15 July 2001
Two Christchurch-based business incubators have been awarded a total of $200,000 in the first Industry New Zealand
Incubator Awards.
Canterbury Innovation Incubator was awarded $130,000; Spark Ventures Ltd was awarded $70,000.
Funding under the awards is provided for a wide range of purposes, including installation of IT and web infrastructure,
provision of business services to tenants, research into business incubator best practice, management training and
salaries, and visiting expert programmes.
“The emergence of business incubators in Christchurch is a really positive development for the city’s economy. They will
play a key role in building bright, innovative businesses that will make a valuable contribution to the region through
the creation of commercially viable products and services.
“Industry New Zealand is keen to support their development, which will lead to more jobs and greater prosperity.
American research showed that 87% of incubated companies remained in business three years after leaving their
incubators, and 85% remained in the community,” said Neil Mackay, chief executive of Industry New Zealand.
“Business incubators will help arrest the failure of small businesses. In New Zealand, 86% of enterprises employ less
than 5 people. It has been suggested that around 80% of them fail within three years of establishment.”
Ends/…