More is being done to support young entrepreneurs in Dunedin but there is a call for the city to do more to clip the ticket of successful ventures, Chris Morris writes.
However, there is also a call for the city to do more to clip the ticket of those that prove to be successful ventures.
The call came as the Dunedin City Council and University of Otago together funnelled $62,000 into a new office to support emerging entrepreneurs and their fledgling ideas.
The StartUp Space, on the corner of Leith Bank St and Forth St, quietly opened its doors earlier this year, ahead of an official launch on November 13.
The office would be fully operational in January, offering space for entrepreneurs to work, interact and learn from resident entrepreneur Dr Henk Roodt.
Startup Space manager Kate Turnbull said the office aimed to be the ''hub for all things start-up'' in Dunedin.
It offered a suite of facilities, from office space to desks, a boardroom table and Wi-Fi, as well as workshops and events aimed at connecting budding entrepreneurs with Dunedin businesses, she said.
All were accessible by members at any time, day or night, via a swipe card system, and it was hoped the facilities would offer an alternative to ''working on business ideas in the library or bedroom'', she said.
''Starting a business can be a stressful time, for different reasons at different stages of people's lives.
''The Space provides a common ground for people to meet others in a similar situation, to collaborate, to get advice, and develop skills and confidence to launch their business idea.
''Dunedin has some fine examples of hugely successful start-ups, and the Space aims to nurture the next generation of businesses to join the ranks of the likes of Animation Research, ADInstruments and Timely,'' she said.
The office initiative was one offshoot from the ''Grow'' project, which aimed to develop innovative and internationally competitive industries in Dunedin, a council staff report said.
Grow was itself part of the city's wider economic development strategy, which aimed to provide 10,000 extra jobs, and $10,000 extra income for each person, over 10 years.
The wider strategy partnered the council, university and other parties, including the Otago Chamber of Commerce, with each taking a lead role for specific projects.
The Grow project, including the StartUp Space, was being overseen by the university, through an advisory board chaired by Prof George Benwell, the dean of the Otago Business School.
Prof Benwell, in a report to the council's economic development committee on October 20, said several ''potential start-ups'' had already made use of the new office space.
Ideas being discussed included new digital apps in the medical field, for wine scoring and dating, he said.
Funding for the initiative was also set to ramp up. At least $110,000 was to be spent by the participating parties, which also include the Otago Polytechnic, by December, and another $136,000 was required over the next financial year, he said.
The office was also the new home of the Audacious student entrepreneurship programme, which also aimed to foster and retain emerging young talent in the city.
The programme's competition required students to submit a business idea and plan, and pitch their ideas to judges, but it was now ''much more than a competition'', Ms Turnbull said.
Workshops, and help from two business coaches, was now also offered through the office, she said.
The programme, launched as ''Kickstart'' in 2005, now cost $124,000 a year, divided between the university's business school, the polytechnic and council, a council staff report said.
Dunedin-based company Education Perfect had, since winning the competition, developed an interactive education tool used by 450,000 people worldwide, it said.
The company now employed 25 fulltime-equivalent staff in the city, it said.
Cr Richard Thomson, a retailer, former Audacious judge and now the council's finance committee chairman, praised the initiative at the October 20 committee meeting.
But he warned the council's $44,300 funding contribution would remain a ''donation'' until the city made more of the companies' successes.
In his time as a judge, he found students had ''great ideas here, but they are never going to happen'' unless gaps in key skills were addressed.
The programme should include more of a scholarship component, where promising participants were offered additional mentoring and other help, to encourage them to stay in the city after their studies, he said.
''It's a great event and it's great for the participants, but we are not leveraging off it.
''Even if one in 10 come off and become an ADInstruments, or something else, the benefits would be substantial,'' he said.
