Media Release
Unicom consortium appoints top talent to investment committee
Hamilton, New Zealand – 28 November 2008 – Unicom, a university commercialisation consortium comprised of WaikatoLink,
AUT University, Lincoln University and Canterprise, has appointed the Hon Ruth Richardson, Dr Mark Ahn and Mr Bill Day
to an investment committee responsible for overseeing millions in pre-seed investment funds awarded to help
commercialise research from the universities.
The Unicom consortium was awarded $4.9 million government pre-seed funding by the Foundation of Science Research and
Technology (FRST) earlier in the year. The funds will be employed to unleash the economic potential from the
intellectual property in the universities. Collectively the universities receive $4.935 million over 3 years, the
largest amount paid from the PreSeed Fund designed to maximise the commercial benefits to New Zealand from publicly
funded research.
Mr Mark Stuart, Chief Executive, WaikatoLink says, “We’re delighted to attract such high calibre talent and it is a
reflection of the commercial potential of our early stage technologies and the important role university IP will play in
the future economic wellbeing of New Zealand. The investment committee will play a key role in helping to prioritise
consortium projects and guiding them towards investor readiness. The collective international business experience of
our new directors will add a huge amount of commercial capability.”
The Hon Ruth Richardson joins the investment committee as an independent director. A former New Zealand Minister of
Finance, she has considerable involvement in the local and international business community chairing Jade Software
Corporation Limited, the IMP Diversified Income Fund Limited, SYFT, British Telecom’s Health Advisory Board and the KULA
Fund. Ruth Richardson is also a director of the LECG Corporation, Oyster Bay Marlborough Vineyards Limited, Synlait
Limited and Ruth Richardson (New Zealand) Limited.
Mr Bill Day and Dr Mark Ahn have also been appointed as independent directors.
Mr Day, one of New Zealand’s leading entrepreneurs, is founder and chief executive of Seaworks, a multimillion-dollar
global marine technology company. His company has pioneered techniques for seismic surveying, underwater salvage and
the repair and laying of underwater cables and is regarded as the world leader in its field. He is a former Ernst & Young, New Zealand Entrepreneur of the Year Award winner and is vice chairman of the New Zealand Business Roundtable.
Dr Ahn, Chair in Science and Technology Entrepreneurship at Victoria University, has a track record in successfully
commercialising science and technology-based innovations. Career highlights include leading a biopharmaceutical cancer
care company to a NASDAQ listing and an oncology therapeutic franchise to $1 billion in revenues. He serves on several
NASDAQ and private boards including RXi Pharmaceuticals and Access Pharmaceuticals. He is also Chairman of ZyGEM’s
newly formed Clinical Advisory Board.
The independent directors will join representatives from each of the university commercialisation groups; Mr Mark
Stuart, Chief Executive of WaikatoLink, the commercialisation company of the University of Waikato; Dr Peter John,
Director of Research and Commercialisation at Lincoln University; Mr Raiyo Nariman, acting Chief Executive of
Canterprise, the University of Canterbury's knowledge transfer company; and Mr Kevin Pryor, Chief Executive of AUT
Enterprises, the commercialisation arm of AUT University.
The consortium approach is a first for the PreSeed Fund. Working collaboratively each group will share their knowledge,
expertise, and local and international networks. The fund has the potential to fund dozens of projects from the
consortium. The goal for the consortium is to generate the substantial returns WaikatoLink generated from previous
PreSeed funding.
“Unicom is extremely well positioned as we work to translate the research outcomes from the consortium into commercial
technologies,” says Mr Stuart.
– ENDS –