30-3-3 Elevator Pitches
14 October 2026
- Scale up
- Investors and enablers
- Innovators
- Early/growth stage
Think fast, pitch faster. Flying Kiwi Angels and KPMG present the 30-3-3 Elevator Pitch Night: 30 startups, 3-minute pitches, all in 3 hours.
Watch founders battle it out for judge and audience-voted prizes in a high-energy evening showcasing some of Auckland's most promising startups.
Get ready for one of Auckland Startup Week's most exciting founder showcases.
Flying Kiwi Angels has partnered with KPMG to present the 30-3-3 Elevator Pitch Night: a fast-paced startup pitching marathon featuring 30 founders delivering 3-minute pitches in just 3 hours.
This is your chance to hear bold ideas, discover emerging startups, and see entrepreneurs put their pitching skills to the test in front of investors, judges, and the wider startup community.
Following the pitch session, an expert judging panel will deliberate before crowning the night's top pitch.
With $1,000 awarded to the judges'; favourite and an additional $1,000 audience choice prize determined through online voting, founders will be competing for more than bragging rights.
Whether you're an entrepreneur, investor, startup supporter, or simply curious about New Zealand's innovation ecosystem, this event offers a unique opportunity to connect with the community and experience the energy, ambition, and creativity driving the next generation of Kiwi startups.
The technical details for this event:
- $1,000 prize plus KPMG consulting package for the best judged
- $1000 prize for the audience favourite, based on website voting over the subsequent week
- Entering a team is good, but only ONE person can pitch
- No pitch deck, we want to hear it straight from the horse’s mouth
- Not just an idea, the product must be in market, at least with trial customers
- Presenters can pick either 1st, 2nd or 3rd hour, we allocate the exact time slot
- Presenters provide URL link to a 1920x1080 video backdrop image, see examples
- Presenters receive a copy of their pitch video and agree that it can be used for the public voting process of the audience favourite and for LinkedIn post
Visit Flying Kiwi Angels for more information
Speakers
Katheren Leitner
FKA Associate at Flying Kiwi Angels
Katheren works at the intersection of people, purpose and performance. Over more than 30 years, she has led organisations, developed leaders, taught business, served on boards and helped communities achieve better outcomes. Through Flying Kiwi Angels and her regular involvement with ADI, she brings an enquiring and supportive mindset to founders — challenging assumptions, seeing beyond the obvious and helping people navigate the highs and lows of the think-up, start-up and scale-up journey. Katheren is at her best when the path forward is complex and people need both honesty and encouragement.
Olivia Sawyer
Senior Advisor - Private Enterprise at KPMG
Olivia is a Senior Advisor in KPMG's Private Enterprise team, working with clients across a range of industries. Drawing on experience in both accounting and strategy, including roles at Xero and KPMG's Strategic Advisory team, she is passionate about helping clients turn ambition into reality.
Rudi Bublitz
Chief Cat Herder at Flying Kiwi Angels
Rudi started life in Germany. From the UK he co-founded and grow a European SAP consulting business to exit in 1999 . After that he moved to New Zealand and began investing in startups in 2010. He started ADI.Clinic in 2013 to give founders advice early on their journey. Since 2014 he is the Chief Cat Herder at FKA, the Flying Kiwi Angels. He was the chair of Moxion when it was acquired in 2022. He is currently investor director of Blue Mirror and Kai's Education.
Venue
KPMG
18 Viaduct Harbour Ave
Shortland Street
Auckland 1010
With a worldwide presence, KPMG continues to build on our member firms' successes thanks to our clear vision, maintained values, and our people. We're focused on fuelling prosperity of New Zealand - for the benefit of all New Zealanders. It’s why we’re passionate about helping New Zealand’s businesses succeed, the public sector to achieve more, and our communities to grow.