23 June 2016
Mr Paul Robinson
[FYI request #3978 email]
Ref: 2016-OIA-10073
Dear Mr Robinson
Thank you for your email of 6 May 2016, requesting, under the Official Information Act 1982
(the Act), a number of questions that are detailed below:
1. Please detail all funding paid from the Callaghan Fund whether in grants, loans, cash or
otherwise to any of Heliase Nominees Limited, Heliase Genomics Limited, Heliase
Analytics Limited or Heliase Limited?
Callaghan Innovation provided $3,500 in co-funding to enable Heliase Genomics
Limited, represented by a staff member (Dr Gabriel James), to take part in the New
Zealand mission to TechConnect World Innovation 2015 in Washington DC on 14-17
June 2015. This is the only funding provided by Callaghan Innovation to any of the
specified Heliase entities.
2. Please provide a copy of the application by the recipient of the funding (Heliase
Nominees Limited, Heliase Genomics Limited, Heliase Analytics Limited or Heliase
Limited) and any correspondence pertaining to it.
On 6 May 2015 Callaghan Innovation sent a letter of offer to Dr Gabriel James to attend
TechConnect World Innovation 2015. Please refer to the attached pdf document.
3. Heliase Limited was recently restored on the Companies Register on 27th April 2016.
Heliase Limited is the 100% shareholder of Heliase Genomics Limited and the two other
subsidiary companies named above (Heliase Nominees Limited and Heliase Analytics
Limited). Heliase Genomics according to the report was represented on a Callaghan
Innovation Fund mission to Washington in June 2015.
We confirm that Heliase Genomics was a delegate on the Callaghan Innovation led
mission to TechConnect in June 2015.
4. Is it within the rules of funding from the Callaghan Fund to allow companies whose
shareholder (or itself) is removed on the Companies Register, or anticipated to be at the
time, to be funded, and for it to be represented on such trips with the Callaghan Fund?
The Companies Register indicates that Heliase Limited (the parent of Heliase Genomics)
was removed from the Register on 29 January 2016 - more than six months after the
TechConnect event. Callaghan Innovation does not make grants to unregistered
companies. The applicant was a properly registered company at the time that it applied
for funding, participated in the sponsored mission and receive co-funding.
5. Is the Callaghan Fund aware that a recipient of funds has a shareholder that has only
recently had its status restored on the Companies Register after being removed from
29th January 2016? Or if Heliase Limited was the recipient of the funds that itself was
removed and restored on the Register?
No financial support was provided to any of the specified Heliase entities during the
period that Heliase Limited was removed from the Register. Callaghan Innovation’s
grants typically include provisions requiring recipients to provide notice of any material
change in company status.
6. Gabriel James of Heliase Genomics Limited was representative of the company on the
trip aforementioned according to the report. Please detail any official report available
under the OIA of his attendance on this trip including correspondences prior to the trip
that discussed the criteria for his attendance.
The relevant sections of Callaghan Innovation’s report on the TechConnect mission,
comprising sections and references directly relevant to Heliase, is attached (Attachment
two). Correspondence prior to the trip is included in attachment one. Information that
does not refer specific to Heliase has been redacted because it isn’t in the scope of the
request.
Certain information has been withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the Act which relates to the
privacy of natural individuals. Under section 9(1) of the Act I do not consider that the
withholding of this information is outweighed by public interest considerations in making the
information available.
You have the right to request a review of this response by the Ombudsman whose contact
details are:
The Ombudsman
PO Box 10-152
Wellington 6143
Please contact
[email address] if you require any further
information.
Yours sincerely
Justin Brownlie
GM External Relations
Document Outline