Small Business Project: Love of trading cards sees Wellingtonian use AI to create platform for school children
Monday, 22 June 2026
The Small Business Project is a weekly series that shines the spotlight on Kiwi small businesses doing interesting and unusual things in their industries.
AuraForge was born when Wellingtonian Miguel Alcocer and his 9-year-old son - an avid trading card collector - came up with the idea to turn his drawings and creations into trading cards. After finding success amongst Alcocer Jr and his friends, the solution architect tells Aimee Shaw he built an app with AI and is exploring how to turn the operation into a commercial business.
What has your venture set out to achieve?
My son started collecting One Piece and Pokémon trading cards. It is very popular with school aged children, so much so they are forbidden to trade cards during school hours. My son would come home after school when they would trade, and be really excited every time he got shiny cards.
On a play date for him and a friend, I noticed they were drawing their own little cards and writing in their powers, and I thought ‘What if I try to use AI to basically make sense of the drawing they are doing, and then convert it into a card’. The initial platform I created to do this was very rudimentary, but it was still able to do the card and understand the overall drawing. I use Google AI Studio, and my son kept asking for new features. I also got quite excited about it, so I kept on adding more and building out the platform, to the point where the card creations look quite flashy.
That was over a month ago, and I’ve now built a website and an app with AI that allows people to create their own cards, a digital print asset, and then print them. So far my son has created over 200 cards, printed on good quality paper that look like legit trading cards.
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How much time and money have you invested?
I’ve spent a few weekends and after work hours building the platform. I’ve only invested $200, as we already had the printer at home that we have been using.
What’s the biggest challenge your business is facing?
It is not progressing as well as I wanted just yet. The platform definitely gets the attention of people, and guests at home are quite excited when we show them. People are using the platform and they do convert their drawings into trading cards; they spend a good amount of time and enjoy the process, but when it comes to the actual cost, they find it is difficult to justify, with the high cost of everything right now. But at the same time, every time I put in a call to the AI to be able to generate the cards, it costs me money, so it's not something I can offer for free, so I am working through how to generate sales from the platform and an income to be able to continue adapting the features.
What’s next for AuraForge?
I have contacted a printing business here in Wellington to see if they will be keen to partner up. I got a good response, but the problem is that for it to make sense they need to be able to print quite a lot. The platform will need to be quite popular, in order for it to become cheaper; if people can print whole decks of cards. Right now, I need to collect 1000 cards in order to be able to make it financially viable for the printing business and for myself.
I want to offer not only the digital asset, but a way to integrate this printing business, so I can send the cards in the mail that are created, and so that’s what I’m exploring now. I am also working to promote the platform in Japan, where they are quite big on Pokémon and trading card culture.
In three years’ time you will be …
I’d like to have a platform that gets kids excited about drawing and transforming their cards. That is something I’ve seen with my son and his friends and I’d love to see this grow for the masses. It will be fantastic if at some point demand is so high it becomes easier to partner with a company to print and send the trading cards by mail.
The goal is to evolve this from a side project into a formal venture. I’m exploring how to best scale the platform to reach more families who want to bridge the gap between traditional drawing and digital collectibles.
Most helpful piece of advice you have ever received?
I feel New Zealand needs more practical support for entrepreneurs and small businesses, a place where there is hands-on support and development opportunities as part of traditional incubator programmes. I’m seeking to connect with people that know how to drive marketing or have ideas on how to establish a business, instead of learning slowly as I go.
If you would like your business to feature in The Small Business Project, email Aimee Shaw at aimee.shaw@stuff.co.nz