New Zealand Venture Investment Fund chief executive Franceska Banga says the sale of GreenButton to Microsoft is an excellent result for the GreenButton team and its investors.

“Scott Houston and his GreenButton team developed some great technology. They were backed by a strong contingent of New Zealand angel investors, led by Marcel van den Assum and AngelHQ, Enterprise Angels and Ice Angels, and supported by NZVIF.

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More businesses in New Zealand than any other country in the world, apart from Finland, are anticipating a change of ownership in the next two years.

The latest Grant Thornton International Business Report, which surveys 12,500 business leaders in 45 economies, shows that 27% of New Zealand businesses anticipate a change of ownership by 2016 – more than double the global average of 11%. Only Finland ranked higher than New Zealand at 33%.

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Transaction Services Group (TSG), Australasia’s leading payment solution provider comprising Debitsuccess, FFA Paysmart and DFC, announced today that it has acquired United Kingdom based direct debit billing provider Harlands Group (www.harlandsgroup.co.uk), further expanding the company’s international operations.

TSG, Chief Executive Officer Craig Marshall says the acquisition is aligned with the organisation’s focused growth strategy. It will see TSG collect approximately $2 billion of collections per annum across two million customers worldwide via its stable of companies – Debitsuccess and FFA Paysmart in Australasia, and UK based DFC and Harlands Group.

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Angel investing surged in 2013 with a record $53.2 million invested into young New Zealand companies in 2013, reflecting growing investor confidence in the technology and innovation sector, New Zealand Venture Investment Fund chief executive Franceska Banga said today.

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Finalists have been selected for the second annual KiwiNet Research Commercialisation Awards designed to celebrate success within New Zealand’s universities and Crown Research Institutes.

Innovations from finalists include the Springfree trampoline, a rare pharmaceutical ingredient generating major export returns, titanium technologies including 3D printed animal implants, pasture meters, artificial muscle technologies, precision seafood harvesting, eradicating bovine tuberculosis, controlling insects with sex, new vanilla products, and a wireless network partnership.

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