Migrants in Startups: A special edition Migrants in Tech

There's untapped talent across NZ that never enters the startup world. People who never saw themselves fitting the "founder" mould. With Lineup, Amanda is building a platform that brings diverse talent into the startup ecosystem, with or without an idea, helping people find the right team to pursue global ambition. In this talk, Amanda shares her entrepreneurial journey from Finland to New Zealand, and the moments that required her to take a leap of faith.

Diana Sharma is co-founder and CEO of Mission Ready - New Zealand's leading tech career accelerator.

She started Mission Ready because the system wasn't working: talented people were locked out of technology careers for want of a pathway, not ability, while industry couldn't find job-ready talent. So she built the bridge. Mission Ready is now moving career changers into technology through industry-aligned training and mentored work experience with real employer partners. Hundreds of people have rewritten their stories through it.

The challenge has since shifted. In an AI economy, Diana argues, the divide won't be technical versus non-technical - it will be simpler and starker: people who can work effectively with AI, and people who can't. Her work now is helping individuals and organisations navigate that shift practically, responsibly, and with people at the centre.

She writes and speaks on AI and the future of work, workforce transformation and job redesign, inclusive pathways into technology careers, and human-centred approaches to AI adoption. Technology should expand opportunity, not concentrate it.

Jessica Chiang, PhD is co-founder and CEO of Hyphera, a startup using fungal chemistry to create a natural alternative to the synthetic additives used in everyday wood products like MDF and particleboard. Hyphera builds on insights from her doctoral research and prior experience in fungal-based materials. Jessica is also active in research commercialisation, having previously chaired the Momentum Investment Committee.

French Fintech entrepreneur, investor and independent advisor, arrived 11 years ago in Aotearoa. Co-founded Boursorama a leading French Fintech (financial information, e-brokerage, e-banking). As a migrant, still keen to help other migrants and share his experience / connections.

He is a co-founder of MIEA (Migrant Investor and Entrepreneur Association) a not for profit organization with the goals to help migrant investor and entrepreneur to settle well and create valuable connections with the NZ society / ecosystem, miea.co.nz. Also co-founder of the Tella Group (Technology and service provider for financial advisers in NZ), tellagroup.co.nz.