At Soda we are passionate about supporting women in business, particularly those tenacious enough to start their own business. We created RISE UP in 2021 to encourage more women to consider entrepreneurship as a viable career, to lift the capability of female founders and champion female entrepreneurship in Aotearoa.

This year we received almost 80 applications from Ruakaka through to Invercargill and selected six finalists who are being led through a series of founder-focused workshops.

The six RISE UP 2022 finalists are:

Becs Bartells from Outside the Box Caskets
Jane Allan from Finery
Laura Nixon from Solid
Lauren Lulu Taylor and Clare Gallagher from Secret Kiwi Kitchen
Renee Bignell from Fundpay
Charlotte Greer from Veto

We would love you to be part of the live audience on 17 August 2022 as these inspiring female entrepreneurs pitch their business to a powerhouse judging panel to be in to win $10,000 cash.

The judging panel includes:

Anna Mowbray, CEO at ZURU Group
Kelvin Soh, Creative Director at DDMMYY Studio
Kay Maree Dunn, Director at Making Everything Achievable
Mike Jenkins, Chairman at Aware Group
Maree Glading, Branding & Innovation Consultant at OnPurpose Projects

There will also be an opportunity to vote for your favourite pitch on the night. The idea with the most votes will receive the People's Choice Award, sponsored by Amazon Web Services.

Our mates at Good George and Remedy Kombucha are providing the drinks and finger food will be available throughout the evening.

Tickets are FREE but there are limited tickets available so if you would like to join us, please register now!

Thanks to all our epic sponsors who helped make this RISE UP 2022 possible:

GOLD SPONSORS:

SILVER SPONSOR:

BRONZE SPONSORS:

EVENT SPONSRS: