40 Under 40 2025: Francesca Kelly, Darkhorse

Francesca Kelly

Managing director
Darkhorse
New Zealand

Francesca Kelly grew up in an entrepreneurial household, where ambition was part of the air you breathed. After university, she eschewed a typical 9-to-6 and joined the Mediterranean superyacht circuit. Long days and grueling schedules weren’t glamorous, but they funded her first entrepreneurial experiment: Cocoloco, a coconut water brand inspired by her travels. Teaching herself the ropes of social media and influencer marketing, Kelly made Cocoloco one of New Zealand’s first digitally savvy brands—an early sign of her knack for spotting trends and leveraging emerging platforms.

That acumen caught the eye of Mike Hewitt, founder of luxury events and PR agency, Darkhorse. Initially brought in as a digital consultant, Kelly quickly proved indispensable. By 2018, she co-founded Darkside, the shop’s digital and social arm, and helped expand the agency from two verticals to four, culminating in its acquisition by Project Worldwide.

Her business record speaks for itself. The shop has experienced exponential growth. Key metrics include a 16% YoY revenue increase, a 13% spike in profit margins, and a 35% improvement in team utilization. She’s led client wins with Adidas and Chemist Warehouse, kept global clients like L’Oréal and Pernod Ricard loyal, and supported the agency’s Australian expansion, which now accounts for nearly 40% of group business.

Kelly’s leadership is as defined by people as it is by profit. In 2020, while on maternity leave, she was promoted to general manager and began embedding the progressive wellness, parental, and development programmes the shop is now known for. In New Zealand, such policies are the norm, but Kelly’s hallmark is the consistency with which they’ve been applied. Today, six of seven senior leadership roles across ANZ are held by women, with 100% female representation at the top in New Zealand.

Beyond the agency, Kelly champions industry standards for wellbeing and gender equity, from writing op-eds on workplace wellness to creating paid internship programmes that lower barriers for young talent. It’s a throughline in her story: whether wrangling coconuts, clients, or culture, Kelly leads with both ambition and care—qualities that set her apart in a crowded field.