About us

Haere mai. We're alpher‏o

We are a digital agency from Aotearoa New Zealand. We use our curiosity, courage and empathy to invent wonderful digital solutions that make a difference for people and the planet. And we have fun while we’re about it.

Our vision

Bold digital.

Better world.

Three people leaning over a large piece of paper with post-it notes

Our work

We produce some of the most impactful digital solutions in New Zealand. We help government agencies to deliver equitable services that benefit all of Aotearoa; enable large businesses to reinvent themselves; and support out-there start-ups to do the next big thing.

Graphic showing various apps that Alphero have developed

Our pillars

Inventive
Emotive
Brave

How it started

After a 12-year career spent at the frontier of mobile innovation, in 2010 Caroline Dewe realised the time was right for a new kind of digital agency that could bring together the right blend of skills to deliver what no-one else in New Zealand was offering - and Alphero was born.

Our story

“At the time that I co-founded Alphero, with Kostia Shinderman, there were three kinds of companies out there already: 

Those that did strategy work and produced white papers but didn’t say how or what that would look like; 

Creative agencies that were focussed on campaigns at a design level but not on designing services that people would keep on using; 

And software development companies who would respond to RFPs and then spend two years building something that, by the time it got to market, was already out of date.

“We decided we needed to combine those things: have the strategic thinking and vision for where you’re going, along with amazing creative design that’s focused on the customer experience - and that these things could be wrapped up with rock solid delivery that ensures things happen quickly. So that’s how Alphero came about.

“Right from the get-go our approach has been to look for clients with big visions. We wanted the opportunity to work collaboratively with them and be future-focused - rather than just deliver short-term solutions and move on. This allows you to make better decisions for the work you’re doing and leads to better outcomes overall.

“We often get brought in when clients are either starting from scratch or they’re wanting to do something radically different - and we’re able to be the catalyst for them changing. If an organisation wants to transform, you can plan it and talk about it for a long time, but to actually make it happen you need people who know how to work in that transformational way.

“Over the past decade, we’ve done many landmark projects with clients such as Waka Kotahi, Te Whatu Ora, Westpac, Powershop, The Co-operative Bank, 2degrees, MetService, and more. ‘Build us the best *insert name of product* in New Zealand’ is not an uncommon brief, and it’s one we love to deliver on.

“Kostia bowed out in 2018 but Alphero has kept on growing and we’re now 60 strong with offices in Auckland and Wellington. Creating an amazing team has been one of my proudest accomplishments.

 “We’ve built our brand on breaking new ground and we want to keep challenging ourselves to go outside the lines - and backing ourselves to do that better than anyone else.”

A woman wearing glasses and a black top
Pink illustration of Caroline Dewe’s signature
Caroline Dewe

CEO

How it's going

Dog wearing a bandana around his neck
Man and woman relaxing on a sofa
A woman wearing a black top and has a laptop in front of her.
Man laughing with his hands clasped together
Man wearing an oversized hat and giving the peace sign
Man and woman smiling at each other while making a coffee
Man playing table tennis
Man and woman smiling on a sofa

Our Awards

Best Design
Best Design
2 times
Gold
3 times
Silver
13 times
Bronze
19 times
Finalist
Good Design
Good Design
4 times
Gold
5 times
Winner
2 times
Finalist
Webby
Webby
1 time
Finalist
5 times
Honouree
CSS Design Award
CSS Design Award
3 times
Winner
1 time
Honouree

We have a really great team who fundamentally care about making a difference. We invest in people and innovation, constantly challenging ourselves to both do the best we can, and do the right thing. It’s part of our promise to our people and our clients.

Caroline Dewe

CEO, Alphero