From billion dollar organised crime busts to making frontline retail workers feel safer at work - Auror has been named a finalist for Company of the Year in the 2026 New Zealand Hi-Tech Awards, in recognition of its growing impact on retail safety globally.
The Company of the Year category is one of the top technology accolades in New Zealand, and is voted on by expert local and international judges. Auror was named alongside five other New Zealand tech success stories for the category.
Auror co-founder and CEO Phil Thomson said the nomination means a lot, but we recognise that the impact we have simply isn’t possible without our incredible retail and law enforcement partners.
“To work with some of the most recognised brands in the world and partner with leading law enforcement agencies is an absolute privilege - helping them better understand the scale of crime and violence impacting frontline workers and provide them the tools to keep their people safe,” he said.
“Auror helps them to not just surface their previously fragmented understanding of violent in-store offending and loss, but also to prevent crime by identifying organised crime groups, empower them with risk detection and allow police to focus their resources on high harm offenders.
“Our customers are some of the biggest employers in the world; they have an obligation to ensure their teams go home safe from each shift. I’m incredibly proud that over six million retail workers across 85,000 stores in seven countries can count on the Auror Network effect to make them safer.
“Retail connects us all - it’s where we work, shop, socialise - so the issue of retail crime touches everyone, and we’re proud to play a role in making a difference.”
Many of Auror’s retail partners have bought-in to the shared mission to reduce violent retail crime by 50% in five years - and there is some fantastic progress being made so far.
In the last 12 months, Auror’s platform has supported countless busts of organised and violent offenders, sometimes connected to hundreds of events, across North America, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand.
“In the U.S, retailer information in Auror helped police dismantle a $1 billion crime ring in Texas, which involved about 190 individuals and impacted 28 states and even across international borders,” Phil said.
“Meanwhile retailers and police across the UK, Australia and New Zealand are working together like never before. We’ve partnered with the largest police forces in the UK to connect them to our Auror Network of retailers to deal with the high rates of violence taking over their high streets, meanwhile in Australia, police forces like Victoria Police and NSW Police use Auror to drive their successful dedicated retail crime operations which have untangled sophisticated criminal syndicates in recent months.”
Auror was the 2022 NZ Hi-Tech Most Innovative Software Solution.
The winners of the 2026 Hi-Tech Awards will be announced on Friday, 22 May in Auckland.
About Auror
Auror is a global software company providing a Retail Crime Intelligence platform to the world’s leading retailers to record potential crime in their stores after it occurs, better collaborate with law enforcement on crime, and create safer stores for all.
Auror allows retailers to record events in a secure and structured way, helping them connect the dots to identify prolific and organised offenders. This information empowers retailers to make informed decisions to protect their people, customers, and property, and address the large scale of retail crime impacting our communities.
Globally, Auror is used by more than 85,000 retail stores and in more than 3,500 law enforcement agencies across North America, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. Learn more at www.auror.co.
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