Australian incubator recognised as best in world
ATP Innovations takes home top prizes at NBIA global awards in New Orleans
Leading technology business incubator ATP Innovations took top honours today at the NBIA awards in New Orleans, Louisiana, winning the prestigious 2014 Randall M. Whaley Incubator of the Year Award at the International Conference on Business Incubation. The National Business Incubator Association (NBIA) is the peak global body for business incubation and entrepreneurship with over 2200 members in over 60 countries.
The Sydney-based incubator was selected by industry peer professionals based on its overall excellence in delivering business building services and its successful track record of building high growth technology companies with global reach. It also took home the Dinah Adkins “Technology Focus” Incubator of the Year award.
Over 300 software, hardware and life science startups have been helped by ATP Innovations since 2000. Together, they have raised over $113 million in capital since 2006. Last year, ATP Innovations’ companies had combined revenue of over $45 million, half of which was export related. They raised $8 million in equity capital, hired 69 new employees, launched 80 products, and had seven patents granted.
Hamish Hawthorn, CEO of ATP Innovations, commented. “We are honoured to be the first Australian technology incubator to be recognised as the world’s best – it is a credit to both the hard work done by the team at ATP Innovations and recognition of the strength and significance of Australia’s startup ecosystem.”
“We owe our success to many factors – the support of our shareholder universities, the way the founders of the companies at ATP Innovations help each other, the experienced mentors helping our companies. Sharing the entrepreneurs’ journey and being part of their success is the best part of it.”
The awards recognised the on-going success of ATP Innovations in providing companies with assistance across a wide range of areas, including in negotiating technology licences, insight into government support and financial assistance, access to a strong network of investors and advisors, and strategic guidance. Seven ATP Innovations companies have gone on to sell their businesses since 2006, most recently Azalient which was acquired by Autodesk in December last year.
Two recent companies to benefit from ATP Innovations’ support include Clarity Pharmaceuticals and Elastagen:
Clarity Pharmaceuticals, founded in 2010, just closed a seed round of $1.1 million dominated by Sydney Angels to expand its international operations in the US, Europe and Asia. Clarity uses patented diagnostic and imaging technology, which can be used to “personalise” and increase the effectiveness of targeted antibodies-based therapies.
Elastagen is a clinical stage medical device company pioneering Elastatherapy™ using the human protein Elastin to naturally repair and augment the skin. Since Elastagen began operating in 2005, it has attracted $5 million syndicated venture capital investment, and $2 million of the recent NSW Government Medical Devices Fund.
Mr Hawthorn said: “In recent years we’ve undergone intense transformation to meet demand from Australia’s growing startup ecosystem – launching and supporting accelerator programs in parallel with our core incubator services.
“This award is a great endorsement of both ATP Innovations and Australia. It underlines the huge opportunity we have to capitalise on our human capital and strong research-base to create world-leading companies.”
About ATP Innovations
ATP Innovations is Australia’s leading technology business incubator. ATP Innovations accelerates the growth of technology companies that target global markets, by providing advice and guidance from seasoned entrepreneurs, access to investors, customers and domain specialists, and world-class infrastructure tailored to the needs of startup companies. The ATP Innovations Accelerator HUB is home to Startmate, Ignition Labs and university accelerator programs. ATP Innovations’ portfolio comprises over 65 companies from the software, hardware and life science sectors.
