Bermuda business has been thriving in the uncertain climate.

The e-Venture Centre, set up a year ago as an incubator for e-commerce ventures by Centre Solutions and Paragon Bermuda, now has seven companies under its watchful eye.

e-Venture Centre was set up as Bermuda's first for profit technology incubator -- a place where start-up companies can get the nurturing they need to get going.

The seven companies are Axiom, Global e-Biz, Ignition, Invesdex, ISI Publications, Quo Vadis and SecureCentre.

And last week Graham Pearson, director of e-Venture Centre and head of Paragon, travelled to the Bahamas to talk to the Strategic Research Institute Conference on Multinationals & E-Commerce about the benefits of setting up offshore in general and in particular in Bermuda.

He said: "Since its formation in May 2000, the eVenture Centre has helped seven companies become successful e-business enterprises.'' He added: "New companies in a foreign land typically find it difficult to secure top-rate real estate, technological resources, offshore venture capital and a secure, state-of-the-art infrastructure.

"The eVenture Centre provides a one-stop shop, turn-key operation by utilising the Zurich/Centre technology infrastructure at its SecureCentre providing access to Centre and Paragon's business expertise and relationships and introducing its clients to future funding sources and providing the necessary management and operational support.'' Mr. Pearson pointed to ISI Publications as one of eVenture Centre's success stories.

Set up in 1991 with offices in the UK, Hong Kong and Bermuda, it is now poised to exploit the Internet through its booksonBiz.com, an on-line specialist bookstore.

Mr. Pearson pointed to its `Guerrilla Publishing' businesses which uses technology to publish books in three to six months and Offshore News Online, an offshore business newsletter which can be accessed at Offshore.On.com.

Offshore e-Venture bucks global growth slowdown And he added that the SecureCentre provides "extremely high-level security with protection against theft, burglary, vandalism'' with in-built surveillance and multiple zone access control.

It also has protection against threats such as fire, heat, water and acrid gases as well as having internal fire detection and extinction and its own power supply.

He said: "E-commerce and offshore are natural bedfellows. It would be extremely challenging -- and costly -- to have a physical presence in every jurisdiction around the world where you'd like to sell your goods and services. It therefore makes good economic sense to look at selling to people around the world using the wonderful world of the Internet, while taking advantage of the benefits of being established as an offshore company.'' He added: "Once significant proportion of your business is being conducted offshore, this will enable you as a company to benefit from the whole world of offshore tax savings and regulation benefits.''