Tauranga hi-tech entrepreneur Peter Wren-Hilton today announced an agreement with Silicon Valley's biggest IT start-up accelerator, Plug And Play International, to set up an incubator in Tauranga.
The venture will help New Zealand start-ups create a global presence by connecting them to US-based venture capital funds, international corporate investors and networks to commercialise their intellectual property, said Mr Wren-Hilton.
"I always saw Silicon Valley as being a very natural route to start creating a global footprint for New Zealand tech companies," he said. "I think the fact that we are setting it up in Tauranga with direct connections to Silicon Valley will help the city promote itself as a being a centre for innovation and technology."
Mr Wren-Hilton got to know Plug and Play as a result of being based for half of each year since 2011 at the Plug and Play Tech Centre in Sunnyvale, California, with his company Pingar (see story below).
Andrew Coker, CEO of Priority One, which is working closely with Mr Wren-Hilton on the incubator's set-up, said it was "a major coup" for Tauranga and for early-stage technology companies in New Zealand.