NeSI
NeSI is New Zealand's national high-performance computing platform, providing shared HPC infrastructure, data services, and consultancy to universities and Crown Research Institutes. As of July 2025, it operates as a service line within the Crown-owned company REANNZ.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersAuckland, New Zealand
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What NeSI does
NeSI (New Zealand eScience Infrastructure) is the national high-performance computing platform for New Zealand's research sector, providing shared computational infrastructure, data services, and consultancy to universities, Crown Research Institutes (CRIs), and government agencies. Founded in 2011 and historically hosted by the University of Auckland under a Crown Funding Agreement with the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), NeSI operated a merit-based allocation model in which research projects apply for HPC resources through a quarterly review process managed via the my.nesi.org.nz portal. Its customer base was effectively closed to the New Zealand research community and included named users such as AgResearch, NIWA, Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Plant & Food Research, the University of Auckland, the University of Otago, Genomics Aotearoa, and Mātai Medical Research Institute.
NeSI's core technology stack centers on national HPC clusters — historically Mahuika (Milan CPU nodes) and Māui (operated jointly with NIWA) — augmented by GPU resources for accelerated computing, WEKA high-performance storage, the Slurm job scheduler, and Globus-based large-scale data transfer. In May 2025, NeSI launched a refreshed HPC3 + AI platform with WEKA storage and AI-optimized GPU nodes, replacing the legacy Mahuika and Māui clusters and adding explicit AI/ML workload support. Supporting services include the OnDemand interactive web interface (JupyterLab, RStudio, VS Code, MATLAB, Virtual Desktop), Research Software Engineering and Data Science consultancy, training programs delivered through ResBaz Aotearoa and The Carpentries, and the Freezer long-term tape archive. NeSI also co-developed the Flexible HPC cloud-native platform with AgResearch, operationalized in 2022, providing multi-tenant compute and data services to CRI users.
On July 1, 2025, all NeSI roles, services, and technologies were integrated into REANNZ (Research and Education Advanced Network New Zealand), a separate Crown-owned company that operates New Zealand's national research and education network connecting to 120+ global networks. Post-integration, NeSI continues to operate as a brand and service line within REANNZ, with funding flowing from MBIE and institutional service subscriptions. Its revenue model is therefore hybrid: Crown appropriation covers core infrastructure, supplemented by subscription-based service agreements with partner institutions priced through the NeSI Service Subscriptions framework. Distribution is direct and institutionally mediated, with no commercial or international customers disclosed.
NeSI firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- NeSI
- Legal name
- New Zealand eScience Infrastructure
- Website
- https://nesi.org.nz
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- NeSI is New Zealand's national high-performance computing platform, providing shared HPC infrastructure, data services, and consultancy to universities and Crown Research Institutes. As of July 2025, it operates as a service line within the Crown-owned company REANNZ.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
NeSI industry classification
Industry- Product category
- High Performance Computing Infrastructure
- NAICS
- Computer Facilities Management Services (541513), Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Integrated Systems Design (7373), Services-Computer Rental & Leasing (7377)
- akta.pro primary industry
- HCI & Integrated Systems (Compute + Storage) (HDABADAD)
Keywords
Where NeSI is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Auckland
- HQ country
- New Zealand
- HQ region
- Oceania
Offices2 records
Markets served
NeSI business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Infrastructure, Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations
Revenue model
- Crown Funding: NeSI is a collaboration of institutions including Waipapa Taumata Rau the University of Auckland, working in partnership with the NZ Government. Funding provided through Crown Funding Agreement. As of July 1, 2025, integrated into REANNZ as a crown-owned company.
- Service Subscriptions: NeSI offers service subscriptions to research institutions through Contracts & Billing arrangements. Pricing documentation available at docs.nesi.org.nz. Allocation classes include Merit-based allocations for qualifying research projects.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Quarterly | Merit-based allocations for funded research projects |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels9 records
NeSI product offering
Product offeringCore offering
NeSI (New Zealand eScience Infrastructure) designs, builds and operates a national platform of shared high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure, data analytics, storage and consultancy services for New Zealand's research community. It provides CPU/GPU compute, data management, and research software engineering support to researchers, universities, and Crown Research Institutes.
Product overview
NeSI (New Zealand eScience Infrastructure) operates as a national research computing platform providing integrated HPC, data analytics, and consultancy services to New Zealand researchers. The core offering consists of the HPC3 platform (with CPU and GPU compute resources), WEKA-based high-performance storage, and the Freezer long-term archive. Supporting services include OnDemand for interactive computing, Globus for data transfer, the my.nesi portal for account management, and a Consultancy Service staffed by Research Software Engineers and Data Science Engineers. Training programs cover HPC fundamentals through partnerships with ResBaz Aotearoa and The Carpentries. On July 1 2025, NeSI integrated into REANNZ but continues operating under this branding.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- High Performance Computing (HPC) Platform National HPC infrastructure providing computational resources for research. The new HPC3 platform replaces Mahuika with WEKA storage, offering CPU and GPU compute nodes for academic and research workloads.
- Consultancy Services Research Software Engineers and Data Science Engineers provide computational consulting to improve research productivity, code performance, software engineering practices, and reproducibility.
- Data Services Storage and data management infrastructure including WEKA high-performance storage, Freezer long-term tape storage, Nearline archival storage, and databases. Supports data migration, recovery, and lifecycle management.
- Training Digital research skills training including HPC fundamentals, Linux command line, Python, R, research data management, and software environment modules. Partners with ResBaz Aotearoa for week-long skill sessions.
- Flexible HPC Platform Cloud-native, multi-tenant advanced research computing platform designed in partnership with AgResearch. Supports multi-tenant operations, developer operators, and eResearch platforms.
- OnDemand Interactive Interface Web-based portal providing interactive access to HPC resources without command-line use. Includes JupyterLab, RStudio, VS Code, MATLAB, Virtual Desktop, and Slurm job submission.
- Research Developer Cloud Cloud-based development environment for researchers, part of service subscriptions providing flexible compute resources beyond traditional HPC batch processing.
- Globus Data Transfer Enterprise-grade data transfer service for moving large datasets between NeSI storage and external endpoints. Supports automated transfers, sync operations, and share collections.
- Freezer Long-Term Storage Long-term tape-based storage service replacing Nearline, providing archival storage for research data with single copy redundancy.
- my.nesi.org.nz User Portal User portal for managing NeSI accounts, project applications, allocation requests, and notification preferences.
Quantifiable outcome
- Provided HPC access enabling climate change flooding risk research using Monte Carlo approach generating thousands of probabilistic flood maps on NeSI platform
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use NeSI
Customer profileNamed customers8 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
NeSI technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration3 records
AI capability6 records
Feature6 records
NeSI partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
13 partnerships are on record, tiered core and secondary.
- REANNZ (Research and Education Advanced Network New Zealand)coreOn July 1, 2025, NeSI integrated into REANNZ as a crown-owned company. All roles, services, and technologies of NeSI became part of REANNZ, combining national HPC infrastructure with research and education network capabilities. REANNZ operates NZ's national research and education network connecting to 120+ networks globally.
- AgResearchcorePartnership announced in 2021 to design and deliver a future-focused eResearch Platform. Multi-tenant, cloud-native platform bringing together NeSI and AgResearch expertise, computing and data resources, scientific pipelines, and workflows. Shared capabilities improve mutual support networks for platform operations, user support, training, and community-building. Flexible HPC platform became operational in 2022.
- Research Software Alliance (ReSA)secondaryNeSI joined ReSA as an Organizational Member in April 2023. Expands ability to participate in international efforts advancing research software ecosystem. Enables access to decision makers, key influencers, and best practice sharing. Collaboration history includes hosting presentations at eResearch NZ, contributing to ReSA's People Roadmap Report, and participating in International Funders Workshop.
- Genomics AotearoasecondaryCo-host of eResearch NZ 2024 conference alongside NeSI and REANNZ. Collaborative partnership for advancing genomics research infrastructure and computational capabilities in New Zealand.
- RSE-AUNZ (Research Software Engineering Association of Australia and New Zealand)secondaryNeSI serves as a founding/organizing member. Mercedes Randell, Research Communities Advisor, serves as Steering Committee Co-Chair. NeSI organizes the annual NZRSE Conference endorsed by RSE-AUNZ. Community has 489 members across Australia and New Zealand. Working towards 2023-2025 strategy goals including community building, raising RSE profile, fostering diversity, and formalizing as incorporated association.
- ARDC (Australian Research Data Commons)secondaryCo-hosting quarterly AU/NZ Carpentries Community Calls. Collaborative efforts in digital research skills training and Carpentry instructor community building across the Tasman.
- The CarpentriessecondaryGlobal program teaching foundational computational and data management skills to researchers. NeSI supports Carpentry workshops, instructor training, and community building in New Zealand. Annual Carpentry Connect events and instructor training sessions delivered through partnerships.
- NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)coreHPC platform partnership for Māui cluster. NIWA hosts Platform Systems Engineering team at Wellington offices. Joint hiring for platform engineering roles. NIWA-owned projects maintain Māui access until platform decommissioning.
- University of AucklandcoreLead institution partner hosting NeSI headquarters. Waipapa Taumata Rau, University of Auckland employs NeSI staff and provides administrative infrastructure. Lead organizer of ResBaz Aotearoa and NZRSE Conference.
- University of OtagosecondaryPartner institution in ResBaz Aotearoa collaboration. University of Otago researchers use NeSI HPC for computational chemistry and bioinformatics. Hosting Bioinformatics Spring School 2022 in collaboration with Genomics Aotearoa and NeSI.
- Victoria University of WellingtonsecondaryPartner institution collaborating on ResBaz Aotearoa. Co-organizer of NZRSE Conference activities. Emily O'Riordan, Lecturer in AI, participates in Women in HPC Australasia Chapter events.
- Manaaki Whenua Landcare ResearchsecondaryCrown Research Institute partner. Contributed to Macro View research data characterization initiative. Brent Martin, Senior Data Scientist, serves on NZRSE Conference organizing committee.
- Institute of Environmental Science and Research (ESR)secondaryPartner institution. Janet Stacey, Digital Sciences Engineer, serves as RSE-AUNZ Steering Committee Member. Contributes to Carpentry Connect and RSE conference community activities.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
NeSI competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Pawsey Supercomputing Centre: Australia's national HPC facility providing supercomputing and data services to researchers. Highly comparable as a government-funded, national-scale research computing platform serving academic and government researchers across multiple disciplines.
- National Computational Infrastructure (NCI Australia): Australia's other national HPC facility operated by ANU. Like NeSI, it provides high-performance computing, storage, and data services to Australian researchers under a national research infrastructure mandate with government backing.
- Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC): ARDC coordinates national research data infrastructure across Australia and is NeSI's direct counterpart across the Tasman. Both organizations fund and operate shared eResearch platforms, training programs (e.g., The Carpentries), and community initiatives like NeSI's joint AU/NZ Carpentries Community Calls.
- Digital Research Alliance of Canada: Canada's national HPC and research data infrastructure provider (formerly Compute Canada). Operates an analogous model of national coordination, merit-based compute allocation, and partnership with universities and government research institutes.
- Jülich Supercomputing Centre: Germany's national supercomputing centre operating flagship HPC systems for European research. Closely comparable as a government-research national HPC facility providing compute, storage, and user support to academic and scientific users.
- EPCC (Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre): UK national HPC provider operating ARCHER2 and other HPC services for UK academic research. Comparable as a national research computing service combining HPC operations, training, consultancy, and storage under government/academic funding.
- SNIC (Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing): Sweden's national HPC infrastructure coordinating academic supercomputing across multiple centres. Provides national-level compute allocation, storage, and user support comparable in structure to NeSI's mandate.
- CSC (IT Center for Science, Finland): Finnish national HPC and eResearch infrastructure provider offering Mahti/Puhti supercomputers and data management services. Operates an analogous national-mandate, merit-based allocation model for universities and research institutes.
Others
- Internet2: US research and education network organisation analogous to REANNZ (NeSI's parent post-July 2025). Not an HPC operator itself but closely related as a research-network provider often paired with HPC services in national eResearch ecosystems.
- GÉANT: Pan-European research and education networking organisation that, like NeSI's parent REANNZ, provides high-speed network infrastructure for research communities. Not a direct HPC competitor but represents the network-layer counterpart that NeSI is now paired with via REANNZ integration.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
NeSI social profiles
Digital presenceNeSI financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
NeSI leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles13 records
NeSI funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
NeSI M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about NeSI
What does NeSI do?
NeSI (New Zealand eScience Infrastructure) designs, builds and operates a national platform of shared high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure, data analytics, storage and consultancy services for New Zealand's research community. It provides CPU/GPU compute, data management, and research software engineering support to researchers, universities, and Crown Research Institutes.
Is NeSI a public or private company?
NeSI is a private company. It is classified as state government owned and is currently operating.
When was NeSI founded?
NeSI was founded in 2011. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is NeSI based?
NeSI is headquartered in Auckland, New Zealand, in the Oceania region.
How does NeSI make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Crown Funding is the primary driver. The others are service Subscriptions.
Who are NeSI's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Pawsey Supercomputing Centre, National Computational Infrastructure (NCI Australia), Australian Research Data Commons (ARDC), Digital Research Alliance of Canada, Jülich Supercomputing Centre, EPCC (Edinburgh Parallel Computing Centre), SNIC (Swedish National Infrastructure for Computing) and CSC (IT Center for Science, Finland). Others are Internet2 and GÉANT.
Does NeSI have an API?
No public API is recorded for NeSI.
What industry is NeSI in?
NeSI's product category is High Performance Computing Infrastructure. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDABADAD, HCI & Integrated Systems (Compute + Storage). Its NAICS code is 541513 and its SIC code is 7373.