Reflections on two years at The Icehouse - Gavin Lennox, Group CEO

Kia ora koutou,

After two years as Group CEO I’ve worked myself out of a job and will be leaving at the end of the year.

The role was created to boost the growth and cohesion of The Icehouse entities and support their governance. Today, the organisations are thriving. Both The Icehouse and Icehouse Ventures have strong, aligned leadership teams and a clear focus on their respective customers.

I believe now is the right time to move on, confident in the knowledge the organisations will continue to deliver a huge impact on Kiwi business owners and startup founders. I had the opportunity of meeting many of these unsung heroes of New Zealand’s economy on The Icehouse 20th Anniversary Road Trip earlier this year. Their stories of passion, commitment and humility are inspiring and reinforced The Icehouse’s contributions over the last two decades.

My time at The Icehouse has been bookended by COVID-19 lockdowns - the first within a few weeks of joining. The pandemic accelerated the need for business education and support for SMEs which have faced unprecedented challenges. In parallel, significant capital was attracted to the startup venture world.

Over the last two years, The Icehouse has introduced a number of virtual programmes for business owners; launched Icehouse Central, the alumni community platform. It also deepened its partnerships with the Government and the entrepreneurial ecosystem, and diversified its customer base - attracting more women on to its programmes and connecting with Te Ao Māori.



Icehouse Ventures has gone from strength-to-strength with now over $230m in funds under management and investing directly or indirectly in just under 300 startups.

Finally, it’s been a privilege to be part of a great team of talented people driven by a shared purpose of enabling business owners and startup founders to fulfil their extraordinary potential. I’ll be taking some downtime over summer before determining my next challenge.

I look forward to seeing and supporting The Icehouse and Icehouse Ventures continued success.

Ngā mihi
Gavin