WA innovators share in record $3.5 million in Government grants

A northern suburbs business specialising in using seaweed to manufacture an alternative to plastic is one of 49 local innovators to share in a record $3.56 million of grants from the Cook Government.
  • Government provides record amount of grant funds to 49 innovators
  • $3.56 million awarded via Innovation Booster and Commercialisation Bridge Grants
  • More than 40 per cent of grant recipients have female founders

A northern suburbs business specialising in using seaweed to manufacture an alternative to plastic is one of 49 local innovators to share in a record $3.56 million of grants from the Cook Government.

Innovation and Digital Economy Minister Stephen Dawson Minister said the multimillion windfall for these leading local innovative businesses was being made through the Government's popular Innovation Booster Grant (IBG) and the new Commercialisation Bridge Grant (CBG) programs.

Successful grant recipients include northern suburbs company Uluu, which is based in the Indian Ocean Marine Research Centre in Watermans Bay. The business is adopting an in-house manufacturing process to use seaweed to make a range of alternative plastic products, including containers and textiles.

The funding has been awarded to a wide range of novel innovators including one business seeking to develop an AI textile sorting machine, another that is developing a system to enable people with mobility issues to access light aircraft and another that is producing high-protein livestock feed all year-round.

Of the 49 recipients, 21 have female founders, seven are based in regional Western Australia and two are First Nations businesses, reflecting the strong diversity of Western Australia's innovation ecosystem.

The IBG has been awarded to 38 local companies with each receiving up to $40,000 to advance their ideas. This latest grant allocation follows the announcement of 26 local recipients earlier this year, who received around $1 million in funding.

In its first ever round, the CBG has been awarded to 11 local companies with each receiving up to $200,000 in matched funding to assist with bridging the gap between commercialised innovation and a scalable business.

The 38 IBGs will receive $1,480,645 in funding, with 36 being funded by the New Industries Fund (NIF), the 11 CBGs will receive $2,076,590 in funding, with nine funded by the NIF.

In line with the Cook Government's Health and Medical Life Sciences Industry Strategy, the remaining two IBG and two CBG recipients will be supported through Health and Medical Life Sciences funding.

Applications remain open for both programs, all year round.

For more information see: https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-jobs-tourism-science-and-innovation/new-industries-fund-innovation-booster-grant and https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-jobs-tourism-science-and-innovation/new-industries-fund-commercialisation-bridge-grant

Comments attributed to Innovation and the Digital Economy Minister Stephen Dawson:

"We have an amazing and talented cohort of local innovators who are doing incredible things and the Cook Government is committed to assisting WA's innovation ecosystem to thrive and prosper.

"We are targeting innovation growth with funding support through both the Innovation Booster and Commercialisation Bridge Grants scheme to provide this assistance at a variety of different stages.

"We want local innovators to build their businesses here in WA where they can continue to generate connections and develop their businesses.

"Congratulations to all 49 recipients of this round of IBG and CBGs. I am looking forward to seeing the leaps of progress that each of them will make with this vital early-stage and scale up funding."

List of Innovation Booster Grant recipients

Business Name

Project

Grant

($A)

Biotome Pty Ltd

Intellectual Property for a novel preeclampsia risk test

$39,760

Threadup Australia Pty Ltd

Semi-autonomous AI textile sorting machine - fibre to fibre recycling

$39,000

Full Fat Ventures

Sustainable year-round vertical production of high-protein livestock feed

$40,000

Cenergy Tech Pty Ltd

"E-Mast" - developing an electric powered integrated Foiling Mast

$40,000

Neolixir Ltd

Intellectual property protection for a novel, scalable, antimicrobial resistance solution

$40,000

Research Tech Pty Ltd

Quantum security for cloud and virtualised environments

$40,000

Y-Trace Pty Ltd

Providing a superior assay for export in smart beehive monitoring system

$40,000

Nexa Oceania Pty Ltd

Development of hydrogen pipeline relining solution

$40,000

Access To Leisure and Sport Inc (ATLAS)

Innovation enabling people with mobility issues to access light aircraft

$33,920

Origin Business Consultants

Development of streamlined online business registration portal, with focus on Indigenous businesses

$40,000

Cognety Pty Ltd

Food recognition and behaviour change to improve health through diet

$40,000

Eat Sustainably Pty Ltd

Commercialisation of the 'Eat Sustainably' platform for organisations to action Scope 3 ESG goals

$40,000

Rapid Responder Pty Ltd

Development of Rapid Responder; an initial emergency responder preparedness tool

$40,000

Abraham Scientific t/a Aquila Scientific

Development of microbiology diagnostic plates for agriculture and veterinary use

$40,000

IP Collective Pty Ltd

Development of the GridTec power supply system

$40,000

Kate Parker (Dash)

Dash development of financial integrations

$40,000

Heailthigence Pty Ltd

Medsafe-AI: enhancing medication safety in neonatal intensive care units

$40,000

Filit Pty Ltd

Child development, behaviour and wellbeing system

$39,424

MinBioteck Pty Ltd

Development of new biotechnology mineral discovery tool

$40,000

Capability X Pty Ltd

Development for CX Edge Control

$40,000

Green Thumb Botanical Consulting

Development of Green Thumb virtual herbarium database and ID tool

$21,120

Vernico Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd

Manufacturing single use liquid sachets of pharmaceutical-grade coconut oil emollient

$40,000

We Spot Pty Ltd

Developing the accuracy of photo-recognition model

$39,507

Hermes and Soteria

Software development for Overwatch vault and internal systems supporting commercialisation

$40,000

Red Earth Pollen Pty Ltd

Establishing a novel phytomedicine industry for WA using bee propolis

$40,000

MyTab

Development of MyTab's WA hospitality and tourism in-app advertising feature

$31,914

Health and Spice

High protein, allergen-free, nutritious plant-based milk from Tiger nut tubers

$40,000

Conifr Technologies Pty Ltd

Scaling the innovation of sustainability analytics solution

$40,000

Work Metrics

Workers compensation digital twin diagnostic MVP

$37,600

Satva-Urja Technologies

Cost effective production and recycling of battery cathodes

$40,000

Yokefellow Pty Ltd

Development of MVP for new pregnancy nutrition, community and education app

$40,000

Farm Optimisation Group

A decision-tool to help farmers manage price and weather variations

$40,000

Andrew Joseph O'Neil (t/a HUMBL. Devices)

HUMBL Looper Pedal - real-time audio time-stretching without pitch alteration loop pedal

$40,000

Magic Wavelength Pty Ltd

WATERME portable device to indicate a plant's water needs

$40,000

Zentient

A platform helping not-for-profit organisations build digital capability

$38,400

Serenity Life

Development of employee wellbeing, empowerment and mentoring tool: Take5 to Survive Burnout

$40,000

Oqea Pty Ltd

Modernising mental healthcare: digitally Identifying inefficiencies in the system

$40,000

Reliis Ltd

Getting the dose right - modelling existing data to optimise formulation

$40,000

List of Commercialisation Bridge Grant recipients

Business Name/Company

Project

Grant (A$)

C Sea Solutions Pty Ltd (t/a Uluu)

Scaling a novel alternative to plastic made from seaweed using fully in-house manufacturing

$200,000

Neurotologix Pty Ltd

Commercialisation of remote patient monitoring device for dizziness and vertigo

$200,000

Apsyrtus Biotechnology t/a VetChip

VetChip animal user interface development project

$200,000

Customa Pty Ltd

CustomaSEALâ„¢ - navigating the path to commercial manufacturing scale up

$200,000

SpaceDraft Pty Ltd

Commercialisation readiness for SpaceDraft as an embedded management tool

$150,000

SynGenis Pty Ltd

Commercial manufacturing of short morpholino patches for RNA therapeutic development

$140,000

Juice Batteries Pty Ltd

Scaling the hybrid diesel replacement system across global markets

$200,000

Whole Green Foods Pty Ltd

Winx processing technology compact model prototyping

$200,000

Engentus Pty Ltd

Development of Gen 2 TopTorque fastener technology to provide faster, safer and more accurate bolted joint assemblies

$200,000

Azitec Pty Ltd

Commercialisation team readiness for Azitec Pty Ltd

$186,590

Agile 8 Pty Ltd (t/a Agili8)

Project 3P to build sovereign capabilities

$200,000


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