What Tuhono does

Tūhono Trust is a New Zealand charitable trust established in December 2003 under the Electoral Act 1993 to operate the Māori Affiliation Service, the sole statutory intermediary through which the Electoral Commission shares Māori enrolment and iwi affiliation data with recognised iwi organizations, subject to individual consent. The trust maintains a central database of 500,000+ registered Māori adults across all nine iwi regions of New Zealand (Taitokerau, Tainui, Mataatua, Porourangi, Te Arawa, Hauāuru, Takitimu, Te Moana o Raukawa, and Te Waipounamu/Rekohu) and operates a self-service platform on tuhono.net plus a Central Web Service (launched 2009) that automatically synchronises member records with iwi databases in real time. The technology stack is built on Sitecore (CMS, since 2013) and Salesforce (CRM, since 2016), with API-based data feeds from the Electoral Commission, Ministry of Transport, NZ Transport Agency, NZ Post, and the Department of Internal Affairs.

Tūhono serves two primary customer segments: Māori individuals (18+, or 14–17 with parental consent) who register free of charge to connect with their iwi and build whakapapa/genealogy profiles, and 84 mandated iwi Authorised User Organisations that use the Central Web Service to maintain accurate member registers. Government agencies are a secondary stakeholder segment. The organisation is governed by a board of six trustees representing the nine regional constituencies, chaired by Anthony Olsen, with Dr Te Taka Keegan (a University of Waikato computer science lecturer) as Deputy Chair.

Tūhono does not operate a commercial revenue model. It is a government-supported non-profit that delivers the Affiliation Service as a public-good function; individual registration is free and no pricing is publicly disclosed. The trust's three charitable purposes are the Māori Affiliation Service, a Research Centre/Service, and a Development Service, with operational funding tied to fulfilling its statutory mandate rather than commercial sales.

Name

Tuhono

Legal name

Tūhono Trust

Website

https://tuhono.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

2003

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Tūhono Trust is a New Zealand charitable trust that operates the Māori Affiliation Service under the Electoral Act 1993, connecting Māori individuals with their iwi organizations through a centralised registry and data-sync platform.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Affiliation Registry Platform

NAICS

American Indian and Alaska Native Tribal Governments (921150), Trusts, Estates, and Agency Accounts (52592)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600), Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Indigenous & Community Cultural Institutions (THAJADAK)

Keywords

• Maori affiliation registry
• Iwi membership platform
• Tribal community network
• Electoral data service
• Whakapapa genealogy platform

Headquarters

HQ city

Hamilton

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government-funded Service: Tūhono operates as a charitable trust established under the Electoral Act 1993. The organization receives government support to deliver the Māori Affiliation Service role. No explicit commercial revenue model is disclosed.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Tuhono Trust operates the Māori Affiliation Service mandated under New Zealand's Electoral Act 1993, enabling Māori individuals (18+) to voluntarily register their iwi affiliation through an online platform, toll-free phone, or the Electoral Commission. It maintains a centralized database of more than 500,000 registrants and provides the Tūhono Central Web Service that automatically syncs member data with 84+ authorized iwi organization databases across nine regions. The organization also operates a Salesforce CRM-backed platform supporting whakapapa (genealogy) community building and family profile management.

Product overview

Tūhono is a network platform for Māori individuals and iwi organisations consisting of three core interconnected products: (1) the Māori Affiliation Service (MAS) — the primary service enabling Māori to register with their iwi under the Electoral Act 1993, (2) the Tūhono.net public website and (3) Executive Website (tuhono.org) — which together allow registrants to access/update their information and enable iwi organisations to securely access affiliate databases 24/7. The platform is supported by a Salesforce CRM system (2016) for managing family profiles and the Sitecore CMS (2013) for community building. The Tūhono Central Web Service provides automated data sync between the Electoral Commission and iwi databases. The platform also includes the Find My Iwi tool and Ōku Iwi Booklet resource for community engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Māori Affiliation Service The primary service under the Electoral Act 1993 that enables Māori to register with their iwi and other Māori entities, and allows iwi organisations to develop comprehensive registers of their members. Tūhono acts as Kaitiaki (guardian) of the iwi affiliation register.
• Tūhono Central Web Service A secure web service launched in September 2009 that automatically and directly updates member information to an iwi's database system with bank-level security. It links to the Electoral Commission database fed by government agencies (Ministry of Transport, NZ Transport Agency, NZ Post, Department of Internal Affairs) for real-time data synchronization.
• Tūhono.net Website The public-facing website launched in 2005 that allows registrants to access and update their information online, register whānau members, and build whānau communities. The current Sitecore-powered version (2013) enables registrants to build whānau community profiles.
• Executive Website (tuhono.org) An internal website launched in 2006 enabling iwi to securely access their Tūhono affiliate database 24/7 via the internet, helping build capacity of Authorised User Organisations.
• Research Centre/Service One of the three charitable purposes of the Trust, providing research services related to Māori affiliation data.
• Development Service One of the three charitable purposes of the Trust, focused on Māori development services.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• SalesforcecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 July 2016Salesforce was launched as Tūhono's CRM system in July 2016. The CRM allows parents to list their young children as part of their Tūhono profile, enabling family-based registration and profile management.
• SitecorecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 March 2013Sitecore was launched as Tūhono's website CMS system in March 2013. The new Sitecore website enabled Tūhono registrants to build their whānau community online. Sitecore is described as a leader in Gartner's Web CMS Magic Quadrant.
• Electoral Commission of New ZealandcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 September 2009The Electoral Commission is the foundational data partner for Tūhono's Māori Affiliation Service. Under the Electoral Act 1993, the Commission shares Māori enrolment details and iwi affiliation information with Tūhono (subject to individual consent), which then passes this data to affiliated iwi organizations.
• Ministry of TransportsupportingTechnology or IntegrationGovernment data partner that feeds information to the Electoral Enrolment Centre, which Tūhono accesses to update member details when changes occur (e.g., address changes on driver's licenses).
• NZ Transport Agency (Waka Kotahi)supportingTechnology or IntegrationGovernment data partner that feeds information to the Electoral Enrolment Centre, supporting Tūhono's ability to maintain current member addresses and details.
• NZ PostsupportingTechnology or IntegrationGovernment data partner that feeds information to the Electoral Enrolment Centre for address change updates that Tūhono uses to maintain current member records.
• Department of Internal AffairssupportingTechnology or IntegrationGovernment data partner that feeds information to the Electoral Enrolment Centre, supporting data currency for Tūhono's member database.
• GooglesupportingTechnology or IntegrationTūhono Board member Dr Te Taka Keegan collaborated with Google on online translation technologies for te reo Māori, assisting with Google's translation services.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Porou: The mandated iwi authority for Ngāti Porou and the first iwi to integrate with Tūhono's Central Web Service in 2009. Operates its own member register using Tūhono affiliation data and represents a comparable model of iwi-level member registry management.
• Geni.com: Collaborative genealogy platform owned by MyHeritage that allows users to build shared family trees. Comparable to Tūhono's whānau community building features, particularly in supporting shared profiles across extended family members.
• Find My Past: Genealogy platform focused on historical records and family tree building, with strong UK and Commonwealth records. Comparable to Tūhono in offering a centralised platform for individuals to access records and build whakapapa.
• Ancestry: The world's largest commercial genealogy and family history platform, with DNA testing and whakapapa-like family tree building tools serving millions globally. Comparable to Tūhono in building multi-generational family records, though operating as a commercial entity rather than a trust.
• 23andMe: DNA-based ancestry and genetic genealogy service that helps individuals discover and connect with relatives and ancestral lineages. Comparable to Tūhono in enabling individuals to identify ancestral connections, though via DNA rather than electoral roll affiliation.
• MyHeritage: Global genealogy platform offering family tree building, historical records, and DNA testing. Operates in a comparable product category to Tūhono's whakapapa functionality, particularly in supporting multi-generational profiles shared across whānau.
• WikiTree: Collaborative, community-driven genealogy wiki building a single shared family tree of humanity. Closely parallel to Tūhono's community-led, member-driven model where individuals contribute and share genealogical data.
• FamilySearch: Free, nonprofit genealogy platform operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Closely mirrors Tūhono's nonprofit/free-service model and its focus on collaborative family tree building and historical record preservation across multiple generations.

Broad incumbents

• Stats NZ (Tatauranga Aotearoa): New Zealand's national statistics office responsible for census data and population statistics. Operates at much broader scale than Tūhono but shares the mandate of collecting and maintaining official demographic data used by government and iwi.

Others

• New Zealand National Library: National cultural and heritage institution preserving New Zealand's documentary heritage, including whakapapa and genealogical records. Functionally adjacent to Tūhono in curating Māori cultural and genealogical data, though operating as a government library rather than a community trust.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@TuhonoTrust

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 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 Tuhono