An Exciting New Chapter for AUT Innovation: National Funding Sparks Growth
There’s some exciting news for the AUT innovation ecosystem. Following the Government’s recent announcement of a major $40.68 million boost to help universities commercialise their innovations, AUT Ventures has successfully secured $950,000 in funding through MBIE’s new University Commercialisation Centre initiative.
This national investment underscores a powerful reality: the research happening inside universities is crucial to solving real-world problems and driving Aotearoa’s economy forward. MBIE’s goal, and ours, is to bridge the gap between the lab and the market faster and more effectively than ever before.
However, this funding comes with clear accountability to uplift the number and quality of commercial outcomes generated from AUT’s research and expertise. AUT Ventures Chief Executive, Michael Fielding, notes that these expectations tie directly into how university performance is measured.
“The KPIs attached to the funding align with the new commercialisation metrics introduced with the Research Evaluation Framework (REF),” says Michael “It’s well-known that MBIE wants more and larger commercial outcomes from research, and this is an important new mechanism to co-fund getting to those outcomes.”
To meet these targets, AUT Ventures is reshaping its structure to better support AUT researchers, staff, and students from their very first "what if" moment right through to commercial delivery.
Moving forward, our commercialisation efforts will be driven by two specialised groups:
- The Pipeline Team: Focused on relationship-building and engagement, this team is the "front door" for AUT Ventures. They will actively connect with the AUT community and the wider innovation ecosystem and conduct an initial idea validation.
- The Projects Team: If an idea looks like it has commercial potential, this team takes the baton. They will focus exclusively on delivering robust commercialisation projects, leveraging KiwiNet PSAF funding to guide research into market-ready ventures.
What does this mean for AUT researchers, staff and students?
For those who already have an established relationship with AUT Ventures, rest assured that will not change. Existing contacts and connections will remain closely involved in the commercialisation or entrepreneurship journey. This new structure is simply about adding capacity and extra support behind the scenes, rather than replacing trusted partnerships.
Welcoming New Faces
To power this new structure, we are thrilled to welcome some fantastic additions to the AUT Ventures rōpū (team):
Michelle Polglase officially joins on 2 November as our new Pipeline Director, taking the helm of the Pipeline Team. Exceptionally well-connected across the Aotearoa innovation ecosystem, Michelle comes to AUT with a phenomenal track record in commercialisation and tech transfer. Having previously held key roles at KiwiNet, and most recently serving as General Manager of Projects Delivery at Ara Ake (New Zealand's energy innovation centre), she is an expert at aligning breakthrough technologies with strategic investment and long-term impact.
Fiona Shen joins the Pipeline Team as our new Venture Navigator. Fiona is a familiar face to many of us, having previously impressed the team as a Venture Analyst intern. Her energy, approachability, and drive to build meaningful connections between AUT innovators and the wider ecosystem, make her the perfect fit to help uncover our next big ideas.
Erena Calder-Hawkins joins the Projects Team as a Venture Manager. Erena brings a wealth of deep expertise from across the Aotearoa innovation ecosystem. Having previously worked with the agritech accelerator Sprout, Ministry of Awesome and Soda Inc, she knows exactly what it takes to guide early-stage projects toward commercial success.
Venture Director, Chris Hill, is enthusiastic about this boost in funding: “We’re incredibly excited about this next phase of growth and what it means for AUT's research community. The government is backing university innovation, and so are we.”
If you have a project, an idea, or just want to chat about the potential of your work, our newly expanded team is ready and waiting. Reach out to the team today at ventures@aut.ac.nz