Final six manufacturers receive commercialisation funding

The Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) has marked the closure of its $30 million Federal Government Commercialisation Fund with co-investment into a final six Australian manufacturers.

In total, 61 Australian manufacturers have successfully received co-investment via the AMGC-managed program which aims to fast-track commercialisation and export of high-tech and high-in-demand products and services, spanning sub-sectors of: value-add to resources, agriculture, forestry, and fisheries; transport; medical sciences; renewables and low emissions technology; defence, space and enabling technology, such as AI and robotics.

The final six projects to successfully receive co-investment included two from the food and beverage sector:

Provectus Algae (Qld) received $525,000 from the fund for the validation and commercialisation of a manufacturing process to produce the red-pigmented algae to enhance the texture and colour of plant-based meat products. The total project commitment is $2.93m.

Provectus Algae red food dye.

Vypex (Vic) received $200,000 from the fund for commercialisation of its advanced 5.1-based Bluetooth system to track, trace, identify and alert warehousing staff on items within the work environment, providing for faster identification, minimisation of lost or damaged goods (such as cold store items left in the open) and increased staff safety. The total project commitment is $400,000.

The other projects included:

• Laronix (NSW) — Medical: Commercialisation of Bionic Voice, a natural-sounding artificial voice box for people suffering from permanent voice loss. Total project commitment $817,536 ($408,768 from Commercialisation Fund).
• Process Plants International (PPI) (Qld) — Resources Technology & Critical Minerals Processing: Commercialisation of a proprietary anti-block sparge design using exotic metal printing for the minerals processing Pressure Oxidation (POX) autoclave industry. Total project commitment $441,000 ($220,500 from Commercialisation Fund).
• Hygiene Co. (SA) — Recycling: Sovereign manufacturing of plastic-free wipes for medical, industrial, and personal use. The project removes reliance on international supply chains, while decreasing CO₂ emissions and waste from the importation of plastic-based wipes. Total project commitment $4.33 million ($644,728 from Commercialisation Fund).
• Optotech (Vic) — Medical: Development of a laser-based inspection system to quality assure locally manufactured cochlear hearing devices down to two microns across 34 different parameters. Total project commitment $270,500 ($121,500 from Commercialisation Fund).

Top image caption: Provectus Algae red food dye.