Help assured for export hopefuls

By ADAM GIFFORD

NZ Trade and Enterprise will continue to support a scheme to present NZ and Australian technology companies to Silicon Valley insiders after a thumbs-up from those who attended a showcase in the US.

NZTE technology sector director Paul Claridge said the eight Kiwi companies at the third ANZA Technology Network showcase in Palo Alto last week reported promising leads in their search for funding, partnerships or professional advisers to help them crack the American market.

Much of the value came from networking, as opportunities presented themselves for alliances or partnerships between some of the 40-plus companies attending.

MoleMap, which has a network of dermatologists across New Zealand and Australia detecting melanoma skin cancer, put its case in dramatic terms.

There was a collective sigh of in-drawn breath when managing director Adrian Bowling told the 100-strong audience that statistically at least one would get a melanoma during their lifetime, and there was a 20 to 30 per cent chance they would die from it, unnecessarily.

The MoleMap solution is to have a nurse take photos of every mole or lesion on a patient's skin, then send the high-resolution images electronically to dermatologists.

If the dermatologists have doubts, they can compare the image with MoleMap's database of 750,000 lesions - itself a valuable asset.

"We see a US$100 million [$146 million] opportunity here," Bowling said.

MoleMap has secured seed capital from Silicon Valley investor Taraval Associates.

Another New Zealand company to make a stir was Connexionz, whose radio-linked system for displaying when buses are due has dramatically improved bus patronage in Christchurch and on the Auckland Airbus route.

Chief executive Robert Burke said the company has one North American pilot site.

But to break into the market it needs to form a partnership with a major infrastructure provider "to give us credibility and people on the ground".

Other Kiwi companies presenting were Decerto, a spin-off of engineering firm Beca which has developed a system for cutting down the amount of power used by water supply networks; Flintfox, which makes software which allows manufacturers to manage pricing, promotions and rebates in their retail channels; SiliconBlue, whose OcoLoco software lets web hosting companies manage their complex hosting environments; and Astarte, whose PlanWise project planning software is used by organisations such as the New Zealand Defence Force and the Accident Compensation Corporation.

Embedded Fusion, which makes a circuit board for handheld computing devices, and business to business marketing consultancy iMC2, attended but did not present.

Connexionz won a Guy Manson award for being one of the hottest companies at the show.

Other awards, named after the New Zealand expatriate co-founder of ANZA who died earlier this year, went to Australian companies Digital Monkey, QRSciences and Secure Systems.

Digital Monkey has come up with a program which allows amateur musicians to "play along" with an orchestra or band and get feedback on their tone, timbre, volume and ability to carry a tune.

QRSciences uses radio frequency spectroscopy to detect plastic explosives and other substances not picked up by conventional x-ray machines.

Secure Systems' Silicon Data Vault is a piece of hardware which can be built into laptop or desktop computers to secure data in case the machine falls into the hands of an unauthorised user.