Home > TechNZ > Funds and services

TechNZ funds and services

TechNZ – the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology’s business investment programme – provides businesses with funding, support and advice to undertake R&D projects and build their research and development (R&D) and commercialisation capabilities.

Who do we invest in?

Our investments are focused on growing the number of world-class New Zealand companies through the creation and commercialisation of innovative technology.  We invest in companies who have the aspiration and opportunity to grow and become internationally competitive – from early stage businesses to New Zealand’s established exporters.

TechNZ investments for 2010/11

New funding announced in the May 2010 Budget expands the existing TechNZ programme with an extra $234 million boost in Government funding for business R&D over the next four years.

In total, NZ$77.5 million is available in the 2010/11 year to help businesses discover and develop new technologies and build people’s skills and knowledge to carry out leading-edge R&D.

TechNZ support is available in five areas:

TechNZ project funding - $40 million per year

Project funding provides support for companies with high growth potential to undertake R&D projects to develop new technology products, processes or services.

  • We generally provide funding of up to 50 per cent of R&D project costs. 
  • We will invest $40 million per annum in this area in 2010/11, using an on-demand process. 
  • Investments will be made in a range of companies, from early stage to mature companies across a broad range of sectors. Companies must have the aspiration and opportunity to grow significantly through R&D.

TechNZ capability funding - $10 million per year

  • Capability funding is targeted at helping both early stage and mature companies successfully plan for, and realise results from, R&D investments. 
  • Investments are made to develop a company’s ability to undertake leading-edge R&D and gain new skills and knowledge that will help them continue to innovate in the future. 
  • There are two parts to capability funding: 
    • funding to engage with undergraduate, Master's & PhD, and postdoctoral students to work on technology and commercial R&D projects
    • funding to engage both technical and commercial experts depending on business needs.

Technology Development Grant - $22.5 million per year

  • Reimburses 20 per cent of eligible expenditure on a business’s R&D programme, up to $2.4 million a year (excluding GST). 
  • For firms with an average annual R&D intensity (eligible R&D expenditure divided by revenue) of at least five per cent over the past three years, and with average annual revenues of at least $3 million a year. 
  • Businesses awarded the grant must be able to demonstrate a strong track record of R&D that is likely to generate significant benefits for New Zealand's economy.
  • Grants will be awarded for three years. 
  • The Foundation is currently running the 2010 investment process for which applications have now closed. 

Technology Transfer Voucher - $5 million per year

  • Vouchers aim to increase technology transfer between research organisations and businesses by increasing connections and engagement between the two. 
  • Vouchers provide 50 per cent funding towards business R&D projects to enable a business to access research services and expertise from accredited publicly-funded research organisations.
  • The Foundation will seek to support a range of R&D projects with a minimum voucher value of $100,000.
  • The voucher will be rolled out through a staged implementation process.

Global Expert

  • A fast, confidential search service that locates, pre-screens and qualifies national and international experts to help companies solve innovation challenges from concept through to commercialisation.