in action. Read more
Tyrewise has announced its first round of grants, with more than $1.2 million going to nine projects that find new uses for old tyres. Five focus on using recycled tyre rubber in roads. Other projects explore permeable paving, kerbs and new construction materials. School playgrounds in Marton, Bulls and at Kura Kaupapa Māori o Wairarapa are also getting softer, safer surfaces made from old tyres. Further grants are expected before the end of the year, taking the total past $2.3 million. Read more
Cleaner journeys
ChargeNet has taken over seven existing electric vehicle charging sites across South Canterbury and the Mackenzie Basin, including Aoraki/Mount Cook, Tekapo and Twizel. The sites were previously owned by Alpine Energy, and ChargeNet now runs and maintains them directly. That means more consistent charging on some of the country’s most popular road trips. Read more
The bigger picture
Look across this edition and a pattern emerges. Everyday investors are backing renewable energy at scale. Global judges are taking notice of Kiwi science. And materials once headed for landfill are finding new uses in roads, playgrounds and packaging.
None of it happens in isolation. It takes capital, partners and customers willing to back something new. That’s what the Next Economy looks like in practice, and here in Aotearoa New Zealand it keeps gaining ground.
Come and meet the people making it happen. Join us at the Sustainable Business Awards on Thursday 26 November at Shed 10 on the Auckland waterfront, then at Next Fest on 31 March 2027.