Xero shares Black Friday insights
Plus: Time is running out to get your tickets for our Christmas Party!
Kia ora Caffeinators,
It’s December next week so if anyone needs me I will be staring out a window and trying to remember how I got so old. Meanwhile, anyone who hasn’t already nabbed a ticket to our Christmas bash should do so below because last tickets are going fast.
Here’s what’s drinking in startup news today:
Xero reveals Black Friday retail insights
Get your tickets for the Founders & Operators Xmas party courtesy of Airwallex and Caffeine
Rocket Lab breaks own launch record
How bad are data centres for our environment?
As always, thank you to everyone who has upgraded to a paid subscription or simply recommended Caffeine to friends and whānau. We couldn’t do any of this without you.
Finn and the CAFFEINE team
Xero reveals Black Friday retail insights: It’s always good when one of the biggest players flexes its muscle to see how things could be improved for the smaller ones. In a new report Xero, the global small business platform, has done just that. While we often focus on the surging startups here at Caffeine, there is obviously a lot of cross over between the nascent startup stage and the small business stage and a rising tide lifts all boats.
Xero economists have analysed 2024 New Zealand household consumption data and excluded spending unlikely to be with small businesses, like utilities, some transport and communications and found an estimated $110 billion of household spending remains. Moving just 10% of this potential spend would bring $11 billion to small businesses.
Bridget Snelling, Country Manager - Aotearoa New Zealand at Xero, says in key spending periods like Black Friday and Christmas it only takes a small conscious move from consumers to make a huge difference.
“November and December are the biggest months of the year for the retail industry. There is always a lot of noise coming from the big business retailers which can make the smaller retailers with their own unique offerings a lot harder to notice.
It has been a challenging year for small businesses in retail, with XSBI data showing negative retail sales results for four quarters from the March quarter 2024, before they picked up to a modest 2.9% year-on-year growth in the quarter ending in September 2025.
Get your tickets for the Founders & Operators Xmas party courtesy of Airwallex and Caffeine: Tickets are going fast for the best party of the year so you better get in quick. We’re putting on an end-of-year celebration for the people who power New Zealand’s startup scene - founders, operators, investors and community contributors.
It’s been a big year for Aotearoa’s startup ecosystem. We’ve launched things, funded things, fixed things, and probably failed a few too. Through it all, the energy, ambition, and chaos never stopped and that we all deserve a drink and a good old celebration.
Join us for the Founder-Operator Christmas party - with all of the incredible people who make New Zealand’s startup world what it is. Airwallex have kindly put on good food, drinks and music for the community to wrap up the year together. Bring your team, your friends, or just yourself - everyone’s welcome.
Who it’s for
This event is designed for operators, founders, and leadership teams in the startup community.
Partner spotlight: Airwallex
We’re proud to partner with Airwallex, a global payments and financial platform built to support ambitious operators. Airwallex helps businesses scale across borders with multi-currency accounts, borderless cards, and streamlined global payments, removing the friction of traditional banking so leaders can focus on growth. Whether it’s expanding into new markets, paying overseas teams, or managing FX, Airwallex is giving Kiwi companies the financial infrastructure to compete on the world stage.
Rocket Lab breaks own launch record: After the epic news that its on the way to Mars, Rocket Lab is once again making headlines by beating its own launch record with back to back launches. It completed its second launch in two days from its launch sites in two hemispheres, setting a new annual launch record for the Company.
The “Follow My Speed” mission lifted off from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 in Mahia. The mission launched just two days after the Company’s latest launch from Wallops Island, Virginia, Rocket Lab’s third HASTE launch this year and sixth mission overall involving its suborbital variant of Electron for hypersonic technology test flights.
Rocket Lab has increased the annual launch cadence of Electron by 1,700% in less than a decade, driven by international demand for its responsive space capabilities.
Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Sir Peter Beck, says: “Electron once again proves why it is the champion of small launch globally. These two launches serve as great examples of the team’s skill at delivering mission success for our customers anywhere, anytime, and no matter the mission profile – from a suborbital hypersonic technology demonstration to a commercial orbital mission, all within 48 hours and from opposite sides of the world. This new annual record is a proud moment for a remarkable team that continues to set new benchmarks for the launch industry.”
How bad are data centres for our environment?: Some shameless self promotion in my Parting Shot today but for readers who weren’t watching morning television while reading their Daily Shot yesterday (good on you for single tasking and resisting the demands of this attention economy) you might want to check out TVNZ Breakfast on demand for Monday.
Some nerd (me) was on there talking about the massive and growing environmental footprint of data centres. Tl;dr - We literally cannot produce enough electricity to power these things nor do we have the space for them if we take OpenAI seriously about how many they need. Hence why data centres in space are a real thing serious people are considering,
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Want to get in touch with a news tip, bit of feedback or just to chat? Email hello@caffeinedaily.co
For those that are interested, the TV NZ breakfast news segment about data centres is 1:25min into the program....