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Australia’s innovative businesses get a kick-start

www.csiro.au

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 May 2017

Abstract

Type
Article Commentary
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2017 

A Victorian vehicle manufacturing start-up with ambitions to be Australia’s first production electric vehicle and a company developing a disruptive new class of insecticides have been given a kick-start due to a funding initiative in Australia that helps small businesses access the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) research expertise and capabilities.

CSIRO Kick-Start is a new initiative that offers dollar-matched funding of up to $50,000 to enable research projects for startups and small businesses that are on their way to becoming Australian success stories.

Tomcar Australia is one of the first six businesses to receive the funding, and is using it for feasibility research into electrification of its modified off-grid, off-road vehicles in collaboration with CSIRO’s manufacturing team.

The work will provide an integrated systems solution tailored to Tomcar’s vehicles, and builds on CSIRO’s electric motors expertise.

Following the feasibility testing, Tomcar plans to continue its collaboration with CSIRO in the development of prototypes and full production of Australia’s first electric vehicle, forecasted for a 2018 launch.

“We pride ourselves on being a disruptive vehicle manufacturer, and being able to partner with Australia’s research institutes to access engineering capabilities and expertise that we wouldn’t normally have access to is what’s helping us achieve that,” says David Brim, Co-founder and CEO of Tomcar Australia.

“CSIRO’s Kick-Start program has taken away the financial burdens that would have prohibited us from taking this next step.”

Bio-Gene, an Australian small business developing a new class of synthetic insecticides, has received $50,000 of dollar-matched funding through CSIRO Kick-Start to access CSIRO’s proprietary chemistry expertise and equipment.

Keith McLean, Director of Manufacturing at CSIRO, said Australian startups and SMEs were critical in driving Australia’s innovation output. “CSIRO Kick-Start is just the beginning of what we hope to be long-standing collaborations and strategic partnerships.”

The new CSIRO Kick-Start initiative boosts the national science organization’s existing support for SMEs and small businesses, now offering funding and linkage solutions to all Australian businesses with a turnover up to $100 million to undertake research projects that will help their businesses develop and grow.