The new Limited Partnership Act 2008 came into force on 2 May 2008, which provides New Zealand with an internationally recognised regime to underpin investment in the venture capital and private equity industry.  This welcome legislation is the result of 5 years lobbying and development across our industry.  A summary of key aspects of the Act can be viewed on a dedicated section of the Companies Office website.

Vertical Composting’ units will be used to process kitchen waste from Aberdeen.  Keenan Recycling, based in New Deer in the UK, has ordered a 12 in-vessel composting unit from Vertical Composting in anticipation of Aberdeen city council collecting food waste this year.  Vertical Compostings technology has been chosen as the best solution to process kitchen waste in line with the new Animal By Product Regulations, which lay down strict controls for the treatment of meat and dairy-inclusive waste.  This is a great start to the year for the company, with the European market expected to produce further opportunities in 2008.

Congratulations to the finalists announced last week for the 2007 NZ Hi-Tech Awards.  It’s a great list of finalists that comprises some of the most dynamic organisations and individuals in the NZ tech sector.  As a first time committee member for the event, and having only recently returned to NZ, the breadth of innovation represented across a near record number of entries was impressive stuff.  Here at No 8 Ventures we’re pleased to see OpenCloud on the shortlist for both the Innovation and Deal categories, a company that has already been recognised in 2007 by winning the international Frost and Sullivan Awards for Product Differentiation Innovation of the Year. The awards night itself is just around the corner and is being held on Saturday 3rd November here in the capital. Looks like it will be a great night of entertainment coupled with the chance to celebrate some successes across the industry.  Hope to see you there!  .    

Smart Orthotics Limited, a company that is developing a robotic exoskeleton for disabled users, today announced that it has received venture capital funding from No 8 Ventures.  The new capital will be used to support further product development, production engineering and enable a release to market of their Robotic Mobility Aid for disabled persons.

“There have been dramatic advances in robotics over the past one to two years.” said Jenny Morel of No 8 Ventures. “We believe that Smart Orthotics is at the forefront of these technological developments and is building a great product that will serve a large and important unmet market need.”

Richard Little, CEO of Smart Orthotics Limited, said, “This investment by No 8 Ventures is a significant step forward for the company.  Smart Orthotics has spent three years developing the artificial intelligence and robotic systems that enable its ‘smart’ mobility aid to function and with this investment Smart Orthotics can now move ahead more rapidly in taking this product and functionality to the end user”.

Smart Orthotics Limited (SOL) is a New Zealand technology company that has designed and developed a ‘smart’ disability aid employing the latest robotic technologies.  Their robotic exoskeleton is worn on the lower limbs by a disabled person providing the user with a normal range of mobility functions including standing, sitting, walking, ascending and descending stairs and navigating sloping surfaces. Their vision for a robotic exoskeleton that restores mobility was prompted by the limitations of the wheelchair.

For the introduction of the kiwi saver scheme in April 07, the NZ Government is changing portfolio investment rules – making investment in NZ and Australian shares free of tax on gains, but tightening up tax of gains on shares elsewhere.  These offshore share value gains will all be taxed annually on an imputed unrealised return of 5% p a.  We have negotiated a carve out for the venture capital industry, and for other investors in young companies which move their incorporation from NZ to raise more money so they can grow internationally.  See pages 12 & 13 of the IRD publication on Offshore Investment Tax.

SurveyLab gets covered this week in an article pointing to their No.8 thinking.

Company founder Leon Toorenburg couldn’t find a device to fit the job so he built his own.

That job was trying to survey sites for radio masts in Kenya using a combination of a camera, a global positioning system locator and notepads.

A couple of years later ike was born. Ike stands for “It Knows Everything” and is a camera, GPS locator, compass and handheld computer rolled into one.

Chief executive Andy Nicoll said: “The concept is taking a picture to put on a map with a GPS location, and being able to do it from up to a kilometre away.”

He said ike was the only device in the world that could do this. Other GPS devices with cameras tell you where the camera is. “There is nothing else that does what this does.”

Technorati : No.8, Surveylab