Financial boost for business incubators

4.34 pm

Twelve business "incubators" in New Zealand will get a financial boost from the Government's new incubator support programme.

Incubators provide work space and support services for entrepreneurs and new businesses at the start-up and early stages of development.

The annual awards are worth a total of $950,000, with individual awards ranging from $10,000 to $130,000.

The money will be used for such purposes as business planning, training, IT development, administrative support and mentoring.

The awards are administered by Industry New Zealand and reward incubators taking a lead in adopting best practice programmes and processes.

The recipients in the first round are: the Dunedin Fashion Incubator ($35,000), the Christchurch-based Canterbury Innovation Incubator ($130,000) and Spark Ventures Ltd ($70,000), Wellington's Innovation Greenhouse ($70,000), the Lower Hutt-based Industrial Research Limited incubator ($100,000), the Porirua-based Whitirea Community Polytechnic incubator ($90,000), and five Auckland area incubators: the AUT Technology Park ($100,000), the UNITECH Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship ($100,000), e-centre Massey ($110,000), The Institute of Entrepreneurship (University of Auckland) ($125,000) and the Aotearoa Charitable Trust for Fashion Designers ($10,000).

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