IDIA

What IDIA does

IDIA (Indigenous Design & Innovation Aotearoa), trading as IDIA (NZ) Limited, is a Māori-owned and Māori-led creative agency headquartered in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, founded in 2017. The firm delivers culturally-centred design, research, and innovation services to public-sector and enterprise clients across New Zealand and internationally, with a documented client roster spanning Te Whatu Ora, Te Hiringa Hauora, the Ministry of Education, Rotorua Economic Development, Microsoft New Zealand, TVNZ, Local Contexts, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Its practice is anchored by a proprietary methodology stack — the Culture Centred Design (CCD) framework, the Decolonised Research Framework, and the Cultural Integrity Scorecard — which together codify a structured approach to indigenous-centred design and research.

The company's deliverables span commissioned design (TVNZ tohu Māori, America's Cup 2021 graphics, public-health immunisation resources), educational media (Ata & Oho digital books and animations with the Ministry of Education and Chrome Toaster), interactive installations (Te Aho Matihiko with Microsoft NZ, using computer-vision motion tracking), and digital products including the Local Contexts Hub — an IP-label and notice platform for indigenous communities used by Smithsonian, NASA, NYU and other institutions — and the Kuini AI Chatbot, a machine-learning-enabled smoking cessation tool for wāhine Māori. IDIA also operates the ĀPŌPŌ indigenous co-working space and internship programme, partnering with tertiary and research institutions to develop the indigenous-design talent pipeline.

Commercially, IDIA operates as a professional services consultancy on project-based engagements with no publicly disclosed pricing. Revenue is generated through design and strategy consulting fees, supplemented by competitive non-dilutive research grants tied to specific initiatives — most notably its leadership role in the SSHRC-funded "The Space Between Us" indigenous design research project (~NZD $6M total award across a nine-territory consortium). The firm maintains an organic, reputation-led go-to-market motion, evidenced by multiple Best Awards Gold and Silver Pins between 2022 and 2023, a portfolio website, and selective partnerships with research institutions and other creative agencies.

Name

IDIA

Legal name

IDIA (NZ) Limited

Website

https://idia.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

IDIA is a Māori-owned creative agency in Wellington, NZ delivering culturally-centred design, research, and digital products to government, enterprise, and indigenous community clients, anchored by its proprietary Culture Centred Design methodology and project-based engagements.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Indigenous Design Services

NAICS

Graphic Design Services (54143), Custom Computer Programming Services (541511)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330), Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370)

akta.pro primary industry

Packaging & Brand Identity Creative Agencies (MPAAAAAN)

akta.pro secondary industry

Special Education & Accessibility-Optimized Media (UDL, AAC, Captioning) (EDAGALAH)

Keywords

• Indigenous design services
• Cultural design consulting
• Bicultural research
• Maori design agency
• Creative design strategy

Headquarters

HQ city

Wellington

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Design and Strategy Consulting Services: IDIA provides design, research, innovation, and strategy services to public and private sector organizations. Projects are delivered through collaborative engagement with clients including government agencies, healthcare organizations, and corporate partners.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

IDIA is a Māori-owned and Māori-led creative design agency that delivers Culture Centred Design (CCD) consulting, decolonised research, cultural integrity assessment, brand identity, and digital product design for government, healthcare, education, cultural heritage, and corporate clients across Aotearoa New Zealand. The agency combines a proprietary indigenous-led methodology with services spanning research, strategy, graphic and motion design, AI prompt engineering, game development, and immersive installations.

Product overview

IDIA is a Māori-led cultural creative agency that offers a combination of design services, proprietary methodologies, and specific digital/physical products. Their core methodology toolkit includes Culture Centred Design (CCD), the Decolonised Research Framework, and the Cultural Integrity Scorecard. They develop project-specific products including the Local Contexts Hub platform, Kuini AI Chatbot (an AI-powered quit smoking support tool), Ata & Oho educational resources, and Te Aho Matihiko interactive installations. Additionally, they deliver commissioned design work for clients (TVNZ Tohu Māori, America's Cup graphics) and run the ĀPŌPŌ Indigenous design internship programme. IDIA's approach centres indigenous people, knowledge, and ways of being throughout all offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Āpōpō: An indigenous design internship and hub focused on growing Māori and Indigenous People's participation in design and innovation.

Products and services

• Culture Centred Design (CCD)
• Decolonised Research Framework
• Cultural Integrity Scorecard
• ĀPŌPŌ Creative Tech Programme

Quantifiable outcome

• Vax Vegas campaign achieved 1000+ Instagram followers within 3 days and 262.4k hashtag views within 5 days
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability6 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Local ContextscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2019IDIA worked as design partners with Local Contexts founder Jane Anderson to research, design and deliver the Local Contexts Hub MVP tool supporting Indigenous communities' use of digital IP Labels and Notices. Engaged with institutions including Smithsonian, American Library of Congress, Natural History Museum, and NASA.
• Microsoft New ZealandcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerIDIA partnered with Microsoft NZ to create Te Aho Matihiko, an interactive digital installation featuring motion tracking and animated Māori artwork to inspire rangatahi into technology careers. The installation used Microsoft's XR technologies and explored themes from Māori creation stories.
• Chrome ToastercoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on Ata & Oho social and emotional learning resources for Ministry of Education. Chrome Toaster brought expertise in wellbeing, education, psychology and cultural design alongside IDIA's indigenous design capabilities.
• Research Council of CanadacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLed The Space Between Us project - a global indigenous-led initiative exploring digital and new media art through workshops and symposia. Project involves 40+ research collaborators and 31 partner institutions across 9 territories including Canada, USA, Australia, Greenland, New Zealand, Norway, Finland.
• Concordia UniversitymajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDr Heather Igloliorte (Circumpolar leader) from Concordia University is part of The Space Between Us indigenous leadership team, working alongside IDIA's Dr Johnson Witehira.
• TVNZ (Blacksand Studio)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with TVNZ's Blacksand studio for America's Cup 2021 graphics application. IDIA applied Māori design across TVNZ's racing coverage, signage, merchandise, waterfront studio and chase boat.
• Coco SolidmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMāori writer Coco Solid developed the script for Kuini chatbot. Coco is of Māori, Pacific and German heritage, writer, artist, director and producer, known for Aroha Bridge and Ahikāroa.
• Xoë HallmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIllustrator who brought Kuini chatbot to life visually, creating multiple avatar illustrations to help connect Māori women to the tool.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• DNA Design: Long-standing NZ creative agency working across brand, digital, and government communications. Comparable in delivering integrated design services to NZ public-sector and enterprise clients.
• Chrome Toaster: Wellington-based creative agency with explicit overlap in education, wellbeing, and cultural design (co-developed Ata & Oho with IDIA). Similar team size and client base, making it both a partner and a directly comparable design peer.
• Alt Group: Award-winning Auckland-based design consultancy with comparable scope across brand, digital, and cultural design. Similar project-based model serving NZ enterprises and government, making it the closest head-to-head domestic peer.
• Storybox: Wellington-based creative agency producing design and content for NZ government, health, and cultural clients. Comparable scale and sector exposure, particularly in the bicultural NZ communications space.

Emerging players

• Local Contexts: Indigenous-led organisation developing digital IP Labels and Notices for cultural heritage. IDIA was design partner on the Hub MVP, and the two share the indigenous-data-sovereignty mission and global network.
• Te Matau Design: NZ-based design practice with focus on Māori and Pacific creative work for government and enterprise clients. Comparable indigenous-led positioning at a similarly small scale.

Broad incumbents

• Pentagram: Multidisciplinary global design firm working across brand identity, digital, and editorial design. Comparable in providing high-end creative direction to large institutions, though not specifically indigenous-focused.
• IDEO: Global pioneer of human-centred design with practice areas in health, education, and social impact. Comparable in design-thinking methodology and enterprise/government client base, though at much greater scale.
• Frog Design: Global design and engineering firm with experience in transformative product and service design for healthcare, government, and enterprise — directly comparable in service offering and client verticals.
• Method (now是一家): Global design and innovation consultancy with experience in health, government, and inclusive design. Comparable in service mix but at vastly larger scale; competes for the same enterprise transformation briefs.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/indigenous-design-and-innovation-aotearoa
• Instagraminstagram.com/idia_nz/?hl=en
• Xx.com/idia_nz
• Facebookfacebook.com/idianz

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about IDIA