Grants to accelerate smart businesses

The Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Karen Andrews MP, recently announced that 15 Australian businesses have been offered Accelerating Commercialisation grants under the Entrepreneurs’ Programme.

The Entrepreneurs’ Programme is the Australian Government’s initiative to improve business competitiveness and productivity. It uses experienced Advisers and Facilitators, drawn from industry, to ensure businesses get the advice and support needed to improve their competitiveness, productivity and to seek growth opportunities.

Accelerating Commercialisation grants worth $5.3 million have been offered to assist the 15 Australian businesses undertake commercialisation activities to bring their new products, processes and services to market.

The latest funding offers will assist:

• Seven New South Wales businesses:
  • HeadsafeIP to complete commercialisation activities to achieve first sales of Nurochek, a portable device to assess traumatic neurological injuries.
  • AJJA Technologies to develop the final commercial version of a new, lower cost sensor technology to detect trace contaminants in water, including further field testing and the establishment of manufacturing processes. The sensor system can be adapted to measure a range of substances, such as nitrates, phosphates, acids and metals for organisations like waste water treatment plants and mining companies. Ongoing trials will measure contaminants in rivers which connect with the Great Barrier Reef.
  • Technology Connections International to commercialise a digital pitch controller called Virtual Jeff for stringed instruments. This device replaces a mechanical whammy-bar used on guitars for over 60 years, improves musician ergonomics, reduces strain and has features impossible with mechanical devices.
  • Traditional Business Online to modify a world leading Virtual Supply Chain (VSC) solution, called the One Touch VSC platform, for the specific needs of the retail butchery industry and to conduct a large scale pilot trial. One Touch VSC optimises the route and movement of a physical asset from the farmer or manufacturer to the business or consumer.
  • Urbanfinity to commercialise Context Map Suite, a revolutionary tool for architects and urban planners. It can achieve rapid, intelligent site analysis for optimised and sustainable urban development, providing a customisable 3D model and analytics for any new project site.
  • Advanced Catering Solutions to help implement two commercial pilots in separate client’s facilities of its QAmC system that replaces the primitive, pen-and-paper processes that prove food safety compliance in large-volume catering operations. It will give end-to-end digital food traceability, raising compliance and increasing operational efficiency, paving the way for global sales.
  • Marrosliving to produce prototypes for regulatory compliance testing of a novel barbeque incorporating a patent protected automated cleaning device and for commercial trials with a number of retailers or distributors.

• Three Victorian businesses:
  • escaVox to commercialise an innovative end-to-end solution for monitoring fresh food through the supply chain for primary producers, marketers and retailers in Australia. This solution will provide fresher quality produce for consumers, reduce food waste, provide proof of a quality brand for producers and also enhance Australia’s reputation as a quality food
  • HiveHub to help commercialise and refine the features of a software mapping platform for global use across all organisations with complex software environments. This technology will allow any employee to understand software in a simplified and standardised format (similar to Google Maps, but for the virtual world).
  • Deakin University to commercialise the Rapid Alloy Process, Innovation and Design (RAPID) and establish RAPID as a stand-alone commercial entity. RAPID will provide innovative and complex alloy solutions to the aerospace, automotive, mining and medical sectors.

• Three South Australian businesses:
  • Link4 Australia to commercialise an e-Invoicing service that small and medium enterprises can use with their current cloud accounting system providing small business owners with the ability to send invoices instantly to the government, get paid faster and improve cash flow.
  • Neomorph to commercialise a preformed, remouldable mouthguard for people with orthodontic appliances. The mouthguard will offer maximum protection, control and fit and conform to Australian, British and American regulations.
  • Lumin Sports Technology to help commercialise its ARC platform for global export. This platform for professional sporting teams collects and analyses data from athletes from multiple data points that is faster and easier to use.

• One Queensland business:
  • Genics to commercialise Avian MultiPath, a new highly multiplexed pathogen test for the poultry industry, and achieve major improvements in poultry production and animal well-being as well as reduce input costs.

• One Western Australian business:
  • Laconik to commercialise its new technology which combines data science and artificial intelligence to increase the profitability of grain farmers and reduce the harmful effects of excessive nitrogen fertiliser leaching into the environment.

The Entrepreneurs’ Programme Accelerating Commercialisation grants help Australian entrepreneurs, researchers and small and medium businesses find commercialisation solutions.

It aims to:

• accelerate the commercialisation of novel intellectual property in the form of new products, processes and services;
• support new businesses based on novel intellectual property with high growth potential; and
• generate greater commercial and economic returns from both public and private sector research and facilitate investment to drive business growth and competitiveness.

More information on the grant recipients is available at business.gov.au.