A start-up that is developing laser eyes to help driverless cars see better, an eBay-style online marketplace that allows customers to donate their sales to charities and an online service to help sports fans find local games while travelling are among 22 recipients of $7.6 million in fresh funding from the federal government's Entrepreneurs Programme.
The funding will come as the latest round of Accelerating Commercialisation grants, which are an ongoing AusIndustry managed programme, that formed part of the Turnbull government's industry policy outlined in the National Innovation and Science Agenda at the end of 2015.
The start-ups that receive grants are at at an early stage, with a developed product and at the point of looking to expand and begin servicing customers. The latest round takes the number of organisations receiving commercialisation funding to 168, with a total of $85.7 million invested to date.
A key proviso of the grant is that the company must match the amount it receives.
Speeding up progress
Sydney-based Baraja has secured a $1 million grant in order to assist its growth in developing 3D "laser eyes" for self-driving cars. The lidar technology helps cars navigate complex urban environments by using light in the form of a pulsed laser to measure distances.
The company is already backed by Australian venture capital firm Blackbird Ventures, and co-founder Federico Collarte said the grant would be used to miniaturise its prototype in order to deliver it to customers to integrate it into the self-driving cars they are developing.
"There is a limited time-window of opportunity to get our product designed into self-driving cars and the AC Grant allows us to accelerate to meet this challenge," Mr Collarte said.
"If we missed this qualification window our product's commercial deployment would be delayed several years, until the next vehicle model year, and then there would be significant more competition and margin pressure."
Mr Collarte founded Baraja with Cibby Pulikkaseril, after the pair met as colleagues at optical communication components maker Finisar. The company is based at the CSIRO Lindfield site on Sydney's North Shore and regularly works with CSIRO scientists.
Mr Pulikkaseril said the company benefited a great deal from being based close to the scientific expertise at CSIRO and added that the commercialisation grant would enable the company to start putting its efforts into practice.
"It's the perfect shot of rocket fuel to get us to the next stage," he said.
"We've got the tech, we've got customers asking for it, and with the injection of capital, we're able to focus on what we love ... building the product."
Looking to future
Other start-ups getting grants under the latest round include Bountye, a peer-to-peer mobile-based marketplace, which partners with charities, clubs and schools to help fundraising; Vidiense, which has developed a new way for media companies and other enterprises to embed high quality video, including live video streams and into email marketing campaigns; and WHEREIAM Group, which has created the Sports Where I am app and website for sports tourists to find available games and buy tickets and merchandise.
Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Greg Hunt told The Australian Financial Review the financial backing of start-ups was in recognition of their potential future role in growing the broader economy.
He said the government had committed more than $10 billion this year in innovation, science and research.
"This program is focused on supporting entrepreneurs to commercialise their new products and services, so that their businesses can grow and they can hire more people in better paying jobs," Mr Hunt said.
"Ultimately our policies are focused on helping Australians bring their bright ideas to market sooner."
