New Zealand-based Powerhouse Ventures could move to list on the Australian Securities Exchange within the next two months, with the university research commercialisation outfit searching locally for technology to invest in. 
Powerhouse chief executive Stephen Hampson, in Sydney last week, said the company would focus on Australia because of the abundance of university research, industry partners and capital.
"We've been looking at technology at a number of universities, in Sydney and Melbourne largely, but we should have a deal done in the next three months," Dr Hampson said.
The company has invested in nearly two dozen companies over the last six years, including the successful turbine producer HydroWork, which was spun out of research conducted at the University of Canterbury - that company is now valued at between $NZ24 million ($22m) and $NZ40m, according to independent evaluation by Edison Research.
Dr Hampson said Powerhouse saw "a lot of strength" in medical device technologies in Australia, "but also other areas around engineering and pharmaceuticals".
"We've been exploring sectors from fintech all the way to healthcare," he said. "We're an intellectual property commercialisation company, so we work with universities to identify the technology, then provide capital at an early stage and help the venture to determine the right market opportunity, and continue to invest and provide support services." Early investments can be modest. Dr Hampson said Powerhouse made initial investments of between $500,000 and $1m, although figure rose as the company developed.
"The universities themselves own the intellectual property, so when we create a company the university will typically have an equity position or we will license the technology and Powerhouse will fund it," he said.
Powerhouse was earlier funded partly by the NZ government's business innovation agency Callaghan Innovation, while the NZ Venture investment Fund is a co-investor for follow-on capital raising on some of the companies it generates. Other investors include a number of high net-worth private clients.
Powerhouse's listing in Australia, if it goes ahead, will come as the federal government shifts local research infrastructure to align more closely with its innovation agenda.Last week the government announced it would accept recommendations made in a 2015 review by former bureaucrat Ian Watts, changes which will give added weight to income derived from industry partnerships..