New innovation institute will boost economic growth - Project Auckland

The Government is also establishing Invest New Zealand as a one-stop-shop for foreign direct investment – in effect, a welcome mat for streamlining the investment process and providing tailored support to foreign investors.

The Advanced Technology Institute, backed by public and private sector funding, will link science and business. The institute will support technology-based innovation and commercialisation, with services for testing, certifying and rapid prototyping of new products.

These are facilities that are uneconomic for individual companies to own. The institute will be a catalyst and magnet for overseas collaborations and investment into New Zealand high-tech firms and sectors.

Auckland will include hosting the institute in its regional deal application – the ‘light-touch’ proposal was due with the Government on February 28. The regional deal builds stronger relationships between central and local government and co-ordinates investment to deliver the infrastructure needed for economic growth and productivity.

With the likes of GridAKL, Icehouse Ventures and Outset Ventures (the birthplace of Rocket Lab and Lanza Tech) supporting a wide range of start-up and early-stage businesses, Auckland has developed an active and flourishing innovation sector.

Auckland is home to 110 of the Technology Investment Network (TIN) top 200 companies, producing revenue of $9.4 billion (of the total $17.95b), 18,645 team members and an average salary of $104,051. Nearly 90% of the Auckland TIN companies’ revenue came from exporting. In the wider technology and digital sector, 12,000 firms contributed $16.5b to Auckland region’s gross domestic product, and delivered more than 73,000 jobs (2023 statistics). Technology is now the region’s second-biggest export. Investment in early-stage businesses increased from $147 million to $243m.

Auckland Unlimited is leading the charge to grow the sector, create high-quality jobs, build international relationships, attract talent and investment, and increase prosperity through its three-year Tech Tamaki Makaurau strategy.

Ford says “we benchmark ourselves against nine other cities – Brisbane, Dublin, Portland, Austin, Vancouver, Helsinki, Copenhagen, Tel Aviv and Fukuoka. We are all growing; it’s just that the other cities are growing faster.

“The benchmark studies are a useful tool to enable us to focus on our whole ecosystem and improve our ranking.

“Auckland has an incredible untold story about the success of innovative companies. We have all the ingredients, we just need to bake the cake and put it on display,” says Ford.

“We need to champion our innovation ecosystem and tell the story better to build pride and belief.

“We need some enabling infrastructure with the support of the city and Government; we need to attract investment and PhD students and provide better ways of connecting people with each other and encourage entrepreneurship; and we need good international relationships for the entrepreneurs to enter the markets.

“A lot of this is happening but we need to keep growing,” Ford says. “Innovation is our future; that’s where Auckland can really shine on the international stage. The Advanced Technology Institute is the kind of infrastructure that is important to attract investment and talent.”

She says the whole of the city centre is an innovation precinct from Wynyard Quarter through Quay St, Parnell, Newmarket and Grafton – representing the biggest concentration of New Zealand’s innovation ecosystem.

GridAKL in the Wynyard Quarter hosts 133 companies and 870 team members in two buildings – start-ups in John Lysaght and scale-ups at 12 Madden St. The Media Design School and Google are located next door. Grid AKL also supports co-working spaces at Manukau, The Reserve in Glen Innes and Click Studios in Avondale.

There’s the Icehouse and Outset deep tech incubators in Parnell, the Newmarket Innovation Precinct as part of Auckland University, and the medical technology at Auckland University in Grafton.

Auckland University has the award-winning Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship and UniServices which helps commercialise new innovative products.

Outset has a co-operation agreement with New Zealand Steel to explore future pilot plant opportunities relating to decarbonisation technology, green energy and industrial innovation more generally.

Auckland Unlimited is facilitating the Te Puna Creative Innovation Quarter in Henderson as a hub for screen production, video gaming, creative technology, music and the arts.

The Te Puna central hub, fitted out with a multi-purpose theatre, office space and cafe, will be the home for a creative technology academy run by sound record and music production studio, Crescendo Trust.

Next to the Henderson railway station, the Whoa! Studios with its theatre space can be hired by creative businesses and community groups. The quarter will also incorporate the Corban Estate Arts Centre and Auckland Film Studios.

GridAKL, which celebrated 10 years on March 10, has become the lynchpin of the Auckland innovation ecosystem, and hosts numerous meet-ups including Migrants in Technology, a group that has grown to 1000 people. GridAKL is also home for FintechNZ and Aerospace Auckland.

GridAKL has established city-to-city relationships overseas, connecting with the Denver Economic Development & Opportunity, as well as the Stone & Chalk Melbourne Startup Hub and Startup Fukuoka.

The agreements provide Auckland technology businesses access to co-working spaces, talent, incentives and grants in partner cities, and fosters innovation in areas such as aerospace, cleantech and biotech.

Ford says there used to be 40 New Zealand start-ups in San Francisco and now they go to Denver. “They have opened their doors and made it easier to land there. Denver has a big aerospace industry.”

Auckland Unlimited is organising the city’s first start-up week straight after the South by South West Sydney (SXSW) conference from October 14-20. The conference and festival started in Austin, Texas, is a convergence of tech, film, music, culture and education.

“We’ve timed the start-up week so people, entrepreneurs and investors from the Sydney conference, can stop off in Auckland on their way home,” says Ford. “I expect that looking back in 10 years’ time this will be a pivotal event.

“We have the opportunity to showcase and celebrate our amazing innovation ecosystem. Start-up week can put the spotlight on successes, build relationships and highlight what we need to do more of.”

More investment is expected in the technology sector now that the Government is simplifying the Active Investor Plus visa into two categories:

• Growth focusing on higher-risk investment, including directly investing in local businesses. The category requires a minimum investment of $5m over three years.

• Balanced focusing on mixed investments with the ability to choose ones that are lower risk. The category requires a minimum investment of $10 million over five years.

Not speaking English has been removed as a barrier to investment.

Ford says “we done a lot of work with investor migrants, helping them connect with the innovation ecosystem and providing opportunities. The change in government policy (for the investor visa) is a good sign for growing the Auckland innovation economy.

“By investing $5m or $10m to receive visas, they will over time invest more money once they get to know the companies and entrepreneurs. We want to ensure they are welcome and understand the ecosystem,” she says. Two of those investor migrants were Masood and Massih Tayebi who founded Miami-based investment firm Bridgewest Group. They established a New Zealand subsidiary 10 years ago and became a leading deep tech investor and incubator here, supporting a portfolio of 14 innovative companies.

One of the companies is Avasa which is developing advanced medical solutions in the field of reconstructive surgery. Avasa’s potential Arterial Coupler is helping surgeons reconnect microvascular arteries simply and efficiently in tissue transfer and transplant surgery.

Ford says the likes of Outset, Icehouse and Bridgewest are the jewels in the Auckland ecosystem. They bring investors and founders together. For example, Bridgewest has strong international connections and its growth over the last 10 years has been extraordinary.

Auckland has made plenty of progress in advanced technology and innovation over the past 15 years, and how does it plan to stay competitive on the global stage?

“We need to keep championing our innovation ecosystem by telling our story and waving the flag. We need to keep supporting our companies by providing places and opportunities for connections.

“Public-private partnerships are critical, as we did with GridAKL. We need to keep opening international doors through city-to-city engagements, and intentionally keep driving international competitiveness,” says Ford.