30 September 2024
Ref: DOIA-REQ-0002890
Tēnā koe Andrew
Thank you for your email of 12 September 2024 to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment
requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act), the fol owing information:
“Can you please provide me with the formula used to determine the organisational cap for MBIE Smart
Ideas applications? For clarity, this refers to the formula described on slide 11: "Organisational cap is
based on a formula using a rol ing number of awarded contracts as a baseline" of this
powerpoint:https://aus01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.mbie.govt.nz%2F
assets%2Fendeavour-fund-2025-webinar-
presentation.pptx&data=05%7C02%7CMinisterialServices%40mbie.govt.nz%7Ce3e99c417d6b4f043d3008
dcd2dcb523%7C78b2bd11e42b47eab0112e04c3af5ec1%7C0%7C0%7C638617093489498179%7CUnknow
n%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C0
%7C%7C%7C&sdata=ltVoiXlxfcJ0ktn6hXS80Ye7NJIeV9ektJipg6P1vUo%3D&reserved=0”
Organisations applying for the 2025 Endeavour Fund – Smart Ideas funding mechanism have a cap
allocated outlining the maximum number of Smart Ideas proposals an organisation can submit to MBIE.
The table is definitive in setting the cap and it is published on MBIE’s website
https://www.mbie.govt.nz/science-and-technology/science-and-innovation/funding-information-and-
opportunities/investment-funds/endeavour-fund.
The organisational cap for the 2025 Endeavour Fund Investment Round is calculated by applying a
multiplier to the average number of awarded contracts over the previous three years of investment
rounds (investment rounds 2021 to 2023). Organisations that have had at least one contract in 2021-23
receive an organisational cap which is the greater of the result of the above calculation or 2 (see
attachment). New organisations and any organisations that have not been awarded a contract in 2021-23
are allocated a cap of 1. Please note that the formula is based on the host organisation held contracts at
the time of the organisational cap calculation, to account for novated contracts.
The formula was created with the aim of MBIE receiving around 150 applications, this being the
maximum number of applications MBIE has the capacity to process. To account for submissions of new
organisations, those that wil have a cap of 1, the formula makes a contingency for new organisations
again based on the average number of new organisations submitting over the past three years. This new
process is currently run as a pilot which wil be reviewed at the end of the 2025 Investment round.
Review findings, including the effectiveness of the cap and underpinning formula in limiting submissions
to the target of 150, wil feed into the 2026 Endeavour Fund design.
Successful Endeavour Fund programmes over the years are published on MBIE’s website. Information for
previous funded Smart Ideas programmes can be found her
e https://www.mbie.govt.nz/science-and-
technology/science-and-innovation/funding-information-and-opportunities/investment-
funds/endeavour-fund/currently-funded-smart-ideas.
I trust that you find the information helpful.
Yours sincerely
Dr Alan Coulson
Manager, Contestable Investments
Science System Investment and Performance Branch, Labour, Science and Enterprise, MBIE
15 Stout Street, PO Box 1473, Wellington 6140 New Zealand
Attachment: Table outlining the calculation of the organisation cap.
