UC graduate and successful business entrepreneur in NZ final
university-of-canterbury
Fri Aug 23 2013 12:00:00 GMT+1200 (New Zealand Standard Time)
UC graduate and successful business entrepreneur in NZ final
Friday, 23 August 2013, 1:33 pm
Press Release: University of Canterbury
UC graduate and successful business entrepreneur in NZ finals
August 23, 2013
University of Canterbury (UC) graduate, New York-based Guy Horrocks, co-founder of the world’s first iPhone app company, Polar Bear Farm, is a finalist in the annual Ernest & Young New Zealand entrepreneur of the year award.
Horrocks has received attention from Apple and helped pioneer the jailbreak market - the only way to get an app on cellphones before Apple launched the iTunes App Store. Horrocks also worked on the 2012 US elections with CNN and TIME magazine.
Not yet 30, he had the vision to get into iPhone applications before Apple opened its app store.
After graduating from UC, Horrocks received attention in the United States by giving coffee to people waiting in line at a major app conference. His current company, Carnival Labs, is also a mobile app development company. His firm has created mobile applications for numerous fortune 500 companies.
UC Vice-Chancellor Dr Rod Carr says Horrocks is a UC graduate the university is proud of.
``He has a creative flare and business intuition and the ability to gather talent around him. While Guy may not win, the company he co-founded has just completed an initial capital raising that values Carnival Labs at USD$10 million.
``He is an example of a young entrepreneur who took the opportunity while at UC to acquire and apply talents and skills to create and launch a business enterprise that was global from birth.
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``People like Guy aspire to deal with the world’s biggest and best known brands. He worked all hours of the day and night to deliver technology ahead of the competition and that exceeded their customers’ expectations.’’
Dr Carr is Horrocks’s mentor and has helped him since launching his first company in his last year at UC’s law school.
The Ernest & Young entrepreneur of the year category award winners will be announced today and the overall New Zealand entrepreneur of the year will be named on October 17.
The Unlimited magazine named Horrocks as one of the top influencers in New Zealand to watch in 2013.
ENDS
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