Twelve new CSIRO ON Accelerate ventures announced

Addressing global health challenges, championing sustainability through circularity, and advancing advanced manufacturing, are some of the innovative areas selected for the next stage of CSIRO’s ON Accelerate programme.

The programme, which develops high-potential, research-based ventures for launch into the Australian market, will include 12 new deep-tech project teams who will be given the tools and resources to translate their ideas into a startup.

CSIRO Chief Executive Doug Hilton said: “ON Accelerate is about creating national benefits for Australia by giving researchers the skills they need to navigate their ideas along the often-fraught road between the lab and the market,” Dr Hilton said.

“Research commercialisation, science entrepreneurship and technical collaboration are all critical skills for Australia’s future and the ON program is equipping the next generation of innovators with the skills they need to make a difference for our future.”

The 12 teams moving to the next stage of ON Accelerate include:

• Jessie Technology, from the Australian Catholic University and supported by Microsoft, has developed an autonomous data entry technology that reduces the time needed for care sector workers to input data and compliance documentation
• Automated Policy Management Systems (APMS), supported by the Australian National University, simplifies the security accreditation process for SMEs entering the Defence Industry by mapping relationships between security documents
• ErythroSight, also from the Australian National University, is tackling a major challenge in treating retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, by developing a novel therapeutic from patients’ own red blood cells.
• AquaTone Solutions, hailing from Griffith University, is harnessing the convergence of life sciences and machine learning to pioneer intelligent prawn farm management and deliver timely alerts to stakeholders on a local and global scale.
• Infinite Bioworks, from James Cook University, is a startup specialising in advanced starter cells to fuel the future bio-revolution
• RestorTOL, from Monash University, has developed an immune tolerance platform that identifies disease-causing epitopes and immune cell receptors in healthy humans
• Originating out of the University of Newcastle, Wild Yeast Zoo’s technology leverages native yeast strains to unlock novel pathways for industries like brewing, baking, pharmaceuticals, and biofuels
• Plasmid Therapy is a joint effort team from The Westmead Institute for Medical Research and The University of Sydney working on a technology that addresses the global threat of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) infections
• Environmental Measurement Unit Systems or EMUS, from The University of Sydney deliver advanced heat stress management systems for athletes
• From the University of Western Australia and partners, Cytophenix’s patented technology is an AI-boosted antimicrobial susceptibility test (AST), delivering evidence of antibiotic effectiveness
• CSIRO’s Mycena Biochemicals team has developed a novel bioreactor fermentation systems that has the potential to make bioproducts more accessible
• And CSIRO team Continuous3D which offers a fully automated solution for efficiently repairing critical metal components using sensors and advanced algorithms.

In February, the teams drawn from universities and research institutions nationwide will embark on an intensive immersion week, setting the stage for a rigorous three-month ON Accelerate programme.

They will collaborate with a carefully selected group of experts, engaging in personalised coaching and development plans.

The programme aims to provide the cohort with comprehensive insights to transform their projects into market-ready ventures.

Teams that complete the full ON Accelerate program will graduate with a robust business model, a well-defined route to commercialisation, and be viable startups.

Picture: CSIRO/Doug Hilton