Michael Ahie - A Bridge between Science & Investment

We were fortunate enough to both help in creating, and attending the recent Kiwinet Investor Engagement workshop which Chairman of Plant and Food, Michael Ahie presented at. Michael presented as a primer before the pitches and for the local investment community. Special thanks to Daryl French for getting Michael to the Bay.

Michael Ahie is the CEO of AltusQ , The Chairman of Plant & Food (Crown Research Institute), a Director of the BioCommerceCentre, and a Director of FMG and Vehicle Testing Group.

From the start, it is immediately apparent this guy can talk. not just talk, but communicate. Clearly and concisely about what is a difficult topic. From his fluid Maori introduction to his promotion of Daryl's fishing skillset, he had the audience listening attentively.

There are not alot of people who casually navigate from the domain of science to entrepenurial investment and it is great to see someone so effectively bridge the divide. There is a real need for more people like Michael with empathy and understanding of both areas to really make more progress.

He started off outlining why New Zealand needs investment in new ideas and businesses and then sought to connect with why it was so important.

New Zealand he noted, had fairly good science and technology funding (from government) which is only just below OECD average. We do not really have an significant problem at the research funding end, and there were alot of good ideas out there being generated from our research organizations (such as Crown Research Institutes, Universities amongst others).

He felt some changes to funding mechanisms for the CRI's had improved their ability to focus on core areas of expertise and more effectively support the sectors they were created to help which was positive to hear.

The real emphasis had to be on commercialization. He applauded the workshops for helping to bridge the gap and create a more fluid conversation between the research organizations and investors.

He debunked the common myth that scientists are happy just noodling around in the lab, saying that really want to get their stuff out. It was also great to hear him talk about building relationships with scientists and researchers, saying they are just like anyone else, take someone out to lunch, catch up and put in some time to develop a great relationship. Too often we hear people bemoaning the issues of commercializing the science, yet they are not wiling to spend the time with these institutions to create successful long term relationships.

Moving onto incubators and angel investment he noted that it is really important that incubators have access to money. It was not enough to incubate, it really needs to be coupled with access to funds. He has been involved with MIG (Manawatu Angel Group) which now has 37 members, and the creation of the BioCommerceCentre(BCC) which has seeded 27 companies who have raised $20million in equity so can talk from direct experience.

He also reiterated that Angel investments funds on their own were seldom enough, and it required some forethought to leverage this with central government, and local government and other available funds. It required a multiple of 4 x the original Angel Investment (as a general rule) to really get businesses to where they needed to be (Citing his own experience).

It was also really important to have someone who was passionate about the investment area to work from the Angel group (sometimes called the lead investor on a deal).

Front footing confidentiality was something he felt was important, particularly early with inventors to ensure that the ground rules were laid well for the investment to be productive and the company to evolve well.

It was good to hear his view on the concept of looking overseas. He felt that it was not necessarily of that much value. The real key was to understand what worked in New Zealand, and beyond that, what worked specifically within your own region.

Thanks Michael, tēnā rawa atu koe.