Izon Science executive chairman Hans van der Voorn said the $500,000 investment from TechNZ, an arm of the Government's Foundation for Research, Science and Technology, had proved crucial.
It had enabled the company to hire new staff to undertake research proving the reliability and consistency of its nanotechnology.
"In the current economic climate, where money is particularly tight, the funding is very helpful in allowing us to keep growing," Mr van der Voorn said.
At the start of last year, the company had five staff and had 19 by the end of the year, including part-timers and summer students.
Izon has developed a portable, low-cost, highly-effective instrument for accurately identifying, measuring, and monitoring nanoparticles as they pass through a hole or aperture, one of its first commercial applications being accurate virus measurements.
The company's ability to count inactivated viral particles more accurately could deliver significant benefits in vaccine development, he said.
The new approach meant that anti-viral vaccines could be produced six to eight weeks earlier than under previous methods.
The firm has previously operated mainly from the University of Otago Centre for Innovation, but its head office recently shifted to Christchurch.
The shift had offered several advantages, including quicker international and domestic air links, but a six-strong team of scientists would continue to operate from the Otago centre, he said.
The company was previously called Australo but had recently been renamed, to avoid a marketplace misconception that it was an Australian firm.
"We are proud Kiwis, with a strong national tradition behind us," he said.
TechNZ sector business manager Lins Kerr said the latest investment helped continue development of new technology with potential uses in research markets.
The company also received an earlier $500,000 investment from TechNZ.
