Ōtautahi-Based Auto Industry Innovator Changes Gears Thanks To City’s Start-Up Accelerator

Partly is a leading parts technology company on a mission to organise the world’s parts, connecting buyers and sellers in the world’s $1.9 trillion vehicle parts ecosystem. Founded in Ōtautahi, Christchurch, Partly has built a digital platform to enable global sourcing and matching of replacement car parts, and it credits its support from mentors, other connections and networks for their recent results.

Partly’s co-founders Nathan Taylor and Levi Fawcett describe their recent ride as a whirlwind few years. From creating a basic website last year, effectively testing the waters to gauge interest for their auto parts solution, to an inaugural $1.7m seed funding round, they had already set a course for success. Now with customers like eBay and the United Nations, boasting thousands of sellers in dozens of countries, and a record-setting venture capital raise to expand, they are doubling their workforce and with the ‘rubber hitting the road’ they praise Christchurch’s innovation ecosystem for their success.

“Support from The Ministry of Awesome at Te Ōhaka Centre for Growth and Innovation was key during the foundational early days of Partly. Alongside the Ara Institute of Canterbury and ChristchurchNZ, the Founder Catalyst incubator there provides a space where innovation, tenacity, and the freedom to fail was the norm,” says Taylor.

“Being a part of a community that supports and encourages startups to think big and go global really stood out for us. Being surrounded by a network of founders, mentors, advisors, and investors who are all as ambitious and hard-working as you are a big part of the Partly story,” says Taylor on the startup culture in Christchurch.

Chief executive officer at Ministry of Awesome, Marian Johnson echoes those remarks when reflecting on Partly’s journey and seeing the team develop an idea into Christchurch’s latest start-up to hit headlines in a competitive venture capital environment.

“Partly’s capital raise is exciting for the entire startup ecosystem, not only because they are such an epic team of humans but also because their success came after a remarkable pivot," says Johnson.

“When Partly joined our Founder Catalyst incubator, we saw a team that hadn’t yet found product-market fit. The high-energy, collaborative community at Te Ōhaka provided an environment of support that helped Partly’s team navigate those early-day obstacles to build scalable with global potential."

“Having Partly here was also an incredible proof point for their fellow founders that great success could be achieved, and it's motivated other founders to follow in their footsteps,” Johnson says.

Christchurch recently made headlines jumping 168 places in Startup Blink’s 2022 Global Startup Ecosystem Index to make the world’s top 250 cities, becoming the country’s #2 incubator.

Ali Adams, CEO of sustainable economic development agency ChristchurchNZ, says nurturing the city’s innovation ecosystem is key to raising the city’s productivity.

“The record-breaking jump in rankings validates Christchurch is making great progress and proves investing in this ecosystem was the right call. ChristchurchNZ-funded incubator programmes are specifically structured to give start-ups customised support at each stage of their journey, from customer validation through to capital raises, scaling, and going global,” says Adams.

Help comes in many forms alongside a supportive media, workshops, mentoring programs, small grants for early-stage startups, short courses and most importantly there is a culture of community which Partly’s cofounder Levi Fawcett credits, professing he feels very positive about the future of tech companies in Christchurch.

“This city has an incredibly supportive network and entrepreneurial environment where you’ll find a community which helps and supports each other, an ecosystem that talks about and encourages founders, a safe place to learn from each other's mistakes, and nurtures each other to think bigger,” says Fawcett.