Tech companies score overseas coups

By PETER GRIFFIN it writer

The first six weeks of the new year have seen several New Zealand technology companies seal large contracts to distribute their products overseas.

In many cases, the contracts have been accompanied by injections of venture capital and plans to boost staff numbers.

Auckland software developer Zeacom will take its call-management software to the international market through a distribution agreement with Expanets, the largest telephone switch reseller in the US, with turnover of more than $3.2 billion a year.

Hamilton company Deep Video Imaging's patented 3-D display technology will be used by one of the heavyweights of the computer monitor industry, Korea-based LG Philips LCD - a joint venture between electronics manufacturers LG and Philips.

Loyalty card designer Visible Results and "seePower" software developer Compudigm will also distribute their products in North American this year.

Compudigm's software will be used to translate figures used by casino slot Machines into "highly visual maps" that allow casino managers to scrutinise how their machines are performing.

A $14.4 million purchase of Kansas firm Graphicard will make Visible Results the world's largest provider of rewritable loyalty card programs and earn the company $US30 million ($69.6 million) a year in the US alone.

Visible Results plans to recruit 50 to 60 more people as a result of its increased activity.

Zeacom managing director Miles Valentine said the distribution deal would help his company become profitable before the end of the year and add to the 84 staff spread from the US through to Asia.

The company will target US businesses and call centres in the sub-100 seat market with its call-management software, an area traditionally neglected by bigger telecoms vendors.

"If someone said to me a year ago, 'You're going to pick up one of the biggest resellers in the whole of the US,' I wouldn't have considered it a realistic goal. Now that's exactly what we've done," he said.

Zeacom's expansion will be financed in part by venture capitalists. AMP Henderson Private Capital and Caltech Capital Partners have almost tripled their investment in Zeacom to $7.6 million, largely on the strength of the distribution deal.

Deep Video Imaging is expected to receive further investment from its backer, IT Capital, which has a 41.8 per cent stake in the company.

The company's "actualdepth" monitors are being manufactured by a company in Texas. They will initially sell for twice as much as normal desktop monitors, but prices are expected to fall quickly.

Zeacom and Deep Video plan to retain their research and development operations in NZ but will continue to attract the bulk of their business in overseas markets.

Deep Video chief executive officer Gabriel Engel said licensing the company's technology to big monitor manufacturers would be the key to their success.

"Our mission is for Deep Video Imaging displays to become a viable desktop computer monitor alternative.

"But we're a New Zealand-based startup and we can't expect to break into the international market by ourselves," he said.

Venture capitalists are taking a greater interest in New Zealand startups.

AMP Private Capital invested more than $30 million in local technology companies last year and IT Capital has earmarked a further $17 million for new investments, four of which have already been lined up.

And while New Zealand companies seldom have the marketing muscle of their larger competitors, developing world-class technology may well be their greatest strength.

Mr Engel said Deep Video's display technology was unmatched in the industry, despite monitor manufacturers such as Samsung and Sony investing heavily in 3-D displays.

"All the major display companies have 3-D prototypes but they all have the same restrictions.

"You either have to wear 3-D glasses or you have to sit still in front of the screen. Don't move your head and it's a brilliant picture."

Links


Compudigm

Actual Depth

Zeacom