The Ice House is a knowledge-based incubator, founded in 2001 by the University of Auckland Business School and constituted as a charitable trust. It has a number of commercial partners, including Microsoft, HP, Ernst and Young, Boston Consulting Group and Bank of New Zealand.

The Ice House provides three tailored learning environments and three growth enablers for companies. The learning environments are the Ice Accelerator, for start-ups with global ambitions (intensive mentoring and acceleration in a custom-built office space), the Ice Bridge, for more established companies to focus on growth opportunities and plans, and Ice Global, to enable senior managers to execute global opportunities.

Besides, apart from these learning environments, there are three growth enablers: Ice Angels, who inject cash and experience into start-up businesses, Ice Lab, with an R&D focus on owner-managed businesses, and Ice Network, bringing together partners, alumni and useful contacts.

Criteria for acceptance are mainly to do with: export-focus, viability, intellectual property and coachability. Around 10 applicants per month are screened and of these only 2 get through (20% acceptance).

The Ice House incubator has 630 m sq. of space, currently 14 residents and 7 commercial tenants (the former are involved in incubator programmes of market validation and acceleration). In total, Ice House has assisted 65 start-ups. 51 of these have already exited the incubator, out of which 31 are still in operation, many with an expanding turn over that already exceeds 10 million NZ$ per year.

Among the graduates from Ice House, there are some very successful companies that have achieved impressive results, including a company that has reached a market capitalisation in the range of 40 million NZ$.

The incubator pursues a high capital-raising model through its business angel network. 30 million NZD has been raised in investment funding over the past 7 years including 9 million NZD in 2007.

Pricing of services is now with NZD 1,000 per month physical fee, NZD 2,500 per month advice fee, 6% equity (usually diluted to 1% after entry of venture capital) and 4% capital-raising commission. Portfolio of Ice House equity interests is now at NZD 650,000. Currently 45% of incubator funding comes from the Government (22% of total), with the remainder coming mainly from customers as well as a small amount from sponsors.