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- Massey Ventures: Catalysing Innovation and Sustainability
- Innovation Awards
- Launch of MI8 Optics: An Innovative Grass Seed Company
- AgriFood and NZ Product Accelerator launch new hub
- Plant-based commercial opportunities
- MBIE funding for Smart Floors
- Senior Entrepreneurship report and website launch
- Related content
Massey Ventures: Catalysing Innovation and Sustainability
Massey Ventures offers expert advice and early-stage investment to help Massey staff and students develop, commercialise and launch their great ideas. In 2022, they supported three spinouts, two investments and two licenses.
Two start-up companies which support a low-carbon economy:
- Captivate Technology specialises in carbon capture and removal.
- EatKinda makes dairy-free ice cream from cauliflower that is better for the environment (compared to dairy ice cream) and tastes great.
Massey’s Innovation Competition continues to support Massey staff and students with innovative ideas that show commercial potential. In 2022, 13 teams competed. The $50,000 prize was awarded to Associate Professor Vyacheslav Filichev and his team from the School of Food Technology and Natural Sciences to begin research and development on a gene manipulation technology with the potential to treat aggressive cancers.
Innovation Awards
Magritek Nuclear Magnetic Resonance technology – the result of decades of world-class research at Massey and Victoria University of Wellington, won the Commercialisation Impact category at the 10th annual KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards.
Hatch, an accessible medical bassinet that facilitates acute postpartum recovery and maternal bonding by allowing babies to be in close proximity to the mothers, took top honours in the James Dyson National Awards – the eighth consecutive year a Massey student had won the competition.
An operational hijab, designed by two Massey lecturers, was awarded the highly prestigious Tahunui-a-Rangi award for invention and creation by the Royal Society Te Apārangi. The innovative hijab allows Muslim women in policing, emergency response and government to benefit from the inclusivity, efficiency and safety the design brings.
Launch of MI8 Optics: An Innovative Grass Seed Company
Massey Ventures and Grasslanz Technology launched the agri-tech company MI8 Optics.
MI8 Optics uses hyperspectral imagery to detect endophytes in grass seed. Quality assurance of grass seed is essential as endophytes are naturally occurring fungi that protect pastures from insect pests but can cause animal health problems.
AgriFood and NZ Product Accelerator launch new hub
Massey‘s AgriFood Digital Lab partnered with the NZ Product Accelerator to form a new hub in Palmerston North. The hub will support companies and research to accelerate commercial opportunities in local and international markets.
Plant-based commercial opportunities
Massey's Kei hea tō karaka project received MBIE funding to explore the development of karaka as a potential commercial enterprise in partnership with Rangitāne o Manawatū and Plant & Food Research.
Another plant-focused research project aims to advance the juniper berry industry in Aotearoa New Zealand.
MBIE funding for Smart Floors
MBIE Endeavour Funding of almost $1 million was awarded to a Massey-led team for research on Smart Floors to make homes and aged-care facilities safer. For example, the floors could detect motionless bodies lying on the floor and instantly alert hospitals and relatives to falls.
Senior Entrepreneurship report and website launch
Massey’s Health and Ageing Research Team released the report Senior Entrepreneurship in Aotearoa New Zealand, which outlines how senior entrepreneurship is an unrealised opportunity for the country. A new website, Better Work in Later Life, was also launched.
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