Five firms take wing from Creative HQ nest

After improving the sound quality of movies and helping to teach English to the Chinese, the first wave of companies involved in a business incubator graduated this week.

Virtual Katy, whose sound editing software has been used on Lord of the Rings and King Kong, is one of the five companies to have flown the nest after two years at Wellington business incubator Creative HQ.

The company's founder John McKay said being in the incubator had helped things "happen more quickly" for his business.

"It also helped me to focus on things like business planning and strategy, things I would never have thought of."

During the two years fledgling companies can stay in Creative HQ, they receive help from partner organisations on intellectual property, tax and legal advice, finance and marketing and make use of pooled administrative services.

Companies graduating were:

* Spikefin, founded by Andrew Mayfield and Tony Rule, which developed a software system for on-line ordering that is now being used by Hell Pizza and Tokyo sandwich company The Earl.

* Jenny Campbell's Avocado Press, which publishes the Smarter than Jack books and has raised more than $260,000 for animal welfare.

* Cultureflow, founded by Sarah Reo and Jason Fox, which developed a Maori language programme that has been adapted and is now being used to teach English in China ahead of the Beijing Olympics.

* Calcium Communications, founded by Andrew Butell, which developed software to track web use and already counts Kiwibank, Momentum Consulting and Red Tickets among its client list.

* Virtual Katy, which developed sound editing software that has been used on Bridget Jones' Diary - The Edge of Reason, Lord of the Rings, South Park, Oprah and King Kong.

Barely out of start-up mode itself, New Zealand's incubation industry has grown from two incubators in 2001 to 16 today.

Together, they are developing 130 companies, which represents 40 per cent of the start-up market, and Incubators NZ chairman Andy Hamilton expects this figure to double within three years.

About 100 jobs have been created and more than $20 million in equity capital raised.