Google makes $1.3m Rotorua investment

Internet giant Google has given US$1 million to develop a public transport idea from Rotorua.
Agroventures' Shweeb will receive $1.36 million to take the next step in developing its dream of an eco-friendly, human-powered transport system.
Creator Geoff Barnett opened the ride - pedal-powered pods travelling around a monorail at speeds of up to 60kph - in October 2007 and it has since been ridden by more than 30,000 people. But his long-term goal has been to create an effective, environmentally friendly form of transport to tackle traffic and pollution issues in some of the world's more densely populated cities.
Now the concept has been picked up by Google, as part of its 10 to the 100 scheme to find and fund world-changing projects. More than 150,000 ideas were submitted and innovation in public transport was one of the major themes identified by the global search.
A Google search on the topic flagged up Shweeb and an engineer visited the Rotorua site before offering the business a share of the US$10 million ($13.6 million) available.
Managing director of Shweeb and Agroventures Peter Cossey said this fitted perfectly with the business' own overarching goals.
"As a business, we have a vision driven by innovation in public transport. We started with the adventure ride because we had to improve efficiency, reliability and safety."
But Mr Cossey said the Agroventures activity was all about putting in as much effort as possible to go as fast as you could and did not really demonstrate the transport side of the enterprise, which focused on using as little effort as possible to get from A to B, catering for all ages and disabilities.
So, the $1.36 million will be used to build a showcase transport system to demonstrate this aspect of the technology.
"Google asked if we wanted to do this in New Zealand, but transit solutions are all about moving high volumes of people. New Zealand ticks all the boxes for adventure tourism but, from a transit point of view, we don't really have highly populated cities."
Work is underway to establish where in the northern hemisphere this prototype will be built and an announcement is expected in the next couple of months.
Mr Cossey said the northern location would provide more global exposure and Shweeb's Kiwi origins would add to New Zealand's image as being innovative and environmentally proactive.
Agroventures general manager Melissa Mills said the project would provide exposure that would benefit Shweeb, Agroventures and the wider Rotorua tourism sector.
Google is now a minority shareholder, with any profits made from its stake going to a charitable trust for better public transport.