Powerhouse charges up for IPO

Powerhouse Ventures, a New Zealand-based commercialisation firm, is mulling plans for a 2015 IPO as a potential option to stimulate the company’s growth.

The company is one of three early-stage investors named by the New Zealand government earlier in the year to become incubators part-funded by the state, following Powerhouse’s merger with Upstart, an incubator jointly owned by Otago University, Otago Polytechnic, and Dunedin City Council.

The IPO, which news provider NBR reported as targeting $40m, was outlined as one of several options to increase Powerhouse’s access to capital for follow-on funding.

Stephen Hampson, CEO of Powerhouse, said: “Powerhouse has a growing portfolio of investment companies – currently fifteen established ventures and a further four well progressed through the due diligence process. From our beginnings in Christchurch, we now have a nation-wide organisation having established offices in Dunedin, Wellington and Auckland. This expansion gives the Company access to additional sources of high-quality opportunities. We have been very impressed with the pipeline of opportunities we are now seeing. The enthusiasm of University commercialisation offices and their Crown Research Institute counterparts to transfer their technology into start-up ventures has validated our strategy of national expansion”.