Puna Pakihi Business Grants - FAQs

1. What is Puna Pakihi?
Puna Pakihi is a Te Rūnanga o Ngāi Tahu initiative that supports Ngāi Tahu whānau to start, grow, and sustain their pakihi (businesses). It offers grants, mentoring, and promotional opportunities.

2. What business grants are available?
Puna Pakihi provides grants to support the long-term sustainability and development of businesses owned by Ngāi Tahu whānau.

There are three types of grants available:

·         Kickstart Grant – For businesses in their first 12 months.

·         Stay Up Grant – For businesses trading over 12 months with revenue under $120,000.

·         Growth Grant – For businesses trading over 12 months with revenue over $120,000 and GST registered

3. How much are the grants?
Each grant is $5,000.

4. Who can apply?
Applicants must:

·         Be a registered Ngāi Tahu whānau member

·         Be 18 years or older

·         Own at least 50% of the business

·         Have a New Zealand Business Number

·         Be actively trading

5. Who is not eligible?

·         Businesses not yet trading

·         Charitable trusts

·         Entities not majority-owned by the applicant

6. How often can I apply for a grant for my business?

·         You can apply for one grant per 12-month period.

·         There is a maximum total of two Kickstart Grants per whānau member.

·         There is a maximum of two Stay Up and two Growth Grants per business.

·         You must have submitted and had approved all reporting and receipts from previous grants before applying again.

7. What can the funding be used for?

·         Business capability development

·         Training and upskilling

·         Professional mentoring

·         Strategic planning

·         Productivity tools (e.g. software)

·         Marketing strategy development

·         Digital enablement

·         Specialty equipment

8. What can the funding NOT be used for?

·         Salaries or wages

·         Rent, utilities, or bills

·         Vehicles or fuel

·         Computers or mobile devices

·         Raw materials or stock

·         Marketing execution (e.g. ads, flyers)

·         Equipment hire or leasing

·         Routine business expenses

·         Travel (unless linked to capability development)

·         Personal debt or retrospective costs

9. How do I apply?
Business grant applications must be submitted via Te Kopa Ora - Ngāi Tahu grants portal. To log in to the portal, you will need your whakapapa registration number.

10. What other information do I need to apply?
You will need supporting information including a business plan, financial forecasts, proof of ownership, bank verification, proof of ID and official quotes to show what the funding will be used for. The fund guide for each grant type includes a checklist of the information that you need to include in your application.

11. Where can I find templates and examples of the information I need to provide?
Our online resource kete contains templates and examples of business plans and financial spreadsheets that you can use.

12. I am looking for a bigger investment from Ngāi Tahu, can I speak to your team about a partnership?
Unfortunately, our team don't deal with investment outside of our grants.  For larger investments, other criteria must be met and your kaupapa must be rūnanga endorsed so you will need to engage with your rūnanga first.  See this link for more information: Haea Te Awa - Regional Investment Fund. 

13. Do you support non-Ngāi Tahu businesses?
Arohamai, our funding only covers Ngāi Tahu-owned pakihi but we recommend looking into the following Māori organisations:

·         Poutama Trust - supports Māori in business with business development services and strives to create economic growth for Māori

·         Māori Women's Development Inc - a charitable organisation dedicated to encouraging the economic development and empowerment of wāhine Māori 

14. Are Puna Pakihi grants GST exempt?
Yes, they are.