Tēnā koutou katoa,
Ngā mihi o te tau hou Pākehā!
Nau mai, haere mai ki te Pānui o Poutama – welcome to the first Poutama Pānui for 2026.
We hope you’ve had the opportunity to rest, reset and spend time with whānau over the holiday period. While January can be a quieter month, for many Māori businesses it is also a time to sharpen focus, set priorities and prepare for the year ahead.
As we move into 2026, Poutama remains focused on what matters most: backing Māori-owned businesses with practical support, targeted pūtea and capability-building that delivers real value. Alongside our investment grants, Poutama can also explore facilitating access to Regional Business Partner (RBP) support, where appropriate, to help strengthen business capability and support growth. Read more in this pānui to learn how you could access RBP support.
This year will see the continued delivery of our investment grants, deeper partnerships across the Māori business ecosystem, and further work to unlock new pathways to capital and growth.
In this pānui, we share key events, updates, upcoming opportunities and reminders about how Poutama can support you as you plan your next steps. Whether you’re consolidating, scaling, or simply getting back into rhythm after the break, our team is here to help.
We hope you enjoy the read. Got thoughts, ideas, or just wanna say kia ora? We’d love to hear from you!
👉 Drop us a line: po*****@********co.nz
👉 Stay updated: www.poutama.co.nz
Ngā manaakitanga,
Te Whānau o Poutama
Scholarships available for Māori Students
Our partner, The MacDiarmid Institute is offering scholarships via its Discovery Scholarship Programme to Māori wanting to study science at University – up to $12k is available per student for 2022 academic study. Applications [...]
New COVID-19 business support
New funding to help businesses transition to the COVID-19 protection framework was announced covering: The Resurgence Support Payment: where the rate will be doubled and paid fortnightly, up to $43,000 per business. Wage subsidy [...]
Empowering Māori Enterprise Through Partnership: Poutama and PledgeMe
Poutama and PledgeMe have recognised that we both have the same goal. We both want to help fund pakihi Māori/Māori business. PledgeMe have set an impact goal to have 15% of their equity crowdfunding [...]
Poutama Tangata – Attract Me (Recruitment) Free Online HR Coaching Session
In partnership with the EMA (Employers and Manufacturers Association), we present Poutama Tangata - a 12-month group coaching programme aimed at helping Māori enterprises, in particular small & medium sized businesses (SMEs) across Aotearoa [...]
Pakihi Māori/Māori business Workshops Te Tai Tokerau
BDO is running a couple more pakihi Māori workshops for Te Tai Tokerau/Northland businesses in early November. ‘Wāhine Mā’ workshops are focused on Māori women and whānau in business, and ‘Pātai Mai’ workshops are [...]
Applications to ‘Start-up Wānanga’ are open now
Ahikōmako and Waikato Tainui are proud to present Start-up Wānanga 2021. A Waikato based, annual three-day event where individuals, and teams are guided through the business start-up process. Participants will spend the event with [...]