$4.6m for Aussie companies to storm new markets

A new emergency protection system for storm-damaged buildings is among the latest innovations to receive commercialisation assistance through the Australian Government’s Entrepreneurs’ Programme.

Assistant Minister for Innovation Wyatt Roy today announced that nine companies had been offered $4.6 million in commercialisation grants to help their innovative products and services penetrate international markets.

“These products and services have the potential to address problems and meet needs in key industries including food, agribusiness, mining and advanced manufacturing,” Mr Roy said.

“This support will help companies with their development and commercialisation activities such as product trials, licensing and manufacturing scale-up – essential and often challenging steps in taking new products to market.

“The support is part of the Australian Government’s ongoing investment in placing entrepreneurship and creativity at the forefront of the transitioning economy.”

Sydney-based Stormseal’s weather protection system is a polyethylene film that provides secure, temporary protection from wind, rain and hail after catastrophic weather events or during construction.

This cheaper, lighter and more weather-resistant alternative to tarpaulin is set to reduce insurance claim costs and ease the burden on natural disaster victims.

The company will use its $450,000 grant to conduct commercial trials and installation training as well to secure s! ales.

Other funded projects include:

• a cheaper, safer and more environmentally-friendly crop protection product for the global agricultural industry
• a novel technology for mining operations that removes contaminants such as arsenic and disposes of them in an environmentally-sustainable way
• video processing technology for web browsers that will enable businesses and consumers to record, compress, upload and share videos far more quickly
• an innovative product and advanced manufacturing process for the control of invasive woody weeds – doubling active strength, increasing coverage and surface area of the carrier granules and doubling aerial productivity
• a unique multipurpose tool for cheaper and more efficient construction excavation
• a social media analytics platform that enables marketers to measure, benchmark and quantify the business value of social media
• an innovative, energy-efficient, high-speed vacuum packaging machine for the food processing industry and export companies
• a purpose-built, highly-efficient software application to support customer-directed care initiatives in the Disability Services and Aged Care sectors

The latest commercialisation grants range from $200,000 to $986,000 and must be matched dollar-for-dollar by recipients.

So far, the Government has invested $66.7 million in the scheme – helping 126 Australian businesses to get their products off the ground.