New Zealand’s hottest young start-up companies had the chance to shine on Tuesday night when their achievements were recognised at the Gen-i New Zealand Incubators Awards hosted in Wellington by Mayor Kerry Prendergast.

The Gen-i sponsored awards underlined the growth of New Zealand’s incubation industry, with the winning companies representing everything from robotics and GPS tracking, through to wireless power solutions and mobile banking.

This year’s winners were:

• Start-up of the Year: INRO Technologies Ltd from The ICEHOUSE in Auckland.
• Start-up Exporter of the Year: TracPlus Global Ltd from Upstart in Dunedin.
• Start-up Entrepreneur of the Year: eBUS’s Carmine Masiello from The ICEHOUSE in Auckland.
• Innovation of the Year: PowerbyProxi Ltd from The ICEHOUSE in Auckland.
• Hall of Fame Award: Mobile Mentor and M-Com, both from The ICEHOUSE in Auckland.

Minister for Economic Development Pete Hodgson presented the awards and congratulated the winners on their drive and imagination. He said the participants all had a role to play in building a knowledge-based economy that successfully competes with the rest of the world.

“We know that business incubation can help diversify economies, commercialise technologies, create jobs and build wealth. I’m therefore confident that the businesses represented at these awards can provide New Zealand with a source of innovative, high growth companies for the future.”

Incubators New Zealand represents 15 regional incubators providing entrepreneurs and start-ups with the expertise, networks, tools and stimulating environment needed to make their ventures successful. In the last year incubator-assisted companies, of which there were 150, cumulatively attracted more than $25 million in capital and achieved almost $22 million in revenue of which 23% was from exporting.

Chris Quin, Gen-i Australasia CEO, said the decision to sponsor the awards flows from Gen-i’s commitment to supporting emerging companies, and sharing the skills and ideas that help build strong businesses.

“Tonight’s finalists and winners have proven that they can effectively combine creativity with the business skills to bring those ideas to market,” said Quin.  “All of them deserve recognition for their success in bringing an innovative idea to life. 

“The range of exciting companies showcased in the awards demonstrates the pivotal role of incubators in providing the right environment for start-ups to succeed.”

Start-up of the Year
INRO Technologies uses robotics to automate customers’ existing vehicles, autonomously moving products within warehouses and cold stores. In the past year the company has grown from volunteer staff to over 20 full-time staff and received one of the largest angel investments ever in New Zealand. INRO Technologies is a resident of The ICEHOUSE in Auckland.

Start-Up Exporter of the Year
Recent winners of the Global Technium Challenge, this Dunedin company has developed a revolutionary tracking service for commercial, government and non government agencies that is now operating in 14 countries and areas, including the Antarctic. TracPlus allows users to not only monitor the status and location of their assets, but also to securely share that information with other users, regardless of tracking hardware and network chosen.

Start-up Entrepreneur of the Year
Carmine Masiello was awarded ‘Start-Up Entrepreneur of the Year’ for his role in turning eBUS into a success story. eBUS has developed cutting edge software that allows production teams, creatives and their clients to access and work on the same piece of video footage at the same time no matter where in the world they are.  It is little surprise that the original TradeMe angel investment company Movac and TradeMe founder Sam Morgan have recently invested $1.25m in eBUS when you consider that it has over 50% market share in New Zealand and promising signs from international markets in South East Asia and India.

Innovation of the Year
A spin-out from the University of Auckland, PowerbyProxi is a pioneer in the design and development of turnkey wireless power solutions, which eliminate the need for a physical or frictional power connection to electronic devices. Their first product, Proxi-Ring a completely contactless slip ring, is ready to be launched after a 12 month development effort with John Deere. PowerbyProxi is based in The ICEHOUSE incubator in Auckland.

Hall of Fame Award
The Hall of Fame award, recognising a successful incubator graduate, was shared by Mobile Mentor and M-Com. Mobile Mentor, started just 4 years ago, set out to help New Zealanders unlock the potential of their increasingly complex mobile phones. With 140 staff worldwide Mobile Mentor has now trained over 25,000 customers in New Zealand, has 5 year exclusive contracts in Australia and Brazil, and is expanding into China, USA, UK and Europe. The Brazil operation alone is expected to generate revenue of $50 million over the next four years.

M-Com is the leading provider of mobile banking solutions in the Asia Pacific region. With Fortune 500 customers such as ANZ and Westpac banks, M-Com enables retail banks to reach consumers through their device of choice – the mobile phone. Securing one of the top US banks, Washington Mutual, as a client has led to the establishment of a US office and is expected to result in staff numbers growing from 23 to 70 within 3 years. Both M-Com and Mobile Mentor are graduates of The ICEHOUSE in Auckland.