Almost $1 million in funds for local innovators to further their goals

  • Twenty-six businesses are the latest recipients of the Innovation Booster Grant (IBG) program
  • Businesses received up to $40,000 to assist in their early steps towards to commercialisation
  • Applications for the IBG program are open year-round

Building material made from seaweed, intelligent braking for two-wheeled modes of transport and a wave energy conversion device are some of the latest recipients of the Cook Government’s Innovation Booster Grant (IBG) program.

Innovation and the Digital Economy Minister Stephen Dawson said the latest round of IBG has awarded 26 businesses a total of almost $1 million following an increase to the grants from $20,000 to $40,000 in early 2023. This latest round is the first since the program was relaunched under a year-round model.

Fourteen recipients in this round come from either female-founded companies or are based in the regions. Sixty per cent of the applications received were from female, First Nations, regional-founded companies or founders from a culturally diverse background. This reflects on the Cook Government’s commitment to diversity and inclusion as a priority action area of the State’s Innovation Strategy: Western Australia the place to innovate.

The IBG is designed to assist early-stage innovators overcome some of the barriers along the way to commercialisation, as well as build new relationships between innovators, consultants and service providers.

Eligible expenditure for grants include research and development, product development, technology transfer and intellectual property along with commercialisation support services.

The next cut-off date for IBG assessment is 4 April 2024. This will be the last round this financial year. There will be further application opportunities in the next financial year.

For more information and application details see:

To assist local startups to get more recognition, the Cook Government is investing in publicly promoting their stories on a new TV series. More than 70 local innovative startups will feature in a new program to be aired on Channel 9 called Innovation Nation, which will premiere on Sunday, 7 April.

The program will cover the background stories on how these startups began and how WA is fast gaining an international reputation for its dynamic and robust innovation ecosystem.

A key priority for the Cook Government is making WA a global hub for invention, investment, innovation, and impact.

As stated by Innovation and the Digital Economy Minister Stephen Dawson:

“This latest round of Innovation Booster Grants has again identified some fantastic businesses and ideas across a broad range of diverse founders.

“I look forward to following the next steps for these 26 businesses who can now climb to another platform of their business journey through the benefits from receiving an IBG.

“The Cook Government is investing tens of millions of dollars into helping our local startups become sustainable businesses through a range of different programs and initiatives, such as the IBG.

“This is an exciting time for innovation and technology in WA and the Innovation Nation program will help shine a light on the amazing stories about our successful startups and showcase their journey to get the recognition they deserve.”

Innovation Boost Grant recipients

Business Name

Grant

Project Title

Pretect Devices Pty Ltd

$17,600

Paediatric bioimpedance lead development

TermiSense

$40,000

Early-Detection of Termites and Wood Borers using smart sensors

Circular Learning Pty Ltd

$40,000

Commercialisation of The Learning Circle – English Language Teaching (ELT) online training platform

L2U Group Pty Ltd t/a Cavitas Construction Systems

$40,000

System-built construction using cavity-based modules for remote area construction projects

Materia Health Pty Ltd

$40,000

MateriaPOD: Revolutionizing organ/tissue cold storage to improve patient outcomes

MineRis

$40,000

GeoRis IM (Mine Geotechnical Risk Information Model)

Chironix

$40,000

Intelligent maintenance inspection of mining conveyor belts with AI robots

Kelp Island

$40,000

SeaBrick Prototype – sustainable construction material made from seaweed

Everboost Pty Ltd

$40,000

Everboost Sea Moss Ready-to-Go Drink

Personal Quantum Technologies Pty Ltd

$40,000

Development of quantum energy storage solutions

Australian Space Super Corridor (ASSC) Pty Ltd

$40,000

Modular Sustainable Satellite Station

Nork Solutions (Nork Pty Ltd)

$40,000

Innovative ‘Foodwaste-to-Livestock Feed’ Machinery: Detailed Engineering Design for Commercial Scale

One Brake Pty Ltd

$39,500

Safer intelligent braking for two-wheeled transport globally

CycleWise Pty Ltd

$40,000

Supporting schools to delivery My Vital Cycles – LMS for ovulatory-menstrual health literacy

ROC Technologies

$39,990

Generation 2 Tank Testing and Numerical Model Comparison (wave energy conversion device)

Spacecubed Ventures

$40,000

R&D for Commercial Use Cases for an Impact Measurement Tool (measuring the impact of the WA innovation ecosystem)

Volta Energy

$40,000

Battery Energy Storage System Certification

Hermes and Soteria

$40,000

Product development for tailings dam monitoring tool, ‘Overwatch’

Lubdub Technologies

$40,000

Precise and accessible heart diagnostics tool

Conservation Innovation

$40,000

Commercialisation of automated fish length measurement from stereo imagery

Space Compare

$40,000

Intolease: A digitised commercial lease transaction platform designed for tenants

U-CAN Ostomy Systems

$35,000

U-Can Flush It – Fully Flushable and 100% Biodegradable Sanitary Pads

Circular Seed

$40,000

Circular solution for recovery of plastics from E-waste

Energy Farmers Australia

$40,000

Gen 2 Pyrolysis Unit – Electrification (heating feed material in a low-oxygen environment)

Care Corner

$40,000

Digital care coordination platform for disabled, chronically ill or elderly individuals.

Vendaly (formerly Coffee Van Collective)

$20,483

Software solution for mobile coffee vendors

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