From Blackcurrant Fields to Global Impact: cGP Lab's Mission to Revolutionise Diabetes Treatment.
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Good morning, Caffeinators!
Today, we’re celebrating Kiwi innovation making waves on the global stage. 🌏✨
First up, a massive shoutout to three homegrown startups—NILO, Mushroom Material, and Cetogenix—for being named in Cleantech Group's Cleantech50toWatch!
In other big news, cGP Lab is taking Kiwi-grown blackcurrants to the world, with their innovative solution for diabetes complications. We caught up with their CEO, Dr. Amanda Wiggins, to hear how this homegrown startup is turning 30 years of research into patented products with global potential.
And finally, listen in to Shuttlerock founder Jonny Hendriksen, who's quietly building a content empire from Nelson, aiming to hit $100 million in turnover. With AI-powered ads for brands like BMW and Nestlé, this is a Kiwi company on the rise.
Plenty of local wins to celebrate today! 🎉
Lauren & the CAFFEINE team
From Blackcurrant Fields to Global Impact: cGP Lab's Mission to Revolutionise Diabetes Treatment.
It was a chance meeting between two lifelong horticulturalists and blackcurrant growers with a leading scientist, which sparked a homegrown start-up looking to take on the world.
Dr Jian Guan spent over 30 years of her life researching the benefits of cGP, a chemical NZ-grown blackcurrants are rich in. Her work, combined with the know-how of growers Jim Grierson and David Eder led to cGP labs founding in 2020.
They’ve since gone on a journey of discovery to understand the relationship between blackcurrants and cGP, with multiple patents and products leveraging the unique benefits of cGP.
Caffeine caught up with new cGP Lab CEO Dr Amanda Wiggins for this week’s startup spotlight.
What gap in the market does cGP labs see?
We’re a health tech company, and we’ve been in the dietary supplement industry selling products for about two years now, but we were seeing a really big opportunity.
The thing we’re most excited about, is some research where we found recently that our molecule cGP is effective for a condition called ‘diabetic peripheral neuropathy’.
A bit of a mouthful but about 50% of people who have diabetes will develop this condition.
And it’s when the nerves in your feet die due to damage to blood vessels, which means you’ve interrupted blood supply to the nerves. And we have a clinical trial that showed our product as effective for this condition. So that’s the big opportunity that we’re pursuing. Read more here.
DNAiTECH Secures $1M to Launch Game-Changing Portable Disease Diagnostic Device: New Zealand biotech firm DNAiTECH has developed portable, lab-free diagnostic equipment that instantly detects a wide range of human and animal diseases. With $1 million in pre-seed capital and a $750,000 grant from Callaghan Innovation, the company will pilot the technology in West Africa. Co-founder Murray Broom highlighted the transformative potential of point-of-care testing to improve health outcomes and reduce economic losses in agriculture. The device uses cutting-edge DNA amplification, providing rapid, reliable diagnostics for global use. Read more from RNZ here.
Forty Thieves Nut Butters Takes Supreme Honours at The David Awards 2024: Forty Thieves Nut Butters has been crowned the Supreme Winner at The David Awards 2024, celebrated for its exceptional business operations and growth strategy. The company also claimed the Most Outstanding Established Business award, praised for its commitment to local production, international sales, and balancing family with business. The David Awards highlight the success of small New Zealand businesses, with major sponsor Voyager lauding the winners for their determination in thriving amid larger competitors. See more here.
Shuttlerock’s AI Revolution: Jonny Hendriksen on Building a Global Content Empire from Nelson: In this episode of The NBR Podcast, Simon Shepherd interviews Shuttlerock founder and CEO Jonny Hendriksen. While Hendriksen may not be widely known in New Zealand, he's the driving force behind a global company that produces AI-powered short video ads for major brands like BMW and Nestlé. Shuttlerock is aiming for $100 million in turnover and creates content in 30 languages from its global offices, all while keeping its headquarters rooted in Nelson. Listen and learn more here.
Three Kiwi Startups Shine in Global Cleantech50toWatch List: Three New Zealand startups—NILO, Mushroom Material, and Cetogenix—have been featured in Cleantech Group's prestigious global Cleantech50toWatch list. These companies are pioneering innovative solutions for a more sustainable future. Their recognition highlights the growing impact of Kiwi startups on the global clean tech stage. Check out the full report to learn more about these world-changing developments. Read more here.
Claude 3.5 Sonnett: It’s easy to lose track of the dizzying advances in AI and the endless product launches but one that is definitely worth keeping your eye on is Claude from Anthropic. These guys are essentially the strongest rivals to Open AI and Chat GPT and if you haven’t tried out their newest model, Sonnet, I would highly recommend taking it for a spin. It’s one of the most naturalistic yet capable chat bots I’ve encountered and makes for an excellent sounding board on virtually any task.
Europa Clipper on its way to Jupiter, bearing poetry: In case you missed this one with all the Space X news last week, one of the coolest scientific missions of all time is currently underway. Europa Clipper has blasted into orbit and will now travel 1.8 billion miles to reach Europa, a deeply mysterious moon orbiting Jupiter which some scientists believe could contain life. One of my favourite details is that the satellite has a poem engraved in steel and bolted to its side, by US Poet Laureat Ada Limon. It reads:
“Arching under the night sky inky
with black expansiveness, we point
to the planets we know, we
pin quick wishes on stars. From earth,
we read the sky as if it is an unerring book
of the universe, expert and evident.
Still, there are mysteries below our sky:
the whale song, the songbird singing
its call in the bough of a wind-shaken tree.
We are creatures of constant awe,
curious at beauty, at leaf and blossom,
at grief and pleasure, sun and shadow.
And it is not darkness that unites us,
not the cold distance of space, but
the offering of water, each drop of rain,
each rivulet, each pulse, each vein.
O second moon, we, too, are made
of water, of vast and beckoning seas.
We, too, are made of wonders, of great
and ordinary loves, of small invisible worlds,
of a need to call out through the dark.”
