ICYMI: Startup news and resources from the week that was
What you might have missed last week on Caffeine.
Welcome to Monday!
As always, on Monday we recap a few of our favorite stories or resources from the week that was then tomorrow kick back into our full newsletter from Tuesday.
Have a great start to your week,
Finn and the Caffeine team
Unlocking the Future of Energy: A Conversation with Basis
Good morning startup land and Happy Friday!
Hiringa Energy wins big across the Tasman: Our friends over at green hydrogen startup Hiringa Energy have notched up a great win in Australia in their mission to unlock the true potential of green hydrogen. Since 2016, Hiringa has been developing low-carbon hydrogen production projects to supply industry, agriculture and transport. Now, Hiringa Energy, Sundown Pastoral Company and the NSW Government announced Financial Close on their Good Earth Green Hydrogen and Ammonia (GEGHA) project, with construction scheduled to begin in October this year.
The GEGHA project is an integrated solar energy to low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia operation. Once complete the plant will be located adjacent to Sundown’s Joint Venture Wathagar cotton ginning facility, near Moree NSW.
GEGHA will produce up to 4,500 tonnes of low-carbon ammonia annually, displacing high-carbon fossil fuel-based nitrogen fertilisers and removing up to 17,000 tonnes of CO₂-equivalent emissions each year – the same as taking 6,500 passenger cars off the road or planting half a million trees.The facility will supply ~224 tonnes of green hydrogen per annum for direct use. Green hydrogen is set to be consumed as part of Hiringa’s heavy-vehicle refuelling network, as well as on-farm to displace diesel in irrigation pumping, further decarbonising the agricultural supply chain from paddock-to-port.
Congrats to the team!
Event: The Systems and Stories of Scale - Last chance to secure your spot to Caffeine’s next in person event happening this Wednesday.
Join us for an insightful and revealing fireside chat with James Hurman (Previously Unavailable) and Shannon Scott (SVP, Global Head of Product at Airwallex). Together, they’ll unpack the hidden infrastructure behind scale: payments, workflows, capital flow and the equally essential brand scaffolding: positioning, emotional resonance, and customer connection. Perfect for founders wondering how to scale both what they do and how they’re remembered.
We’ll also be having an exclusive closed door dinner with James, Shannon and some very special guests directly after the dinner.
Date and time
Wed, 30 Jul 2025 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM NZST
Location
The Assembly at Britomart 11 Britomart Place #level 10 Auckland
Cost
$55 but free for Caffeine community + 1 with promo code CAFFEINEFRIENDS
ICYMI: Lumin launches AgreementGen: An AI-powered agreement sidekick for Kiwi businesses
Christchurch-based Lumin has launched AgreementGen, tackling a problem every business owner knows intimately – the soul-crushing process of creating business agreements from scratch.
The AI-powered tool generates customised contracts in minutes through simple prompts, transforming how Kiwi businesses handle everything from service agreements to employment contracts. Rather than wrestling with Word templates, users describe what they need and let the AI build it.
“Small businesses are trapped in inefficient document workflows that waste time and money,” says Max Ferguson, Founder and CEO. “Traditional tools were designed for the paper world, not today’s digital-first reality."
The platform addresses a familiar pain point – juggling multiple expensive tools for basic business functions. AgreementGen’s interface feels familiar, while built-in collaboration and eSignature features handle the full document lifecycle.
For a company that started as a simple PDF editor and now serves 110 million users globally, it’s a natural evolution into solving broader operational headaches.
“We’re reimagining the entire document lifecycle for New Zealand businesses,” Ferguson explains.
AgreementGen is free to all users. If you’re curious whether AI can actually handle your contract headaches, find out for yourself here
Pod Pick: Business is Boring - How to be Wrong with Rowan Simpson: This man has been on an absolute media blitz following the release of his book earlier this year but its not hard to see why he’s got so much pick up - he has more receipts than most for why you should listen to his reckons.
Simpson was on the ground floor at some of New Zealand’s most successful companies, from Trade me to Xero, and his book ‘How to Be Wrong: A Crash Course in Startup Success’ should be required reading for founders. Even if you already checked out Rowan’s interview with us here on Caffeine, definitely listen in as he joins Simon Pound to discuss what startup culture still gets wrong, how stories are told and who gets left out, and why the real impact of startups should be measured far beyond headlines and valuations.. Listen here.
Nearly three quarters of U.S teens have used an A.I companion: As I’ve mentioned many times on the newsletter, I think the first wave of A.I disruption will be felt more in our social lives than our economic ones. Now there’s some troubling data to suggest how quickly that disruption might arrive.
A report from Common Sense media shows around 72% of U.S teens have used ‘companion’ style chatbots at least once while over half reported being regular users. That number based on latest reporting is around 25% here in New Zealand and we expect that to grow rapidly. These companions are becoming more realistic every day and the guardrails around them are flimsy to say the least. I think a world where we all have an A.I friend is approaching fast but I don’t think we’ve even started the necessary protections to make that future a moderately safe one.
Check out the full report here.
Want to get in touch with a news tip, a slice of feedback or just to chat? Email hello@caffeinedaily.co