The 2026 NZ Founder Pay Report is here
What are New Zealand founders actually paid in 2026?
We’ve teamed up with Oxygen Advisors for another year to release the 2026 Founder Pay Report that gives you a real look at founder pay across New Zealand. Using actual payroll data to show what founders are earning and how pay changes by stage, size and other key factors.
Founder pay has always been one of the hardest numbers to benchmark. Now you can see what the data actually says for 2026 and put some proper context behind your own number.
A sneak peek at the numbers
Median founder salary, up 8%
$210k
Median gender pay gap
30%
More solo founders earn vs co-founders
28%
Average wait to first paycheck
34 months
And that's just the start. The full report dives into founder pay by funding stage, company size, revenue, role and geography, with more detail than we could ever fit on this page.
Download the report to explore the 2026 founder pay data
Please note: This report is provided for the personal use of the recipient only and is not to be shared, reproduced or distributed without permission from LiveRem and Oxygen Advisors.
Produced by LiveRem, real-time salary benchmarking for New Zealand startups and scaleups, in partnership with Oxygen Advisors, full-service accounting and fractional CFO support for startups and scaleups.
With thanks to every founder who contributed to make this report possible.
Based in Australia?
We're opening up the Australian Founder Pay Report to help build the first benchmark of its kind for Aussie founders.
