Te Pūnaha Matatini

What Te Pūnaha Matatini does

Te Pūnaha Matatini is a Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) hosted by Waipapa Taumata Rau (the University of Auckland) and operating as a nationwide network of 101 researchers from universities, government institutes, the private sector, and marae communities across Aotearoa New Zealand. Its core activity is transdisciplinary complex systems research, organised around eight named initiatives: the Modelling for Impact Hub (a national capability platform described as the world's first attempt to iteratively model an entire country as a complex system), Emerging Health Risks in a Changing Climate, Weather Whenua and Wellbeing, Ki te toi o te ora, Emergent Engagement, Kindness in Science, Networks of Knowledge Sharing, and Spreading Processes on Networks. Methodologies span network science, mathematical epidemiology, flood and hydrological modelling, spatial analysis, econometric analysis against Stats NZ's Integrated Data Infrastructure, and the integration of Indigenous knowledge (mātauranga Māori) with computational science.

The Centre is led by Co-Directors Professor Priscilla Wehi, Professor Murray Cox, and Professor Markus Luczak-Roesch, with Deputy Director Michael O'Sullivan and a broader principal-investigator network that has recently grown by 35 members. It is funded primarily through the New Zealand government's CoRE funding stream and host-university support, with additional contract and contestable research income from agencies including the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Social Development, ACC, Waka Kotahi, KiwiRail, Te Puni Kōkiri, and Stats NZ. Te Pūnaha Matatini does not sell commercial products; its outputs are published research, policy briefings, training, and community engagement, distributed through academic channels, annual reports, the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium, and place-based co-production with Māori and Pacific communities. Customer segments are therefore institutional — government agencies, universities, and iwi/hapū/marae — rather than commercial buyers.

Name

Te Pūnaha Matatini

Legal name

Te Pūnaha Matatini

Website

https://tepunahamatatini.ac.nz

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Te Pūnaha Matatini is a New Zealand Centre of Research Excellence, hosted by the University of Auckland, that conducts transdisciplinary complex systems research — including a national Modelling for Impact Hub, climate-health modelling, and place-based work with Māori communities — for government agencies, universities, and iwi partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Academic Research Services

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Flagship Public Research Universities (R1/R2) (EDAHAAAA)

Keywords

• Complex systems research
• Transdisciplinary research
• Network science
• Mathematical modeling
• Policy research

Headquarters

HQ city

Auckland

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Government Research Funding: Te Pūnaha Matatini is a Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) funded through government research grants. The Centre is hosted by the University of Auckland and receives funding to conduct complex systems research across New Zealand.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Te Pūnaha Matatini is a Centre of Research Excellence hosted by the University of Auckland that conducts transdisciplinary complex systems research, training, and stakeholder engagement across Aotearoa New Zealand. It convenes approximately 101 researchers to address complex societal and environmental challenges through interdisciplinary methods spanning mathematics, network science, and indigenous knowledge systems. The Centre does not sell commercial products; its outputs are research findings, trained researchers, and engagement with policy and community stakeholders.

Product overview

Te Pūnaha Matatini is a Centre of Research Excellence hosted by the University of Auckland, serving as a nationwide network of researchers focused on complex systems research in Aotearoa New Zealand. Rather than a commercial product company, it offers research programs and initiatives including the Modelling for Impact Hub (national capability platform for country-wide complex systems modelling), health and climate research, community engagement frameworks, and network science methodologies. The organization provides research services, frameworks, and methodologies rather than software products, serving universities, government institutes, private sector organisations, and marae communities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• University of Auckland (Waipapa Taumata Rau)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTe Pūnaha Matatini is hosted by the University of Auckland. The university provides institutional support, office facilities, and serves as the primary academic partner for the Centre of Research Excellence.
• University of Otago (Ōtākou Whakaihu Waka)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne of the multiple universities across Aotearoa contributing researchers to Te Pūnaha Matatini's nationwide network. Sponsor of the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026.
• Victoria University of Wellington (Te Herenga Waka)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsor of the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 through the Te Maheno Chair in Complexity Science. Multiple researchers from this institution participate in Te Pūnaha Matatini activities.
• Massey University (Te Kunenga ki Pūrehuroa)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborating through Toi Āria: Design for Public Good research centre. Anna Brown leads this Massey University centre and is a Principal Investigator with Te Pūnaha Matatini. Co-sponsored the 2026 symposium.
• Toi Āria: Design for Public GoodcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA research centre at Massey University focused on design for public good. Principal Investigators including Anna Brown and Jean Donaldson collaborate on creative engagement projects with Te Pūnaha Matatini.
• NIWA (National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNIWA researchers including Céline Cattoën-Gilbert contribute to Te Pūnaha Matatini research on flood modelling and hydrological forecasting as part of the Emerging Health Risks project.
• Waka Kotahi (New Zealand Transport Agency)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWaka Kotahi funded and supported the digital twins research project through the Hoe ki angitū – Innovation Fund to develop autonomous rail shuttle modelling between Marton and Feilding.
• Stats NZmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborates on econometric analysis using Stats NZ's Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) for health inequality and environmental degradation research.
• Ministry of Business, Innovation and EmploymentcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment ministry participating in the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026, representing policymakers engaged with complex systems approaches.
• Ministry of HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment ministry participating in the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 for health policy engagement.
• Accident Compensation CorporationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment corporation participating in the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026 for policy and research engagement.
• Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry of Māori Development)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment ministry funding Whānau Ora initiative which Te Pūnaha Matatini researchers reference in health inequality research comparing community-led versus data-driven approaches.
• KiwiRailmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner with Te Pūnaha Matatini researchers on digital twins project for autonomous rail shuttle development between Marton and Feilding.
• Reureu Kotahitanga LtdmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMāori economic development agency leading the autonomous rail shuttle project. Graeme Everton, project manager, approached Te Pūnaha Matatini about using digital twins for the Marton-Feilding rail connection.
• UNESCO New ZealandmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDan Hikuroa serves as UNESCO New Zealand Culture Commissioner as part of his work with Te Pūnaha Matatini, advancing Indigenous knowledge integration.
• Whakauae ResearchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMāori research organisation whose work on the Te Ruru framework was presented at the Capital City Complex Systems Symposium 2026, exploring Indigenous approaches to systems change.
• Seed WaikatominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity organisation empowering young people to lead systemic change. Tania Poynton and Jahvaya Wheki presented at the 2026 symposium.
• Whānau OramajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerKaupapa Māori initiative providing community-led health and social services. Referenced by Te Pūnaha Matatini researchers as an alternative model to data-driven approaches for addressing health inequities.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems: MPI-PKS is a basic-research institute studying complex systems in physics, biology and social systems. It is comparable in its transdisciplinary complexity research, network science and mathematical modelling approach, and is hosted within a large academic system similar to TPM's relationship with the University of Auckland.
• Santa Fe Institute: The Santa Fe Institute is the leading global research centre dedicated to complex systems science, studying emergence, networks and adaptation. It is the closest international analogue to Te Pūnaha Matatini's transdisciplinary complex-systems research mission.
• Center for the Study of Complex Systems, University of Michigan: CSCS is a university-based centre for complex systems research and graduate training. Like TPM it operates as a coordinating hub for transdisciplinary complexity research across a large research university, producing modelling, network science and policy-applied work.
• New England Complex Systems Institute: NECSI is an independent research institution focused on complex systems science with applications in epidemiology, economics and policy. It mirrors TPM's blend of theoretical complexity science and applied policy-facing work, though without TPM's place-based Indigenous approach.

Others

• Royal Society of New Zealand: The Royal Society of New Zealand is the country's national academy of sciences, funding and honouring researchers and convening across disciplines. It is comparable to TPM in supporting transdisciplinary science and recognising investigators via awards such as the E.O. Tuck Medal and FRSNZ.

Regional players

• GNS Science: GNS Science is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute focused on geoscience, climate and natural hazards. It is comparable to TPM in its New Zealand-based, government-funded applied research role and in collaborating on the Emerging Health Risks in a Changing Climate programme via NIWA.
• Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research: Manaaki Whenua is a New Zealand Crown Research Institute delivering environmental, land-use and biodiversity research with significant Māori research capability. It is comparable in being a publicly funded NZ research institute that pairs science with Indigenous knowledge and place-based work.

Broad incumbents

• CSIRO: CSIRO is Australia's national science agency, conducting applied research across health, climate, agriculture and digital. It is comparable to TPM as a publicly funded national research umbrella but on a far larger scale and with a much broader, non-specialised mandate.
• Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET Oxford): INET Oxford is a university-based research centre applying complexity and systems thinking to economics and policy. It overlaps with TPM's systems-change work such as the Ki te toi o te ora health inequality programme, but focuses specifically on economic systems.

Emerging players

• ARC Centre of Excellence for Mathematical and Statistical Frontiers (ACEMS): ACEMS is an Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence, structurally analogous to NZ's CoRE scheme. It conducts cross-disciplinary mathematical and statistical research with applied impact, similar in scale and mission to TPM's complex-systems modelling programmes.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/te-punaha-matatini

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Te Pūnaha Matatini