Koti Technologies Limited was spun out from the University of Canterbury to commercialise more than 15 years of university research into thin films technology.
The technology, pioneered by Associate Professor Susan Krumdieck, allows researchers to more rapidly experiment with depositing nanometer level ceramic coatings onto material surfaces. For companies where achieving wear or corrosion resistant coatings on complex shaped objects has proven elusive, Koti provides the promise of solutions to a real market pain. Local high tech manufacturing companies, as well as international aerospace and optoelectric manufacturers and researchers have all identified a real need for a solution, with samples currently being coated and tested by Koti.
Koti received investment from powerHouse and the government New Zealand Venture Investment Fund (www.nzvif.co.nz) in June 2012 and began its 12 month incubation journey in the powerHouse Incubator, located just off campus.
Start-ups enter the Incubator with a value proposition hypothesis, an initial three month plan to validate the assumptions in the hypothesis and the support of the powerHouse team on matters of business strategy, governance, intellectual property strategy, finance and administration.
Over the twelve month incubation period the company will go from one employee, its CEO Sam Davies Talwar, himself a University of Canterbury mechanical engineering graduate, to a core team including a board of advisors and new strategic investors to help it execute the business plan that evolves.
Already PhD student Darryl Lee, marketing graduate Matt Whyte and a group of 3rd pro mechanical engineering students have joined the team to work on various projects which complement their studies and provide a keen and motivated source of affordable resource to the company.
Investment is made available in instalments as key milestones are ticked off or amended to reflect changes in focus which result from executing the three month plans.
On entry to the Incubator, investee CEOs are schooled in the theory of growing high tech start-up companies, following the philosophies of Clayton Christensen (Innovator’s Solution); Anthony Ulwick (What Customers Want) and Eric Ries (The Lean Start-up). Companies this year were also fortunate to attend a workshop by market validation expert Rob Adams.
As Eric Ries advises in his book The Lean Startup, these companies operate in an environment of extreme uncertainty and regular pivot or persevere reviews are required to ensure the company can respond fast enough to results of assumption validation phases.
Having just completed its second pivot or persevere exercise, Koti is now heading off to the United States to engage with potential customers and to attend an industry trade-show to validate and test the emerging business model.
We will report in more detail in the next newsletter on Koti’s latest developments half way through its 12 month incubation journey as it works towards raising further capital and attracting advisors and investors to speed it towards its goal of becoming one of the future TIN100 companies (www.tinetwork.co.nz).
For more information about Koti Technologies please contact:
Sam Davies Talwar moc.seigolonhcetitoknull@mas www.kotitechnologies.com