The History of Te Kahu o Te Ao: The Atom Innovation Space
Te Kahu o Te Ao has been “keeping up the hustle” for entrepreneurial students at Vic since 2018.
2018: Dean Ian Williamson approves the idea of a student entrepreneurship and innovation space at Rutherford House at Victoria University of Wellington’s Pipitea campus. RHG10, formerly a VicBooks outlet, is selected as the proposed space for this venture.
2018: A proposal for the RHG10 to become a student innovation space is put to and approved by the university’s leadership team. Special whiteboard tables and other furniture are commissioned.
2018: A name for the space and brand kit is created. “The Atom Innovation Space” reflects the space’s association with and in Rutherford House, named after Ernest Rutherford.
2018: Stephen Cummings appointed Director of The Atom.
2018: Ardiraj Gupta’s Crypto Launchpad becomes The Atom’s first student company.
2018: First event: an interview with WSBG grads, founders of Sharesies and Entrepreneurial Ambassadors, Brooke Roberts and Sonya Williams. 75 people pack out The Atom to listen.
2019: Jesse Pirini joins The Atom as Co-director.
2019: The Māori name for the Atom – Te Kahu o Te Ao – is developed and approved. It comes from a conversation in The Woven Universe: Selected Writings of Rev. Maori Marsden, where Marsden recalls a discussion in te reo Māori about the splitting of the atom. Te Kahu o Te Ao translates directly to ‘the fabric of the universe’.
2020-22: Covid makes in-person development at The Atom difficult.
2021: Kupe (Aotearoa’s founding venturer) becomes The Atom/Te Kahu o Te Ao’s symbol, with a photo wall by Leon Gurevich of one of Te Whanganui-a-Tara’s seven ceremonial pou (from Oruaiti Domain in Seatoun) installed on The Atom’s east window.
2021: The Atom selects local entrepreneur Jessie Wong, founder of Yu Mei, as the winner of the 2021 Wellington Gold VUW New Thinking Award.
2021: An external review commissioned by FMT and prepared by Professor Margaret Petty (University of Technology Sydney) recommends 1) The appointment of a community manager; 2) elevating The Atom to a university-wide entity; 3) harnessing engagement with alumni and the business community; and 4) developing systems to measure achievements.
2022: Pipitea campus ‘occupied’ by anti-government protestors. The Atom’s windows and entrance are damaged. The Atom closes for 8 weeks for repairs.
2022: Anita Ravji appointed as The Atom’s Entrepreneurial Community Manager.
2022: The Atom selects local entrepreneur’s Luke Sinclair and Kendall Bristow, founders of FTN-Motion, as the winners of the 2022 Wellington Gold VUW New Thinking Award.
2022: With over 20 student ventures having passed through The Atom a new category is created and promoted on The Atom website: our alumni or ‘Protons’. This celebrates the great things our student venturers have gone on to achieve beyond The Atom.
2022: A partnership agreement with Young Enterprise promotes high school students bringing their ventures to VUW and The Atom.
2022: In an interview with Sharsies Brooke Roberts, asking about what she wished she might have done differently during her years at Vic, she replied “I wish I kept up the hustle from my high school days”. “Keeping up the hustle” becomes Te Kahu o Te Ao’s mantra.
2022: The Atom Accelerator runs for the first time. Taught over four intensive weeks and is the first in Aotearoa that is also a course for which university course credits are awarded.
2023: In-person events are back! Te Kahu o Te Ao leans into fashion entrepreneurship with presentations from Barnaby Marshall founder of I Love Ugly and Jessie Wong of Yu Mei (our first Atom event at the Design School).
2023: Tui Te Hau joins The Atom as our first Entrepreneur-in-Residence.
2023: The Atom selects local entrepreneur Frances Shoemack, founder of ABEL Fragrance, as the winners of the 2023 Wellington Gold VUW New Thinking Award.
2023: Finnish innovation festival SLUSH’D comes to The Atom and VUW with 600 registrations. This is the first time the festival is held in New Zealand.
2024: Te Kahu o Te Ao helps host the first TEDx Event in Wellington since Covid at Rutherford House.
2024: Laura Scatchard, formerly of Vivita, becomes The Atom’s part-time community manager.
2024: The Atom selects Brooke Roberts, one of the founders of Sharesies, as the winner of the 2024 Wellington Gold VUW New Thinking Award.
2024: The launch of the Taiawa Wellington Tech Hub, with 14 Wellington-based companies joining the space at Level 5, Rutherford House.