The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation has committed $150 million to Brandon Capital to accelerate Australian medical innovation commercialisation, according to an announcement on Thursday. The investment will be allocated to Brandon Capital’s BioCatalyst 6 fund and will support early and late-stage Australian medical science companies developing therapeutics, medical devices and vaccines. NRFC chief executive David…
Hazer Group announced on Monday it had raised $10 million through a placement and share purchase plan to drive commercialisation of its methane pyrolysis technology for clean hydrogen production. The Perth-based technology company successfully raised $8 million from existing and new institutional and sophisticated investors through a placement at 31 cents per share, representing a…
State government-backed venture fund Breakthrough Victoria has announced a new $7.5 million Breakthrough Fellowship Program, aimed at supporting researcher entrepreneur talent. According to a statement from the organisation on Friday, the program aims to cultivate “the next generation of startup founders from Victorian universities and medical research institutes” and is predicted to “establish up to…
The Queensland government has announced more than $150 million of investment in infrastructure to boost the region’s innovation economy. The SEQ Innovation Economy Fund is part of the $1.8 billion SEQ partnership between the Australian Government, Queensland Government and Council of Mayors (SEQ), which aims to improve the accessibility, prosperity and liveability of the region…
James Cook University has claimed a new compound developed by their researchers is a potential “game changer” against corrosion, and is seeking industry partners to get it into new paints. According to a statement from JCU on Thursday, a research team led by Professor Peter Junk has developed a compound combining “an organic corrosion inhibitor…
Less than two weeks before our Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers awards event at Cockle Bay Wharf, we profile another of the standout candidates. Brent Balinski speaks to Sleeptite founder Cameron van den Dungen about an eight-year quest to develop what’s been described as “a bed that watches you sleep”. Sleeptite did not set out…
The next stop on our Australia’s 50 Most Innovative Manufacturers quest is at another exciting young recycling enterprise with a world-first method addressing an enduring issue. Brent Balinski speaks to BlockTexx co-founder Graham Ross. Sometimes a lack of local ambition – as well as lack of larger-sized companies – gets cited as an obstacle to…
The federal government has announced that not-for-profit industry organisations can now apply for grants to provide expert, sector-specific advice to startups and scaleups taking part in its $392.4 million Industry Growth Program. The programme, a replacement for the six Industry Growth Centres (IGCs), will now make available Industry Partner Organisation (IPO) grants of between $500,000…
By Brent Balinski Nobody is exactly keen on getting a needle, and getting rid of them is an old idea. Some articles trace an alternative, microarray patches, back to the 1970s, but today we still generally get our vaccines and various other drugs the old way – jabbed into our muscles. Ideas are easy, but…
Start-ups and small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs)are being offered access a new online innovation learning program, ‘Innovate to Grow: Agrifood’, led by science agency CSIRO. The free 10-week online programme is designed to help Australian SMEs assess how they can advance their technologies, solutions and ideas through research and development (R&D). The programme, supported…