Press Release: 27/08/08 LITMOS:
The Next Big Thing Much like our athletes in Beijing,
New Zealand tech companies continue to punch well above their weight on the world stage. You only have to think of
success stories like Navman, Xero and Virtual Spectator to appreciate what happens when you take a healthy dose of Kiwi
spirit, ingenuity and sheer hard-work and apply it to the software market.
LITMOS is the heir apparent to the title “New Zealand’s next big software success”. Currently filming the TV reality
show Start-Up TV, LITMOS is turning heads on the global IT stage.
In a nutshell, LITMOS is an on-line training company that seems to have successfully found a way to not only simplify
the on-line training environment, but to do so in such a way that engages the end-user and trainer. Most attempts to
transfer training on-line stumble because they require huge resources to manage, are impersonal and fiendishly
complicated to use. LITMOS has changed all that with a simple interface that does not require additional software
installations to run (as a trainer you upload your content and LITMOS takes care of the rest) and that engages users
with an interactive experience that fully utilises the web 2.0 environment.
Their approach has earned them the opportunity to star in a TVNZ reality show profiling New Zealand start up companies
in which start-ups are pitched one against the other to help identify and support the next big thing in the New Zealand
software world. The winning company is rewarded with unprecedented public exposure for a new start up, but also the
chance to pitch for a global market launch in Silicon Valley, USA. From an initial line up of over 100 hopefuls, LITMOS
has made it through to the final rounds and is in with a chance to go for the big prize. Already it has signed up new
customers with Telnet, Safe Access New Zealand, and Learning Takeaway utilising their services, but they will only know
if that is enough to impress the judges on September 11th when they make the final decisions.
LITMOS founder and CEO, Rich Chetwynd: “It’s an exciting time for LITMOS. Participating in the TV show has forced the
pace, made us accelerate the market validation stages of our development, and given us the kick we needed to push on.
We’ve known from the outset that our idea was a good one, and had an intuitive feel for what would be needed to make
on-line training a serious alternative to face to face training. Being in the programme has forced us to address a lot
of the execution issues that turn the good idea into a good business. We’ve had access to fabulous advice from our
mentors and have really focused our thinking along the way.
Regardless of whether we win the top prize, the work that we have done to get this far has put us in a great position to
achieve our market place success.”
Whether LITMOS does indeed win first prize will be determined by the panel of judges that include some of the top names
in the NZ software industry - Richard MacManus (ReadWriteWeb); Tim Norton (PlanHQ); and Andrew Hamilton (The ICEHOUSE).
The progress of the competing entries will be tracked during the filming of the TV show, with the winner announced when
Start-Up TV is due to go to air on TV One in October.
One thing’s for sure, LITMOS is yet another bright example of exactly the kind of world leading initiatives that young
Kiwi software firms are capable of. The success of LITMOS and their contempories will play a critical role in defining
the shape of the New Zealand economy into the future.
ends