New Zealand (NZ) stories

New Zealand tightens health advertising code, curbing influencer endorsements, tougher evidence rules and stricter protections for vulnerable people.

Elevate NZ backs Altered Capital with a USD $25m commitment to its USD $100m Fund II, boosting Series A and B funding for Kiwi tech.

HR, IT and finance must align on corporate travel or risk frustrated staff, weak compliance and poor cost control, SAP Concur warns.

Oppo unveils the slim Watch S with ECG, dual-band GPS and 10-day battery in New Zealand, priced at NZD $399 via online and retail.

V2 AI names new Asia Pacific leaders as it doubles consultants and rides surging enterprise demand for large-scale agentic AI projects.

Virtual IT Group appoints Maurice McCarthy as chief executive to drive ANZ expansion and embed AI across its managed IT and security services.

Mastercard and Westpac have trialled New Zealand’s first fully authenticated AI agent-led payments for cinema tickets and hotel bookings.

Deepfakes, new biometrics rules and AI agents are rewriting digital identity, forcing ANZ firms to treat KYC as core infrastructure.

BeyondTrust has appointed experienced channel executive Frank Cesarini as ANZ partner manager to accelerate its regional identity security growth.

Rising claims, digital demands and real-time payments are reshaping how insurers across Australia and New Zealand collect and pay out.

New Zealand risks long-term water and power strain from AI data centres unless regulators toughen scrutiny of their resource footprint.

Wesfarmers is deepening its AI and cloud pact with Microsoft to roll out Copilot tools, agents and data platforms across its retail brands.

Oracle NetSuite launches AI tools and a low-code integration platform to automate finance, planning and customer workflows across its suite.

Auckland agritech firm Hectre raises NZD $12m in an oversubscribed Series A to scale its AI-powered fruit data platform globally.

Shark Beauty’s award-winning CryoGlow cooling LED under-eye mask is set to launch in Australia and New Zealand, with a waitlist now open.

New Zealand AI startup Contented raises AUD $4.1m seed round to speed UK and US expansion and triple headcount in coming months.

Virtual Spotter makes US its biggest market as lean direct debit model cuts gym admin by 65 hours and AUD $1.4k a month per client.

Xero is axing its app store billing by June 2026, forcing developers onto new API-based tiers and their own subscription systems.

Experian integrates Aperture Data Studio with Snowflake AI Data Cloud to run in-platform data quality, governance and compliance workflows.

Datapay links with ELMO in New Zealand to sync HR and payroll data, targeting employers with complex compliance and governance needs.