A battery manufacturer is at the forefront of the first round of grants from the $392 million Industry Growth Program (IGP), a Federal Government initiative to back Australia’s emerging SME manufacturers.
The first round of funding is underway, supporting businesses from battery-manufacturers through to robotics, with future rounds to be announced soon.
Designed to help small and medium businesses overcome barriers associated with scaling up, the program is growing manufacturing capabilities, creating stronger supply chains and delivering more secure well-paid jobs.
Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic announced the funding by officially opening battery manufacturing facilities at grant recipient Li-S Energy.
“Great Aussie ideas can create great Aussie businesses and new Aussie jobs, but in their early years the ideas of these firms can come to a deadend without critical support,” said Husic.
“Today’s a milestone because now innovative small businesses can see the support starting
to flow, helping them grow into bigger businesses.”
Li-S Energy’s revolutionary technology is making low-weight, highly durable batteries suitable for the uncrewed aviation and defence industries.
The company received a grant of 1.7 million to support its high-tolerance lithium foil battery manufacturing process to produce next generation, ultra-light batteries.
“With the support of the IGP Grant we can build Australia’s first lithium metal foil manufacturing line. Essential for advanced batteries including our own and adding value to Australia’s own vast lithium reserves, the global lithium foil market is primed for massive growth in the coming years,” said CEO of Li-S Energy, Dr Lee Finniear.
Cauldron Molecules received $4.3 million to support world-first, fully automated hyper- fermentation technology to make food, animal feed, fibre and fuel.
Electrogenics Laboratories took home $1 million for its MOSkin patient radiation dose measurement system to reduce exposure risk during radiotherapy treatments.
Brandsec was awarded $231,000 for its Unphish software tool which can remove malicious phishing content from the internet, including from compromised websites and fake social media accounts.
$157,943 was presented to Forager Automation for the development of its robotic blueberry picking device that will tackle labour costs and increase yield efficiency for farmers.
IGP funding is provided through two streams, first being the Early-Stage Commercialisation grants that provide funding from $50,000 to $250,000 to help establish the commercial viability of an innovative product, process, or service.
The other stream is Commercialisation and Growth grants which provide matched grant funding from $100,000 to $5 million to help push ideas from prototyping through to market readiness stages.
These grants will help develop strategies for entry to market and scaling up into national and international markets.
IGP grants are aligned with the seven priority areas of the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund. These include
- Resources;
- Transport;
- Medical Science;
- Defence Capability;
- Renewables and Low Emission Technologies;
- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and;
- Enabling Capabilities.
For more information about the Industry Growth Program, including eligibility visit business.gov.au/igprecipients.