September 18th 2009
Sixteen New Zealand high-growth businesses have two weeks to impress judges of The University of Auckland Business School Entrepreneurs’ Challenge and secure a share of $1m in development funds.
The qualifiers, chosen from a pool of more than 100 who applied to take part in the inaugural year of the Challenge, will be whittled down to a handful of finalists by the end of this month, and winners will be announced at a celebration event in November.
Selection committee chairman Brian Hannan says the 16 high-quality qualifiers all embody the excellence and ingenuity that donor Charles Bidwill was hoping for when he bequeathed $3m for the development of high-growth entrepreneurial New Zealand companies wanting to take on the world in exporting.
“We are certainly extremely pleased at the quality of entrants in this first year of operation, and feel very confident that those selected to receive a share of this year’s funding will be outstanding candidates which will make New Zealand proud.”
Of the qualifiers, most are Auckland-based and ready to expand export efforts into other parts of the world. They are:
Allpress
Since 1987, Michael Allpress – owner/operator of Allpress Espresso – has been guiding New Zealanders through their coffee-drinking education, and in 2000, he formed a partnership with his long-time friend, restaurateur Tony Papas, to take quality fresh roasted coffee into the Australian market where they are now firmly established. Michael says the timing is now perfect for Allpress Espresso to give London coffee drinkers the chance to experience the very best in coffee.
“Kiwis and Australians have been telling us for years about the lack of ‘good coffee’ in London,” Michael says. “With the combined knowledge Tony and I have accumulated over many years, and the research we have undertaken during this time, we now feel ready to introduce the highest quality espresso to the biggest village in the world.”
Tony adds: “Having already successfully exported the business to Sydney and Melbourne reassures us that we have the skills and dedicated people required for undertaking such an ambitious project. It also tells us that coffee drinkers around the world are always looking for that exceptional coffee experience.”
Author It
Over the past decade, Author-It Software Corporation (ASC) has become a world leader with more than 3500 clients in 50 countries. Our flagship product Author-It solves the problems associated with creating, managing and publishing the content that goes into formal documents such as product manuals, help systems, sales proposals, policy and procedure, training and eLearning materials. Author-it is used across a number of industries, from software and high-tech to government, education and healthcare. Its client list includes heavyweights such as Microsoft, Philips, Oracle, CA, HP and Intergraph.
ASC president Steve Davis says: “From our inception we have focused on international markets. Now, more than a decade later, more than 95% of our sales are exports. Most of our recent growth has occurred in the US market where we have invested heavily. Our plans include continuing to drive US growth and to further explore European and Asian markets.”
Biomatters
Biomatters is a privately held company with headquarters in New Zealand. Boasting an internationally renowned board and management team across science, software development and business, Biomatters combines expertise in genetics and bio-informatics software development. This unique blend of Kiwi ingenuity and global ‘savviness’ sees Biomatters solutions at the forefront of computational biology worldwide.
Biomatters plans to launch in-market offices on both the East and West coasts of the USA in the next 18 months, with expansion into Europe and Asia via value-added resellers in the next two years. Launching an enterprise version of its flagship software Geneious to better target the pharmaceutical and biotech markets is envisioned for 2010. Continued collaboration with leading technology and research partners is core to Biomatters’ strategy and continued success as a market leader.
Cleverscope
Cleverscope is a technology company operating in the S2 billion test and measurement industry. We make high performance test gear which competes well with other industry players.
Our goal is to be a global brand in the test and measurement business, and we wish to contribute significant export earnings to the New Zealand economy. We have a marketing presence in 15 countries, and intend to increase this significantly.
Climate Surfaces
Climate Surfaces develops, manufactures, markets and sells pre-finished building products for the Australia/New Zealand market. The products are created by a unique proprietary technology developed over eight years that enables the powdercoating of wood-based and gypsum-based products such as MDF, Plywood and Plasterboard. Powdercoating is a process whereby a dry powder (paint) is applied to the substrate via electrostatic conduction. Once applied, it is then ‘baked on’ using special heating technology. Benefits of the Climate products include providing protection from the environment to create better performing building materials, deliver high performance attributes, deliver cost and time economies into the building process, and imparting colours and unique decorative finishes.
The products created by Climate are often world-first and target both the residential and commercial building markets. ClimateLine is the latest product – a pre-finished plasterboard wall lining that eliminates the steps of gibstopping or painting, thus saving 60% of the interior finishing time frame in construction. Other products include decorative panels for creating designer surfaces in kitchen cabinetry, shop fittings and commercial fit-outs.
Climate is unique on a global level, being one of a handful of companies that have specialised in the development of the emerging coating technology. This has created the opportunity to expand into offshore markets via establishing a series of replicated Climate plants based on demand from proven products developed in New Zealand, which can be sold into niche, high-value segments of the global construction industry.
Miranda Smith
Miranda Smith Homecare provides quality home-based care and support services for the elderly, disabled, those with long-term illness or convalescing from illness, and end-of-life care in the Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch regions. Our long-term objective is to ensure all New Zealanders are provided with the choice and opportunity to remain living independently in their own home.
In order to do this, we are committed to developing – in conjunction with other industry providers – industry standards and certification. We believe this is necessary in order to protect New Zealand’s home-based care industry, and to ensure the industry is operating to the highest standards.
Monitor
A transaction management specialist, Monitor Business Machines provides both the software and hardware to allow the process and management of transactions across a range of campuses both institutional and corporate. We are a truly international company, with our products sold into the United Kingdom, Europe, the US, South Africa, Malaysia, Australia and New Zealand. All the development work and manufacturing is handled in New Zealand.
Our plan is to improve our offering by providing stronger and more complete solutions into specific vertical markets, and developing a direct channel to market in our home territory (Australia and New Zealand) whilst maintaining and improving the management of our existing channels to market throughout the rest of the world.
We intend to improve our marketing by focusing on the clients’ stories and successes in the use of our products, and by the telling of these stories. We believe we can grow our business many times over with better vertical market focus and improved marketing.
Outpost Central
Outpost Central develops smart water meter technology to help customers monitor and manage their water resources to reduce costs. By connecting water meters to the Internet, Outpost Central provides detailed and timely information on consumption patterns to help manage water use, reduce leaks and meet regulatory obligations.
Outpost has delivered solutions in Australia with major water utilities, large commercial customers and in more than 1000 Australian schools, and typically achieved a reduction in water consumption of 20% with large users.
Outpost Central is New Zealand’s third fastest growing technology company, with 75% of its revenue from exports, and has plans to be the global leader in smart water meter technology.
Pacific Helmets
Head injuries are among the worst form of personal injury, because if the injury does not kill you, the damage to your brain is frequently sufficient to affect you for the remainder of your life. For nearly 30 years, Pacific Helmets has had a clear focus on creating the highest possible specification safety helmets, with a product range now directed to protecting the heads of firefighters, paramedics, rescue workers and others whose job or risk profile means they work in potentially dangerous situations.
Because there is no one safety helmet design that suits all the requirements of these risk profiles, Pacific’s objective is to create a range of helmet products designed for every possible requirement. The innovation continues with new products being constantly in development, in order to meet customer requests, new editions of international helmet standards, and also to incorporate the research ideas and concepts from within the company’s own development projects.
Phytomed
A manufacturer and distributor of herbal health products, Phytomed commenced trading in 1998 and has two brands: Phytomed ‘practitioner-only’ herbal extracts and Kiwiherb, herbal medicines sold directly to consumers. Phytomed achieved certification under the Code of Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) in December 2007. This is a requirement to enable access to most export markets.
Sales have grown steadily each year, and a record profit is forecast this year. Exports of Kiwiherb products to the United Kingdom and Ireland commenced in 2002, and Phytomed plans to licence products in the European Union prior to 2011 to enable therapeutic claims to be made and future EU market access.
The company also plans to commence export of Kiwiherb to Australia in 2010. Phytomed has recently expanded its premises to increase production capacity, and its growth strategy is based firmly on substantially growing both the domestic and export markets during the next decade.
Pitango
Pitango is an exciting food business that has grown significantly through product innovation and a focus on producing high taste, high quality and healthy meal offerings to consumers. A leading brand in Australia’s organic chilled soup market, Pitango is quickly gaining a leading share of the chilled meals category after the launch of its prepared meals range last year.
Pitango enjoys a 35% share of the chilled soup market in New Zealand, which has doubled in size from $4 million to $8.2 million since 2006. All Pitango products are certified organic, range between 96 and 99% fat-free, gluten and preservative-free, and provide vegetarian options.
RESULTS.com
RESULTS.com...the business execution experts. We transform business potential into extraordinary results. RESULTS.com was a winner of the Vero Excellence in Business Support awards in 2008 (<$5m revenue category), a winner again in 2009 ($5-10m revenue category), and was the 9th fastest growing New Zealand company in the Deloitte Fast 50 awards in 2008.
With nine offices in New Zealand and one in Canada, RESULTS.com has a proven business model and process of delivering strategic planning and business execution services to mid-sized firms that are ready to scale globally. We help firms to craft effective strategic plans that are updated every quarter to ensure relevance with the competitive environment.
Using a combination of web-based business education, virtual delivering of consulting services, a proprietary software product called Execution Driver, as well as face-to-face meetings with client firms, RESULTS.com business execution experts meet with client leadership teams every week to drive business execution.
Senztek
Senztek is the leading manufacturer of hot water heating control technology in New Zealand and aims to maintain this position by continuing to introduce world-class innovative solutions to solve energy efficiency challenges. Senztek has already gained a significant market presence in Australia, and aims to take this technology to other markets including the UK and Europe.
Senztek is passionate about its technology and its ability to grow export markets, and thus become a substantial niche player on the world stage.
The Village Press
The Village Press, based in Hawke’s Bay, is New Zealand’s largest extra virgin olive oil producer, and processor of the majority of the olive crop in New Zealand. Exporting to 12 countries as well as supplying New Zealand’s major supermarket stores, The Village Press ha s exponential production increases forecast. These economies of scale have enabled The Village Press to achieve market penetration and ongoing sales at price points that are acceptable to most households – while not compromising on the extremely high quality of its olive oil. The quality of the oil is independently verified by the consumers, who rated The Village Press olive oil as the best available in New Zealand supermarkets. The innovative packaging option of The Village Press ‘Bag ’n Box’ is now proving popular with consumers as well as the hospitality trade.
With major export focus on North America, the appointment of brand managers and broker networks throughout the USA and Canada will endeavour to secure an ongoing market for another quality New Zealand food product in that market.
Truescape
Truescape clients are energy, infrastructure and commercial property developers in the United States, Australia and New Zealand. The company provides valuable services during the design, consent, consultation and marketing phases of their projects, and our 3D services and products reduce their costs by integrating technical data, making the real issues and options accessible. The company helps developers and their consultants to improve designs and reduce risks by accurately showing their finished projects in context with images that combine the accuracy of engineers’ and architects’ drawings with the readily appreciated aspects of high quality photography or digital animation.
Using worldclass 3D visual engineering tools, Truescape helps clients communicate the benefits and consequences of their projects, and the human experience of them in the context of the surrounding environment. The photo and video visual engineering simulations Truescape produces are accepted in planning hearings and courts of law because the production processes are robust, the simulations effective and they are fully supported by Truescape’s expert witness service.
The business established in New Zealand has, in the past 18 months, maintained a leading position in the US market with Blue Chip clients including some of the world’s largest energy companies such as Shell and BP, and some of the USA’s largest utilities.
Wine Technology
Wine Technology Marlborough specialises in control and automation technology for wineries under the VinWizard banner. Since 1996, the company has developed and refined the technology while quietly establishing a prestigious international client base and partnership network.
Few such companies in the world are solely dedicated to the wine industry. Fewer still can deliver equivalent systems beyond their own domestic borders and compete on price and functionality. These international capabilities put the company in a very compelling position in an industry undergoing fundamental change.
Working beyond the core ability to control tank temperature, WinWizard is gaining international recognition for what it can do in terms of power savings through integrated communication with all parts of the winery.
Immediate plans are to capitalise on early success in the major US and South American markets, with the more traditional European countries to follow. Asia then beckons as a longer-term prospect.
