Frey and Pam Livingston and their startup Tokaora Diagnostics have taken out the top spot in the 2022 PowerUp Kickstart Finals Night, and have won $10,000 to help take their idea to the next level.

The mother and son duo are developing a type of RAT test for the sheep and cow disease facial eczema that will enable better management of a disease that costs the New Zealand economy almost a quarter of a billion dollars every year.

"In my Master’s degree at Victoria University I discovered a new way to test for facial eczema. We’re hoping this will be a key tool in reducing the death toll and production losses from this horrible disease," says 24-year-old Frey.

"We’re absolutely thrilled about winning the competition. Being a finalist was fantastic and we can’t speak highly enough about our assigned mentor, Bridgit Hawkins. We are now doing a one-year R&D project to produce a prototype which is running to schedule. And, we have started to focus on what happens after that when we have a saleable product," says Pam.

From April to June the five finalists received tailored support to help them move forward with their idea. In conjunction with Soda Inc., support included $3,000 seed funding, one-on-one mentorship, and two months of co-working space access.

"As an aspiring new business, PowerUp Kickstart helped us to consider all business aspects in more depth. We learned that just because you have a great idea doesn’t mean someone is going to buy the product. We would definitely recommend PowerUp Kickstart. Like everything in this world - you don’t know what you don’t know," continues Pam.

Like the other finalists, Frey and Pam have invested a lot of time into their business idea over the last two months and the PowerUp Kickstart is just the beginning for Tokaora Diagnostics.

"I’m most looking forward to getting into the laboratory and getting down to the science, and the $10K will be of enormous help there," says Frey.

The finals night, held in front of a live audience, saw five finalists pitch their ideas to a judging panel including Bryce Barnett, Director Centuria NZ; Peter McComb, Managing Director, Oceanum; Melody Te Patu, National Production Manager, Kaitahi; Vernon Kay, previous Managing Director, Datacom; and Sonia Kiser, CEO, Carac Group. 

The judges commended the strength of the ideas pitched and noted their decision was a difficult one."Kickstart is one initiative in what is a much wider programme of PowerUp activity that plays an important role in building a strong culture and ecosystem of entrepreneurship in Taranaki. Tonight, we’ve seen innovative thinking and impressive ideas that hold significant potential for the region" says Natacha Dunn, Venture Taranaki GM Enterprise.

"The calibre of entries each year continue to impress, and we’re proud of our passionate and entrepreneurial region as well as what lies ahead for all of our PowerUp finalists," adds Natacha.

Pam and Frey from Tokaora Diagnostics weren’t the only winners on the night. Paul Gledhill and Sophia Joy and their startup Surface Swimwear took out the WITT People’s Choice Award, winning $2,000 to use towards their idea. The live audience voting decided the WITT People’s Choice Award on the night.

"The finals night presents an opportunity to celebrate the strength of our Taranaki entrepreneurs as well as shining a light on and encouraging others to pursue that ‘crazy idea’. Innovation is critical to the region’s long-term resilience, and what we heard tonight makes me extremely excited for what’s to come," continues Natacha.

"I would like to congratulate all of our finalists along with our other participants that went through PowerUp Kickstart; it takes courage to put yourself and idea out there and countless hours of hard mahi. I now encourage them to continue with the momentum they’ve already created through the PowerUp process, and if anybody else thinks they might be sitting on the next big idea, get in touch with us," says Natacha. 

The other four PowerUp Kickstart finalists are:

- Isaac and Cathi Drought, Planta - carbonated beverage alternative

- Michael Parker, Hiko Surf - e-surfboard

- Jayden Clark and Ashkan Azarkish, EzSoil - plant monitoring product

- Paul Gledhill and Sophia Joy, Surface Swimgear - water safety product