Stimulating R&D and Commercialization Activity in New Zealand: An Overview and Case Analysis of Callaghan Innovation’s Grants and Technology Incubator Programme

Similar to the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) programme in the United States (US), New Zealand (NZ), like many other countries internationally, has designed policy settings that could increase R&D and commercialization activity. In this monograph, we discuss the establishment of Callaghan Innovation in NZ and provide an overview of some of the R&D grant programmes it has put in place over the last decade that most closely align to the goals of SBIR. The primary focus of our monograph is a detailed case overview on a specific Callaghan Innovation-administered initiative, namely the Technology Incubator programme. Specialized technology incubators were formed to identify and evaluate complex intellectual property (IP) from publicly funded universities or Crown Research Institutes (CRIs) and private R&D with the objective of supporting or forming (through investment and incubation services) deep-tech start-ups with global potential. We provide a detailed and critical overview on the policy intent, roll-out and performance of this technology incubator programme. We report on the changes made to try to make the programme more effective and conclude by noting some key differences between it and SBIR.