Reaching for the stars: Alumni secure $1.5m for start-up

28 July 2026

Business and economy, Science and technology, Sustainable impact, AI, Business School, Auckland Law School, Faculty of Science, Alumni, Faculty of Engineering and Design, Start-ups

When Associate Professor Nick Rattenbury mentioned the Hyades star cluster, the closest open star cluster to Earth, during a lecture, physics student Ashin Alex quickly registered the domain name.

Just a few years later, Hyades has raised $1.5 million to accelerate its AI technology and expand its business.

Led by Ashin and fellow University of Auckland alumni Sam Kurian and Jimin Seo, the company is developing a platform that allows anyone to turn complex datasets such as satellite imagery, drone footage, climate records and radar, into spatial machine learning models.

For example, an insurance company assessing a property's flood risk may have access to datasets from NIWA, Land Information New Zealand and local councils, but turning that information into useful insights can be difficult, says Hyades' Head of Operations and Partnerships Jimin Seo.

Jimin, a law and global studies graduate, says Hyades' AI agents bring datasets together to analyse them and generate valuable information for companies.

"Our agents can handle any kind of spatial or geospatial data, and we hope to help many businesses to use complex data to improve their operations."

The idea for Hyades grew out of Ashin's work as a research assistant in Rattenbury's Free Space Optical Communication research team, where he focused on single photon counting technology.

"We were dealing with a lot of data and looking at ways to interpret it. This is when I came up with the idea to build AI models to interpret complex multidimensional data taken from satellites."

Ashin, who studied a Bachelor of Advanced Science specialising in space systems, says Rattenbury was inspirational.

"He's not a typical professor. He's an inspiring leader, and being part of his research team inspired Hyades."

Through discussions with mentors like Tim Brown, I came to think the start-up path isn't as high risk or reckless as it can be perceived.

Jimin Seo Hyades

Hyades has attracted backing from entrepreneur Tony Falkenstein, Allbirds co-founder Tim Brown, Sir Stephen Tindall's investment company K1W1 and Icehouse Ventures, alongside a $400,000 research and development grant from the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).

For Jimin, the University's Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) enabled him to see entrepreneurship as a viable career option.

"I hesitated to go into entrepreneurship but taking part in CIE's annual Velocity $100k Challenge and getting the chance to go on a trip to Silicon Valley really changed things for me."

Through CIE's annual Vanguard programme, a group of standout University of Auckland students spend a week in Silicon Valley meeting founders, investors and innovators. The experience, made possible through the support of philanthropist and entrepreneur Tony Falkenstein, gave Jimin a new perspective on what was possible.

"Through discussions with mentors like Tim Brown, I came to think the start-up path isn't as high risk or reckless as it can be perceived. There are lots of support structures in place for startups in New Zealand. Over time I came to think that at my age, if anything, it's a risk not to take that path.

"The Silicon Valley study tour is a big investment by Falkenstein and the University, and it's so worth it. Each person benefits immensely and brings something back to give to their community."

Ashin also joined the 2025 Vanguard programme, where he and Jimin quickly connected.

One highlight for Ashin was visiting Stanford's design school, where Tim Brown's ideas and sketches feature prominently on a whiteboard. The Vanguard students met with Brown online, and Ash says his words of wisdom were priceless.

"He told us to follow our instincts."

While Jimin was convinced that entrepreneurship was the right path through the University's entrepreneurship programmes, Sam, Hyades' software lead, had wanted to build a company since childhood.

The science and engineering graduate, who connected with Ashin in a lecture, learned to code when he was just 10.

"Coding was a hobby for me at school, and it was really fun. I had one classmate who also knew how to code. He was both my friend and rival!"

One of his ideas was an app that would let students study together in real time while building a shared library of past exams and notes.

"I've always enjoyed problem solving, and I could see the value of working for myself."

During his final years at university, Sam worked as a research assistant developing software and infrastructure for the Free Space Optical Communication project in New Zealand and Australia. Today, as Hyades' software expert, he says the company is removing technical barriers that have prevented organisations from using spatial data, helping them access its value more easily.

He says spatial AI has applications across industries, from mining and agriculture to banking and insurance, where organisations need to understand complex environmental and geographic information.

"We've created a simple solution that lets anyone upload spatial datasets and use our AI models to generate insights, helping people understand and utilise advanced spatial data without requiring specialist technical expertise."

Media contact:

Sophie Boladeras, media adviser
M: 022 4600 388
E: [email protected]