New Zealand produces strong science, engineering, and product innovation. However, many late-phase start-ups, SMEs, and university spin-outs lack access to the combined facilities they need to commercialise and scale physical products efficiently.
PDIHQ is designed to fill that gap by bringing private offices, specialist laboratories, engineering workshops, and commercialisation support together in one Wellington facility. Residents retain their intellectual property and equity.
Register your interest Find out moreThe gap
Since 2022, in collaboration with WellingtonNZ, our founder interviewed founders and CEOs of STEM companies across the Wellington region. He did not assume the problem. He asked the people living it. Their answers were consistent:
Some founders reported that activities which should have taken around one year had taken as long as eight years, because suitable facilities and infrastructure were not available. That research produced a fifteen-point list of what STEM companies need to commercialise. PDIHQ has been planned in response to that requirements list.
The missing stage
One common commercialisation pathway begins with university research and the formation of a spin-out company. Other companies may enter the pathway as independent start-ups or established SMEs. In each case, the challenge is similar: once the product has moved beyond early research or prototyping, the company needs suitable infrastructure to commercialise and scale.
An indicative commercialisation pathway
PDIHQ is a transition facility. Companies enter after outgrowing early-stage support, commercialise and scale, and graduate into independent premises when ready.
The value is not in the building alone. It is in what the building enables companies to do: commercialise faster, retain their intellectual property and equity, and continue growing in New Zealand.
What PDIHQ provides
PDIHQ is a proposed 2,500 square metre facility planned for Wellington, with 12 configurable tenancies. Everything in the facility is designed to support more efficient progression from working prototype through commercialisation and scale-up.
Closed, not open-plan. Built for the focus and IP confidentiality that commercialisation requires.
Designed to support companies working across biotech, clean tech, deep tech, and consumer product development, with final requirements confirmed during detailed design and resident engagement.
Shared engineering infrastructure that reduces the time and cost of establishing specialist space: CNC, 3D printing, lathes, mills, laser cutters, and welding bays.
Industry-led, with product design and manufacturing consultancy Pro-Dev co-located in the building. Mentoring, training, and networks included.
Residents pay rent and access services: mentoring, training, workshops, and a shared engineering facility. Residents retain their intellectual property and equity while paying for the space and services they use. This gives companies access to commercialisation infrastructure without requiring an ownership stake in their business.
Dedicated commercialisation facilities work. mHUB in Chicago supports over 300 start-ups a year through shared prototyping labs and a micro-factory. Greentown Labs has helped incubate over 675 climatetech start-ups. PDIHQ does not claim their scale.
No directly comparable facility has been identified in New Zealand that combines this range of infrastructure, long-term residency, and non-equity access. PDIHQ applies the proven model at a scale that fits: 12 residencies, one region, one clearly evidenced gap, with room to grow.
Regional alignment and support
The Wellington Regional Economic Development Plan identifies a STEM product commercialisation innovation space as a key initiative for the region, and names Pro-Dev as its lead. The plan is governed by the Wellington Regional Leadership Committee: nine mayors, the chair of Greater Wellington Regional Council, and the leaders of six iwi entities, in partnership with central government.
PDIHQ is an industry-led proposal intended to be delivered through public and private support. It aims to deliver an agreed regional economic priority.
The funding position
Willis Bond has committed $10 million towards construction of the PDIHQ facility. For the project to proceed, PDIHQ is seeking $3.6 million in three-year lease underwriting and $5 million for the initial fit-out and projected operating shortfall over the first five years.
Committed by Willis Bond towards construction of the purpose-built facility.
Three-year underwriting required to support the lease arrangement.
Initial fit-out and projected operating shortfall over the first five years.
Who stands behind PDIHQ
"Upper Hutt City Council is pleased to express its strong support for the establishment of the Product Development and Innovation Headquarters (PDIHQ) in the Hutt Valley and endorses this initiative's strong alignment with the Wellington Regional Economic Development Plan." Letter of support, 28 October 2025, signed by the Chief Executive and the Mayor.
"We will continue to work with all parties to act on opportunities for alignment and collaboration, and would like the opportunity to work alongside government on enabling PDIHQ." Letter of support, General Manager Business and Innovation.
"We support the efforts of Sam Kumar and the Product Development and Innovation Headquarters as an essential ingredient in improving the Wellington region's manufacturing, commercial and employment performance." Letter of support, Deputy Director Commercialisation and Industry Engagement.
"I am happy... to fully endorse the work being undertaken on the Product Development and Innovation Headquarters and look forward to seeing this fantastic initiative... happen." Letter of support, Programme Director.
The full letters are included in the Investor Pack.
The evidence
Infometrics, one of New Zealand's leading economic consultancies, modelled PDIHQ's impact over its first five years. These are their numbers, not ours.
Full-time jobs supported by year five, and cumulative contribution to Hutt Valley GDP over the first five years.
Full-time jobs supported by year five, and cumulative contribution to New Zealand GDP over the first five years.
Youth programmes, school partnerships, and an on-site educational makerspace for ages 8 to 18.
Increasing the visibility of Māori talent in the STEM industry, with iwi representation reserved at board level.
Clean tech commercialisation supporting New Zealand's transition to a low-carbon economy.
Source: Economic impact of PDIHQ, Infometrics. Impact reports co-funded by Hutt City Council and WellingtonNZ.
For international investors
A stable, English-speaking democracy with strong rule of law and intellectual property protection, consistently ranked among the least corrupt countries in the world in Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index. Manufacturing already contributes around $23 billion to GDP, employs over 240,000 people, and makes up more than half of New Zealand's goods exports by value. A straightforward place to establish, own, and grow a company, in a time zone that bridges the United States and Asia.
The capital is New Zealand's traditional science city. The region hosts the headquarters and campuses of the country's public research organisations, including GNS Science, NIWA, and ESR, alongside the Malaghan Institute, the Robinson Research Institute, the Ferrier Research Institute, the MacDiarmid Institute's advanced materials network, and three universities. The region's engineering design sector generates over $619 million a year and its scientific research services over $306 million. That science currently lacks a dedicated commercialisation facility. That is the gap PDIHQ is designed to fill.
New Zealand rebuilt its public science system in 2025, merging its Crown Research Institutes into focused public research organisations and committing $231 million over four years to the new NZ Institute for Advanced Technology. Its first investment: the Robinson Research Institute in Wellington. PDIHQ is designed to be the commercialisation infrastructure that helps turn public research investment into companies, jobs, and exports.
New Zealand produces strong science and engineering. What it has lacked is a dedicated place to turn that work into products and companies at home, instead of losing them offshore. Backing PDIHQ is backing that missing piece.
Who we are building this for
Late-phase start-ups, SMEs, and university spin-outs in deep tech, clean tech, biotech, and consumer product development. You are past the idea stage. You are building real products, and you need private offices, specialist laboratories, and workshops while retaining your intellectual property and equity. Long-term residency, not a twelve-week programme.
Express interestCentral and local government, institutional and private investors, corporate sponsors, and philanthropic funders who want measurable economic and social returns. Willis Bond has committed $10 million towards construction. To proceed, PDIHQ is seeking $3.6 million in three-year lease underwriting and $5 million for the initial fit-out and projected operating shortfall over the first five years.
Register your interestWho is behind this
Mechanical engineer and founder of Pro-Dev, with over a decade leading product design and manufacturing programmes for inventors, start-ups, and established companies across New Zealand, Australia, and the United States. Sam has personally funded and led the development of PDIHQ since 2022, and will run the facility on site.
Pro-Dev is a product design and manufacturing consultancy, and one of the very few in New Zealand that walk clients from concept through mass manufacturing to in-market support. That commercialisation experience, built over nearly ten years, is what PDIHQ applies to the STEM sector. PDIHQ is industry-led, and Pro-Dev will be in the building.
PDIHQ is governed by a five-member Advisory Board spanning property and compliance, governance and economics, and public sector economic development, with seats reserved for an industry expert and for iwi representation. Meet the board.
Working with
PDIHQ is an initiative identified in the Wellington Regional Economic Development Plan.
Your feedback
We are currently seeking feedback from investors, funders, industry partners, and prospective residents. Your feedback will help us improve the information, structure, and Investor Pack before the formal launch.
This is an invited preview. The site is not yet public.
Register your details to receive the approved PDIHQ Investor Pack when it is available and to take part in the current feedback process.