The CSIRO-founded investment vehicle Main Sequence announced the first close of Fund 3, raising $450 million and passing a milestone of $1 billion in total funds under management. Participation came from what were described as “large institutional funds, wealth groups and top tier climate investors” including Hostplus, LGT Crestone, Morgan Stanley Wealth Management and Temasek,…
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The federal treasurer Jim Chalmers has given the new chair of the Productivity Commission Chris Barrett an impossible job, argues John Sheridan. If we can no longer measure productivity in a digital age – and we can’t – how can any amount of reform of the PC help boost national productivity? Workplace productivity comparisons mean…
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The scale of the renewables boom facing Australia is becoming clearer, with the task emerging as a vast one which carries with it vast opportunities. According to the Head of Policy with the Australian Constructors Association Robert Sobyra: “The renewables boom has just begun. “The 12 months to March 2023 saw a record $20 billion…
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Melbourne’s oldest independent brewer, 3 Ravens is setting the standard for efficient, electrified and, yes, sustainable brewing processes. An energy upgrade to its Thornbury, Melbourne brewing facility should enable 3 Ravens to quadruple production without increasing its energy consumption. In addition to upgrading the building fabric and installing 74 kW of solar panels and a…
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Biomedical manufacturer Cell Therapies has announced the opening of new cell and gene therapy GMP (good manufacturing practice) manufacturing facilities to meet future patient demand at Victoria’s Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. The facility is Australia’s only biomedical manufacturing facility where CAR T-cells and other ‘living’ cancer therapies can be made at a commercial scale. In…
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Applications are now being sought to receive funding from South Australia’s Defence Innovation Partnership’s Collaborative Research Fund. Successful applicants will receive grants of up to $150,000 to support collaboration across government, universities and industry for early-stage defence-relevant research, development and innovation. The CRF was established in 2018 to support research partnerships between industry, academia and…
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Keith Milne runs Uncle Harry’s Vegan Grill, a company he decided to buy in 2018 at age 70. He tells Brent Balinski about why he did it, and the satisfaction he finds in running an enduring veggie burger business. “I was actually all ready to retire,” recalls Keith Milne. “I had a BT-50 and a…
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Sydney quantum computing hardware manufacturer Silicon Quantum Computing (SQC) has closed a scaled back $50.4 million Series A capital raising to fund the manufacture of the world’s first scalable, error corrected quantum computer. The investors in the latest round are the Commonwealth Government and institutions including the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), Telstra and the…
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Five years after its original launch, the recently-expanded ManuFutures hub at Deakin University’s Waurn Ponds campus has been officially opened. The $20 million “ManuFutures 2” was announced as completed in February this year, and is located behind the original ManuFutures building According to a statement from Deakin, 14 companies are now based at ManuFutures, with…
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Precision engineering and CNC machining business Lovitt Technologies has been awarded a $1.5 million Joint Strike Fighter Industry Support Program – Production and Modernisation grant. Lovitt is the first recipient under the program, which provides up to 50 per cent of funding for projects developing “new or improved capabilities to secure work from the lucrative…
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