PreSeed Accelerator Fund

Funding commercialisation projects from publicly funded research.

The PreSeed Accelerator Fund supports early stage technology commercialisation activities which:

maximise the commercial benefits to New Zealand from publicly funded research
improve the commercial capability and skills of public research organisations
promote linkages between public research organisations and potential private sector partners, including industry players and capital providers, in New Zealand and offshore.

PreSeed works alongside the Commercialisation Partner Network (CPN). CPN builds capability and PreSeed provides project funding.

PreSeed is a devolved fund. Working with a Commercialisation Partner Network Investment Committee, successful applicants will use PreSeed funding to progress their chosen commercialisation projects to investor readiness.

PreSeed funding can be used to support commercialisation prospects that result from any publicly-funded research or research capability.

Outcomes from PreSeed Accelerator Fund and Commercialisation Partner Network [PDF, 167 KB]

The 2019 investment round

In December 2018, we issued a call for proposals to be considered for PreSeed 2019 funding.

We invested $17,994,920 over 2 years in the following successful applicants to advance commercialisation projects to a point of investor-readiness.

In 2021, these contracts were extended with $8,997,460.04 per annum until June 2025.

The PreSeed Call for Proposals contains the information what was required to prepare and submit a funding proposal. This remains as a detailed guideline to the purpose of the fund.

PreSeed Accelerator Fund Call for Proposals 2019 Investment Round [PDF, 1.6 MB]

The PreSeed Accelerator Fund Assessment Guidelines contains information on the assessment process.

PreSeed Accelerator Fund Assessment Guidelines 2019 Investment Round [PDF, 907 KB]

For more information, email PreSeed@mbie.govt.nz

Non-devolved PreSeed funding

The non-devolved component of PreSeed has been halted. Public or not-for-profit research organisations, or collectives of organisations, that do not have a devolved PreSeed contract should contact KiwiNet for assistance with commercialisation projects.

For more information, email PreSeed@mbie.govt.nz