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Paul Baker demonstrates his air passage training simulator - Source: ONE News -
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New Zealand Trade and Enterprise is putting 10 health IT companies through their paces to help them take advantage of the $US2 trillion health care market in the United States.
The companies are the finalists in the government economic development agency's Focus on Health challenge.
NZTE's general manager of operations Peter Lennox says the agency gives companies access to networks of people who have information about intellectual property, recruitment, pricing, distribution in the health IT sector, and who can give them ideas about how to take their idea forward.
"We act as a catalyst to help the company get into the market faster," he says.
Finalists have had the chance to grill US angel investor and professor of entrepreneurship Mark Leiberman about what it takes to crack the US market.
Lieberman says New Zealanders leave a lot to be desired when it comes to their sales pitch compared with US entrepreneurs who pitch regularly and to different audiences.
"In New Zealand the pitches tend to be not quite as sales oriented as in the United States. They don't pitch to their full capabilities, they may use only 20% of what they've really accomplished and tend to be more conservative than US entrepreneurs are," he says.
The finalists have had a chance to pitch those skills in front of a very important audience for fledgling companies - venture capital investors.
"Medical devices is a good sector to be looking at right now. It's one where the investment flows are hanging up which is an important aspect to an investor right now. If we invest we want to know that somebody else is going to be around to invest in a year or two's time, so it's promising," says Stuart McKenzie of Endeavour Capital.
Finalist Paul Baker, who has developed a portable air passage training simulator, says the process so far has helped to speed up his progression from anaesthetist to businessman.
"They've put in place deadlines that I've had to meet and that's made me more efficient in bringing the product along to market," he says.
The finalists will head to the US next year on a roadshow
pitching to investors, partners and buyers, before a winner is
selected.
