Smartie: Cook Islands tech start-up selected for prestigious expo

Cook Islands-based tech company Smartie has been selected as one of only nine start-up tech companies from across the Pacific to attend Viva Technology 2025 – Europe’s largest start-up and tech expo, which will be held in France.

Smartie founder Brett Baudinet says the opportunity is a huge milestone not just for his company, but for the Cook Islands and the wider region.

“This is putting us on the map in the tech scene. I mean, we've been selected as one of the nine only in the South Pacific region as a startup and in tech to represent obviously the Cooks as well as the region in France in this year's Viva Technology 2025.

"So, yeah, we couldn't be more proud of our team to get to this point.”

What makes the feat even more remarkable is that Smartie launched just four months ago.

“It sort of puts a spotlight on it for us to show that we're on the right path, right, to achieve a solution that we want to fix a lot of problems that we have, not just here in the Cook Islands, but across the whole South Pacific.”

Viva Technology, commonly known as “VivaTech”, is the largest annual tech and startup event in Europe, hosting tech giants like Google, Amazon, and Tesla.

For Baudinet, attending the event is a chance to prove what Pacific tech entrepreneurs are capable of.

“There's a few good things from this – to put us obviously one in the spotlight, to sort of showcase what we can achieve in the Pacific region, because obviously we’re looked at as a small destination and not with a lot of resources…”

Smartie, the first South Pacific super app. Photo/Supplied

He said another big motivation is to meet potential global partners who would normally overlook the Pacific like Elon Musk who has his Tesla station set up there.

Baudinet said they haven’t yet received the full list of companies attending, but there could be collaborations they could have with partnerships on tech, on payment solutions and other products.

Smartie’s edge, he says, lies in its ability to innovate for a very different kind of tech environment – remote, low-connectivity Pacific communities.

“You might look at us as a small sector on the world scale, but we can achieve this level of technology in this region and provide the services for people that probably need it more than those in first world countries that have a lot of tech, a lot of competition and supplies all over the place.”

Unlike traditional tech companies, Smartie’s systems are tailored to the unique challenges of the Pacific.

“Our infrastructure and our environment here is very different to what they're used to. We kind of have to build this and scale it to the way everything is set up in our region,” said Baudinet.

He highlighted one feature that often surprises developers from larger nations.

Baudinet said Smartie’s success story should serve as a call to action for more support and pathways for tech startups in the Pacific, particularly for young people.

He added that while global giants like Facebook, Google and YouTube may feel out of reach, Smartie’s journey proves that innovation from the Pacific can make it on the world stage.

Viva Technology 2025 will be held from 11-14 June 2025 in Paris, France, at the Expo Porte de Versailles.

This story was first published in the Cook Islands News.