A new ‘Dragon's Den' style enterprise event will be part of the 2013 Fieldays.

Soda Inc, the creative industries business incubator – which is a joint venture between Hamilton City Council and Wintec, has signed a partnership agreement with Fieldays to co-create a new event that will see New Zealand inventors pitching to investors at Fieldays 2013.

Soda Inc will select up to 10 commercially viable inventions participating in the Fieldays Innovation Centre to showcase and will support the inventors to get their invention pitch-ready prior to the big event.
The event will follow a similar format to the acclaimed ‘Dragon's Den' TV programme where participants pitch their inventions to a panel of esteemed investors and business leaders in the hope of securing advice and investment.

The Fieldays Innovation Den judging panel will feature influential business moguls and investors from around New Zealand including Ray Thompson, who is also the NZ Angel Association Chair.
The event will be a highlight of the ‘Innovation Centre' and will give national inventors the chance to obtain knowledge about the business world and how to take their inventions into global markets.

'Innovation has always been at the heart of Fieldays,” says Jon Calder, NZ National Agricultural Fieldays CEO. 'It's one of the principles on which Fieldays was founded and we've seen a number of individuals and companies launch new products and innovations at Fieldays, going on to achieve global success. Our partnership with Soda builds on Fieldays success and enables us to help foster entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity in new ways, creating a programme which gives aspiring innovators a path to market.”

'Soda is excited about joining forces with Fieldays to create this new Innovation Den. It's a great opportunity to help New Zealand investors to spot some great inventions worthy of investment.
'It will also provide support to Kiwi inventors who are really motivated and want to develop their skills to help build a viable business model around their inventions to take them into global markets,” says Soda CEO Cheryl Reynolds.
'The investment community is also excited about this showcase as it shines a spotlight on potential investment opportunities for New Zealand investors.”

Soda will be located within the Premier Feature throughout Fieldays, providing 15 minute business start-up advice sessions to those who have an idea they want to test out.
To find out more about the Innovation Den, and how to enter the Innovation Centre Competition, visit: www.fieldays.co.nz/innovationcompetition2013.