The FINANCIAL — To support economic transformation, the Business School fosters a spirit of enterprise and innovation — a mindset grounded in a structure of flexible, adaptive and mutually-reinforcing elements.
Spark has fostered the creation of 70 start-up ventures, which have collectively raised $50+ million in investment, employ 200+ people and sell their products and services into 22 countries. Some notable alumni companies include PowerbyProxi, Inro Technologies and Telemetry Research, as well as Fishpond, Down to Earth Systems, Coda Therapeutics, Transfercar, BrightMind Labs and Savy.
Launched in 2003 as a partnership between the Business School and its students, Spark is a highly successful entrepreneurial development programme and business planning competition that students are empowered to run.
It challenges students and staff to explore ways of creating businesses based on ideas or innovations arising from their studies or simply by thinking creatively. Originally modelled on similar programmes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Cambridge, it has been adapted for the New Zealand business environment and is supported by a 10-session "vision-to-business" course run by the Business School in conjunction with The ICEHOUSE.
In addition to being well-supported by Business School students, Spark has been particularly influential within the faculties of Engineering, Science and Medicine — attracting participants who would otherwise not be exposed to business concepts. It is supported by the business community which contributes judges, mentors and speakers.
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