Hon Simon Bridges
Minister for Economic Development

Hon Paul Goldsmith
Minister of Science and Innovation

Embargoed until 8pm, 17 October 2017

Media Statement

TIN companies now generating $10b a year

Economic Development Minister Simon Bridges and Science and Innovation Minister Paul Goldsmith have today congratulated New Zealand’s leading hi-tech companies for achieving a combined annual global revenue of $10 billion for the first time.

“The report highlights the increasingly important contribution that innovative hi-tech companies make to New Zealand, with the collective export revenues of the 200 largest tech companies now earning more than $7.3 billion in export revenues,” Mr Bridges says.

“The Government has backed the ICT sector to succeed and we are now seeing the results in the fantastic growth of the sector.”

The record-breaking figure has been revealed in the annual Technology Investment Network’s TIN100 Report, released today.

The TIN Report is an analysis of the performance of the top 200 New Zealand-founded hi-tech exporters by revenue in the areas of Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Hi-Tech Manufacturing and Biotechnology.

Top performers include Datacom Group, Fisher & Paykel Appliances and Healthcare, Xero, and Gallagher Group. Highlights in this year’s report include:

· The TIN200 tech companies produce the equivalent of 10% of all New Zealand exports;
· They have created 4,352 new jobs globally to employ over 43,000 staff in total;
· TIN200 growth has been concentrated outside of Auckland - Hamilton, Wellington and the South Island regions are leading TIN200 growth;
· Fintech, digital media and agritech are the fastest growing market sectors.

“It is particularly pleasing to see in this year’s report a 7.9 per cent increase in research and development investment, to $882m in total. Additional investment in R&D is a real investment in the future of any company, and helps boost the overall R&D investment levels of New Zealand companies,” Mr Goldsmith says.

“In addition, five Callaghan Innovation customer companies are included in the top 200 list, and generated nearly $94 million of revenue this year. All of those companies are investing in their own future, enabled by the support of Callaghan Innovation.”

“New Zealand’s technology companies are building a strong business-led R&D ecosystem, that is strengthening and diversifying New Zealand’s economy,” Mr Goldsmith says.

This year’s report also profiles several Māori-owned or Māori investment-backed technology companies that are making a significant contribution to New Zealand’s technology sector.

“Estimated to be worth $50 billion, the Māori economy is a significant and important contributor to New Zealand’s economy, and is playing an ever-increasing role in our economy,” Mr Bridges says.

“Our tech companies are leading the way and showing how far New Zealand can go when we invest in world-leading innovation.”

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