In FY2025, the Institute’s four legacy organisations collectively generated around NZ$100 million in commercialisation income and secured over NZ$100 million in research contracts with for-profit companies. These figures reflect a strong balance of intellectual property commercialisation, licensing, industry partnerships and contract research activity.

Plant & Food Research delivered particularly outstanding results, generating NZ$86.3 million in commercialisation income, placing it among the highest-performing research organisations in Australasia and making it the highest-ranked New Zealand institution in the SCOPR® commercialisation revenue benchmark. It’s commercialisation income equivalent to approximately 43% of its total research income is at a level rarely seen among public research organisations internationally.

The Bioeconomy Science Institute’s legacy organisations also recorded very strong results for commercial research contracts with industry, placing them among the leading organisations in Australasia for commercial contract research and demonstrating strong demand from industry partners for its capability in agricultural innovation, food systems and biotechnology.

Together, the results reinforce New Zealand’s ability to compete effectively with much larger Australian research institutions and highlight the strength of Institute’s combined innovation portfolio spanning food, agriculture, forestry, environmental science and the wider bioeconomy. The SCOPR® survey included 72 research organisations from Australia and New Zealand, including leading universities, medical research institutes and publicly funded research organisations such as CSIRO.

The 2025 survey notes that New Zealand research organisations collectively generated NZ$189 million in commercialisation revenue and NZ$182 million in industry research contracts, with the Bioeconomy Science Institute’s legacy organisations contributing a substantial share of those outcomes.

Matt Wilson, Chief Commercial Officer of the Bioeconomy Science Institute, said the results demonstrate the value created by decades of investment in world-class science and commercialisation capability.

"The Bioeconomy Science Institute begins its new journey from a position of considerable strength. These results reflect decades of successful science, innovation and commercialisation activity across our legacy organisations and demonstrate the value they have created for New Zealand through strong industry partnerships and the translation of research into real-world impact."

Wilson said the creation of the Institute creates a significant opportunity to build on that foundation.

“The formation of the Bioeconomy Science Institute brings together complementary capabilities spanning food, agriculture, forestry, environmental science and advanced biotechnology. By combining our expertise, networks, infrastructure and commercial portfolios, we will be able to create larger opportunities, attract greater industry investment and deliver more integrated innovation solutions for New Zealand and international partners.”

“Our ambition is not simply to combine four successful organisations. It is to create a globally recognised bioeconomy innovation platform that can accelerate the translation of science into economic, environmental and societal outcomes. The strength of these results gives us tremendous confidence in what we can achieve together in the years ahead.

"While the commercial results are significant in their own right, the value of these outcomes extends beyond revenue generation. Income from licensing, industry partnerships and other commercial activities helps support future research and innovation, enabling the Bioeconomy Science Institute to invest in the science, capability and collaborations needed to address some of New Zealand's most important opportunities and challenges across the bioeconomy."