Rotorua’s Rumaki Cafe is breaking new ground before it has even opened its doors, becoming the first pakihi Māori to seek investment through Te Whare Manaaki, a new kaupapa Māori peer-to-peer koha-lending platform.
The fully immersive reo Māori cafe is seeking $15,000 through the platform to help complete its journey towards opening on Fenton Street in Rotorua.
Rumaki has already attracted national and international attention for an ambitious concept that aims to make te reo Māori part of an ordinary trip for coffee or kai.
Rather than restricting immersion to classrooms, wānanga or formal learning environments, Rumaki wants to create a commercial space where customers can hear, speak and strengthen their reo as part of everyday life.
The venture has already secured $118,000 in investment and raised another $28,000 from donors.
Now it is turning to a distinctly Māori approach to raising the next tranche of capital.
PŪTEA THAT KEEPS WORKING
Te Whare Manaaki has been developed by IndigiShare to connect Māori businesses with people and organisations wanting to put their pūtea behind kaupapa they believe in.
But this is not conventional crowdfunding.
Rather than simply donating money, Kaituku Pūtea pledge funds towards a participating business.
Once the target is reached, that money is provided to the pakihi as a zero-interest repayable loan.
When the business repays it, investors can take their money back or put it behind another Māori enterprise.
The idea is simple but potentially powerful — one pool of pūtea can support one pakihi, return, and then help another.
IndigiShare founder and chief executive Maria Ngawati says that circular approach could provide Māori enterprise with another pathway to capital while allowing whānau, hapū, iwi, trusts and organisations to directly invest in Māori aspirations.
RUMAKI BECOMES THE FIRST TEST
Rumaki Cafe is the first business to put the new model into practice.
For IndigiShare, that makes the Rotorua venture an important test after almost a year developing Te Whare Manaaki.
The platform is currently being piloted through the Financial Markets Authority Regulatory Sandbox, allowing the lending model to be tested and refined within a controlled regulatory environment.
If successful, the concept could help address one of the longstanding challenges facing Māori entrepreneurs — getting access to capital.
For many pakihi Māori, a strong idea and community support do not necessarily translate into straightforward access to conventional business lending.
Te Whare Manaaki is attempting to build an alternative based on collective investment, repayment and recycling capital through successive Māori businesses.
MORE THAN A CUP OF COFFEE
Rumaki itself is designed to demonstrate how Māori enterprise can create economic and cultural returns at the same time.
Kaiwhakahaere Miraka Davies developed the cafe concept after identifying a gap facing people learning and revitalising te reo Māori.
Someone can spend hours learning the reo in formal settings, but maintaining that momentum becomes harder when they return to environments where English dominates almost every everyday interaction.
Rumaki aims to change that.
Customers with different levels of reo capability will be able to enter an environment designed to encourage natural engagement with te reo Māori while ordering kai, drinking coffee and connecting with others.
That means every transaction also has the potential to become a small act of language revitalisation.
MĀORI BUSINESS CREATING MĀORI IMPACT
The economic impact also stretches beyond Rumaki’s front door.
The venture has the potential to create employment, purchase from Māori suppliers and circulate money through other Māori businesses.
That is the wider philosophy behind Te Whare Manaaki.
Investment in pakihi Māori is not simply about whether an individual company turns a profit.
Successful Māori enterprises can create jobs for whānau, support other Māori suppliers, strengthen communities and help build intergenerational economic resilience.
In Rumaki’s case, there is another return on that investment — strengthening te reo Māori.
FROM KOHA TO CAPITAL
The arrival of Te Whare Manaaki represents an interesting evolution in the kaupapa of collective support.
Whānau, iwi and hapū have always pooled resources to support people and kaupapa.
This platform takes that principle into a regulated peer-to-peer lending environment where the capital is designed to come home and potentially be used again.
If the model succeeds, $15,000 invested today does not necessarily create just $15,000 worth of impact.
It could support Rumaki, be repaid, move into another pakihi Māori and continue circulating.
For Rumaki Cafe, the immediate goal is getting the doors open on Fenton Street.
For Te Whare Manaaki, the ambition is considerably bigger.
It is about building an ecosystem where Māori capital can back Māori ideas — and where the same pūtea can keep working for generations.
Kaituku Pūtea registrations are now open through Te Whare Manaaki.
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