Hengjie Wang

Hengjie Wang is a New Zealand technology entrepreneur and co-founder and chief executive of Kami, the education technology platform used by teachers and students around the world.

Kami began in 2013, when Wang and his co-founders developed a tool, initially called Notable PDF, to help students annotate and collaborate on digital documents. What started as a University of Auckland project grew into a global classroom platform focused on making learning materials more interactive, accessible and useful for everyday teaching.

Under Wang’s leadership, Kami has scaled from Auckland into international education markets, with teachers and students in more than 180 countries. It has become especially dominant in the United States, where it is used in an estimated 90% of K–12 classrooms and across some of the country’s largest school districts. The platform now reaches tens of millions of users, turning static classroom documents into collaborative, living learning experiences.

The company’s momentum has been recognised well beyond New Zealand: Kami featured on Time magazine’s list of the world’s most influential companies, attracted a major investment from US firm Boston Ventures at a valuation of around NZ$300 million and in 2025 its founders were named EY Entrepreneur of the Year for New Zealand. That same year, Kami made its first acquisition, buying UK-based Book Creator and lifting its combined reach towards 70 million teachers and students worldwide. Wang has kept the product free for New Zealand schools as a deliberate move to help close the digital divide at home.

Wang’s profile is noteworthy because Kami represents one of New Zealand’s strongest edtech stories. His work shows how a simple student problem can become a global platform when the product is clear, the market is large and the execution stays focused — all while keeping the company’s heart in Aotearoa.

Sources: Kami · RNZ · NZ Herald