Icehouse chief apologises for Vodafone comment

Andrew Hamilton. Photo / Martin Sykes

A prominent member of Auckland's innovation scene was left regretful after posting a stinging message about Vodafone on a social media website last night.

Andrew Hamilton, chief executive of business incubator The Icehouse, later backed down on the comment, posting an apology to Vodafone on the same website.

"My [comment] came at the end of a day when we heard some disappointing news about one of the young companies that we work with [at The Icehouse]," he told the Business Herald last night.

Hamilton said the experience had taught him a lesson about "the openness" of social networking websites.

It was hard for young, innovative companies to gain a foothold in the New Zealand marketplace, he said.

Hamilton said start-ups were crucial to the development of new technologies and large corporates needed to support "that eco-system".

"It's very hard for young NZ companies to innovate in the New Zealand market - especially when bigger companies are taking a strong commercial approach," he said.

"Vodafone's behaviour may have been purely commercial, but if big corporates like Vodafone don't support local companies,New Zealand is never going to get ahead."

A Vodafone spokesman said last night that the company had not had the opportunity to investigate the allegations.

He noted that Hamilton had since apologised for the comments in a further message on the website.