Born and raised in the Waikato, it’s no surprise to many that global agritech leader Arama Kukutai has reached the heights he has.
Of Ngāti Tipa, Waikato, Ngāti Maniapoto, Te Aupōuri, and Parihaka descent, Arama says he was taught the importance of building a resilient food supply at a young age.
“My grandmother used to run the pā garden, and I have memories of digging up the lupins, which were used as an organic fertiliser.
“That always stuck with me and is what inspired me to expand my focus beyond a single farm to technology that can benefit lots of farms.”
Now the Chief Executive Officer at Plenty, an indoor vertical farming technology company that has raised $1B, Arama started his career in finance at a time when Māori organisations were beginning to actively develop forestry, farming, and fishing assets.
A move to the United States soon followed where Arama took on the role of Regional Director for NZ Trade & Enterprise in North America.
He is a co-founding partner at Finistere Ventures, a pioneering venture capital firm focused on the food and agriculture sector, which is the reason Arama first came into contact with Plenty.
“Strawberries all year-round that are fresher, cheaper, and even eco-friendlier. Pesticide-free leafy greens grown in a month from seed to harvest. And all of this using only 5% of the water traditional farms do.”
This, Arama says, is the promise of Plenty’s indoor vertical farm where LED lights take the place of the sun and robots do the heavy lifting.
Humbly surprised, and proud, to be a distinguished alumni award winner this year, Arama says much of his journey began here.
“Every story starts somewhere and it was a great place to start.
“Even now, there are so many people I’m still in touch with. There was a great community of people here, and there still is.”
These connections include Professor Stephen Cummings, Professor of Management, Associate Dean International and Accreditation, and Co-Director of the University’s innovation space ‘The Atom’, who was an undergraduate business student at the same time as Arama.
“It was Stephen who recently reminded me of my role as a student researcher in a book about Kiwi entrepreneurs.
I think it was called Innovation and Management in New Zealand.”
Written by Dr Dai Gilbertson, an associate professor of Te Herenga Waka at the time, and Russell M. Knight, a Canadian professor who was on sabbatical in New Zealand, Innovation and Management in New Zealand was a funded research project that studied a variety of Kiwi entrepreneurs at the time.
Case studies were based on interviews 20-year-old Arama and fellow student, Andrew Cooper held while travelling around the country.
The book included the likes of Terry McCashin of Macs Brewery in Stoke, Bruce McIntyre of MacPac, and Rod Drury, who would later go on to establish Xero.
“I’m aware of how lucky I was to have an opportunity like that, and during a period of time when those names were relatively unknown. It’s definitely inspiring to look back on.”
A clearly talented business student, it is less well-known that Arama also studied law during his time at Te Herenga Waka and remains grateful for his law degree to this day.
“Having a deep, detailed knowledge of legal agreements has been particularly useful as an investor!”
But with all of the successes Arama has since achieved, he says what’s most important to him is being able to foster talent and help to grow the people around him.
“Everyone’s got an ego but how do you put it in the context of growth? I say you’re nothing without the ability to grow people around you.”
This is particularly important to Arama in the context of his roots, and says that he wants to ensure Māori will benefit from a future in food production.
“The world is looking at new developments in Ag and Food technology and we can look at them fearfully, or we can think about how to embrace them.”
He says being at the forefront of innovation can be difficult at the bottom of the world though, with Aotearoa often facing challenges in connecting with the outside world and accessing the best of their technologies.
“Innovative thinking and work doesn’t always get out. It’s harder in New Zealand because you are a long way from the market.”
But like his investment strategy that supports many Kiwi start-ups, Arama has proven his commitment to being a part of the solution extends beyond words.
This includes co-founding the non-profit organisation Te Ara Pōtiki, with the sole purpose to increase the number of Māori STEM students and practitioners gaining experience and connections to international start-ups.
It is his hope that by connecting Māori STEM students with Silicon Valley experience, he can help provide young people with access to global technology companies, and the opportunity to build the type of partnerships Aotearoa so desperately needs.
“The power of network is incredible and I’d like others to have the same opportunities I had.”