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AI Investment Fund New Zealand

Put AI To Work On A Real Problem In Your Business

Pick a job that’s slow, costly or repetitive, and we’ll fund the work to fix it with AI and/or automation. $100,000 NZD on the table, up to $20,000 each across five projects.

Submit your AI idea

Applications close 23 July 2026.

AI Fund

The AI Investment Fund At A Glance


$100,000 NZD

Up to $20,000 each, across five NZ client projects.

23 July

Applications close on the 23rd of July 2026.

Keep IT Simple

AI Built With You

Our team does the technical work. You bring the idea.

Eligibility

Open to First Focus New Zealand clients

Got an AI project worth funding? Submit your application in the form or get in touch with your Technical Account Manager (TAM).

What Could You Build?

You don’t need a finished AI plan to apply. You need a job that’s costing your team more time or money than it should. Here’s the kind of thing First Focus has already built with AI, and the everyday problem each one started as.

We ran this fund in Australia first, backing five client projects with $100,000. You can see what they built, and the results they’re chasing, on the Australian fund page.

See The Australian Winners




How It Works

Five steps from idea to a working tool. Most of the effort sits with us.

  • 1. Apply Fill in the two-page form with your idea, the business problem and a rough cost. It takes about 20 minutes, and there’s no cost to apply. Applications close [date].
  • 2. Shortlist We read every application and come back to the strongest with a few follow-up questions to firm up scope and feasibility.
  • 3. Selected Five projects are chosen and the clients announced. If yours is one, we confirm the plan and sign a short agreement before any work starts.
  • 4. Build Our team does the technical work with you over 8 to 12 weeks. Funding is released against milestones as the tool takes shape, so progress is visible the whole way through.
  • 5. Live You finish with a working AI tool your team uses, and we capture the result as a case study.

Got a job worth funding? Submit your application via the form or talk to your Technical Account Manager (TAM).

What We Ask In Return

In return for the funding, we tell the story of what you built. You approve everything before it’s published, and the case study is yours to keep.

  • A case study in writing and on video, covering the problem, the build and the result.
  • A short podcast where an executive talks through the outcome and its impact.
  • Permission to share the project across press, social and marketing.

Everything is produced by professionals, and nothing is published until you’ve seen and approved the final content. You keep the case study to use however you like.

Unified Communications

Got A Job Worth Funding?

We’re funding five AI projects for First Focus NZ clients, up to $20,000 NZD each.

Every project has to move the business forward in a way you can measure.

Open to every NZ client, and once the five are claimed, that’s it.

 

First Focus About New Zealands Managed AI & IT Provider

All in on AI?

CORE is the managed service model built for businesses that are all-in on AI, automation and cyber security. This new model ensures your technology investment is a driver of productivity and profitability.

Get measurable ROI and productivity gains from AI and automation.

  • Reduce risk with built-in Essential 8 Maturity Level 1 alignment.
  • Improved data governance for alignment with recent Privacy Act changes.
  • Plus, receive comprehensive managed IT support from Australia’s best MSP.

EXPLORE CORE