In January 2013, 10 outstanding entrepreneurs will attend the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Entrepreneurship Development Programme (EDP) thanks to sponsorship funding from MBIE’s Science and Innovation Group.
Congratulations to Andre Bate (Metric Engine), Rachael Lacy (Darcy Poly), Craig Clarke (Ice Solutions), Jody Bullen (Yonix), Jacqueline Lee (Southern Cross Truffles), Scott Barrington (BIM Stop), Andrew Nicol (Agoge Limited), Danushka Abeysuriya (Rush Digital), Greg Fahey (Kahu Technologies) and Neil Pattinson (Canterbury Scientific) for winning our EDP competition.
Judges noted the calibre of entries was high and thank all those who took the time to submit a proposal for consideration.
About the MIT Entrepreneurship Development Programme
MIT in Boston, United States of America, is a world class centre for innovation-based and cutting-edge entrepreneurship. EDP leverages MIT's culture of high-tech entrepreneurship to help entrepreneurs learn what they need to develop ideas into successful businesses, and how to increase entrepreneurial opportunities.
Hear what previous participants Ben Northrop of Run the Red, a digital mobile marketing company, and Sam Gribben of Serato, a software company for digital DJing, say about the EDP (YouTube videos).
Hear what judges David Beard and Mitch Olson are looking for this year (YouTube videos).
Read about a Kiwi entrepreneur who was funded to attend EDP.
Why is the Science and Innovation Group sponsoring entrepreneurs to go to Boston?
Innovation is the key driver of economic growth. To innovate successfully, we need skilled people who can take ideas and bring them to markets. We have plenty of ideas in New Zealand, but we haven’t been very good at turning them into viable products and businesses. We need more people in New Zealand with entrepreneurial skills who can grow companies quickly and successfully.
MBIE is committed to growing the number of driven, successful entrepreneurs who are willing to help grow the innovation eco-system in New Zealand. We support a number of programmes and initiatives that all contribute to this goal. We are partnering with people and organisations across the eco-system to drive the growth of highly-skilled entrepreneurs.
We want to facilitate and connect—our competition to sponsor 10 entrepreneurs to go to MIT in Boston is part of this.
