‘Silent achiever’: VeVe’s David Yu takes out EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 New Zealand title with NFT trading app

In less than five years, Auckland entrepreneur David Yu has evolved his comic store business to a leading platform for mobile-based digital collections globally.

Yu, creator of the app VeVe, was awarded the title of EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 New Zealand last night at a star-studded awards ceremony in Auckland.

Yu beat out four others, including Crimson Education’s Jamie Beaton and Angus Brown, co-founder of brain drink Ārepa, for the honour.

VeVe has revolutionised the collectables landscape by establishing a platform that allows users to collect and trade digital items.

Users can own and showcase their favourite characters, artworks, and memorabilia from popular franchises using non-fungible tokens (NFT) technology.

Cecilia Robinson, founder of Tend Health and chair of the judges panel for this year’s awards, said Yu was a true Kiwi entrepreneur.

“He is a silent achiever that is both humble and grounded in his approach,” Robinson said.

“He has been running businesses from the age of 16 and has grown as an entrepreneur alongside his company, constantly adapting and refining his approach along the way.

“The courage it took for David to forge ahead with a business idea in a completely new industry is admirable, and to now be sitting as the leader in that sector is truly outstanding.”

Yu’s business started in 2018 as a comic store on Auckland’s Karangahape Road. VeVe has now sold more than eight million collectables on its platform for brands like Disney, Marvel and DC Comics.

The app is used by collectors worldwide, with 35 per cent of its users in the United States and 40 per cent in the UK and Europe.

Yu will now represent New Zealand in the global competition against winners from more than 50 other countries for the title of EY World Entrepreneur of the Year, held in Monaco next year.

In 2021, BusinessDesk reported Yu’s company Ecomi settled a US$3.2 million case filed in Singapore – though the terms of the settlement could not be discussed – after it went into business with cryptocurrency influencer Benn Godenzi and his firm MB Technology to work on a digital finance platform.

MB Technology had argued Ecomi had failed to pay it for work on the digital finance management platform, and had falsely induced it to invest 356.69 Bitcoin and 170 Ethereum in the project.

As part of the suit MB Technology filed proceedings in New Zealand and obtained freezing orders over Yu’s assets including several properties valued at $4.1m by the Auckland Council. Those assets were unfrozen when the case was settled.

Jason Macgregor, director of EY Entrepreneur of the Year New Zealand, praised each of the category winners.

“It was fantastic to be able to acknowledge all of the category winners for their contribution to the business community, and wider New Zealand, but especially David as our overall winner,” he said.

“These entrepreneurs and business leaders have stuck their necks out and forged a path forward during times of uncertainty, contributing significantly to New Zealand’s economy. We applaud their courage and resilience and encourage more Kiwis to follow in their footsteps.”

The independent judging panel also included Brianne West (founder, Ethique), Grant Straker (chief executive and co-founder, Straker), Jeremy Moon (founder, Icebreaker) and Sam Hazledine (founder and managing director, MedRecruit).

Competing for the EY Entrepreneur of the Year 2023 New Zealand award were: