{"id":20267,"date":"2019-07-29T08:02:51","date_gmt":"2019-07-28T22:32:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aumanufacturing.com.au\/?p=20267"},"modified":"2021-01-14T13:49:20","modified_gmt":"2021-01-14T03:19:20","slug":"boffins-and-business-the-tough-journey-from-lab-to-marketplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aumanufacturing.com.au\/boffins-and-business-the-tough-journey-from-lab-to-marketplace","title":{"rendered":"Boffins and business – the tough journey from lab to market"},"content":{"rendered":"
For a long time, Australian venture capital investment levels looked sickly. Freelancer\u2019s Matt Barrie<\/a> – a reliable source for journalists seeking a zippy quote on the country\u2019s startup environment – pointed out in 2013 that, per capita, Australians were investing more in the Melbourne Cup<\/a> than in venture capital, and at levels comparable to nations with economies underpinned by goat-herding.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thankfully, things have improved since<\/a>. A couple of weeks ago KPMG released figures showing local VC investment<\/a> raised was at all-time highs last financial year, and more than seven times higher than the total for 2012\/13.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n New companies assembling physical things aren\u2019t missing out, either, for example CSIRO drone mapping spin-out Emesent<\/a> (which announced in November that it raised $3.5 million) and agricultural robotics startup Agerris<\/a> (with its origins in the University of Sydney Australian Centre for Field Robotics) which in April made news through a $6.5 million raising.<\/span><\/p> <\/p>\n Research spin-outs are vital, believes David Burt, the Executive Manager of the CSIRO ON accelerator program. He believes the national economy will be defined by how well \u201c<\/span>research-led early-stage commercialisation<\/a>\u201d is carried out.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n