Start-ups eligible for R&D grants

The $50,000 endowments will be on offer to incubators that support fledgling businesses. Photo / Thinkstock

The Government is looking to grow New Zealand's pool of high-tech companies by offering start-ups research and development grants of up to $50,000.

The endowments will be on offer to companies working with one of the eight business incubators around New Zealand, such as The Icehouse.

These incubators offer support, advice and a network of contacts for fledgling businesses trying to get off the ground.

The funding will come out of the Ministry of Science and Innovation's budget for business research and development, which this year was set at $120 million.

The number of grants or the total amount that will be endowed has not been set.

The ministry's deputy chief executive of business innovation and investment, Brett O'Riley, said the Government was offering funds through the incubators because it was proven they helped accelerate business growth.

"The grants hopefully may increase the number of companies that are being incubated, which by international best practice is a good path for companies [to take] to be successful," O'Riley said.

"The focus around all of this activity is how we grow companies faster and get them to the commercialisation stage and then beyond that to the internationalisation phase," he said.

The grants scheme is part of a wider attempt to more closely align the work of the incubators, the ministry and New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.

The head of Incubators New Zealand, Steve Corbett, said the grants for start-ups were coming at a crucial time.

"The incubators' structures and systems and investor networks will ensure the research grants can be leveraged to further assist the tech start-ups to achieve product and market validation earlier and get to market that much sooner.

"The next decade has the potential to be one of the best decades for New Zealand tech companies," Corbett said.

"Our high-tech companies can compete on a global stage, and our incubators provide them with the tools and services to go global."