Micro Finance Fund

The Hon. G.A. KANDELAARS (14:49): My question is to the Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation. How is the government's Micro Finance Fund supporting innovative start-ups in South Australia?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (14:50): I thank the honourable member for his question. I have been able to find some information I have about that, fortunately. The government is building South Australia's industry capacity to innovate through a range of successful programs, and the recently announced Micro Finance Fund is one of those. The Micro Finance Fund is specifically targeted at realising the economic potential of the state's entrepreneurial community. It aims to seek to discover that next big thing, to give a big shot to a new company, to try to discover the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs in South Australia.

The fund is competitive. It is a merit-based program which is aimed at assisting businesses and businesspeople to translate good ideas into new high value businesses. Successful applicants have the opportunity to receive $2 for every $1 they raise, up to the value of $50,000, to support transforming their initiative into a successful business proposition. I am pleased to inform the chamber that in the inaugural round of grants, 46 applications were received for consideration and subsequently short-listed candidates were reviewed by the assessment panel.

Applicants were assessed against specific criteria, including the value proposition offered by the project; the target customers and existing engagement with customers; the capability of the applicant to execute the business model; methods of scaling their business to serve global markets; access to appropriate skills and experience to advance the business; ownership or ability to acquire ownership of the intellectual property; evidence that the resultant intellectual property would occur in South Australia; the feasibility of the project; the potential for the project to deliver growth opportunities; and the experience and standing of the project's business mentor.

I am very pleased to say that we have recently approved the inaugural 10 successful applicants through the program, who will each receive $50,000. One of those is Money Buddy, who have developed proprietary technology for the secure, automated retrieval of bank statement data. They will use the grant to accelerate their product development so that they can launch their product both in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

Jing Su has created a software development environment that enables small to medium sized enterprises to develop productivity, messaging and business intelligence services with minimal technical know-how, in a reduced time frame, at a much lower cost of ownership and with much less potential for bugs and errors associated with traditional programming. I understand this grant will be used to further develop the user interface, website, e-commerce engine, IP, licensing and legal documentation.

PT BIZ Pty Ltd operate an all-in-one client, time and finance management application that allows personal trainers to have full control of their client list, schedule and finances, with the ability to take credit and debit card payments. I understand the grant awarded to PT BIZ will be used to develop an Android version of their app to recruit, develop and expand their market exposure through attendance at relevant market expos.

Sodales Pacific have designed a solar still that uses a combination of Italian and Australian design to distil water using solar energy and has been successfully tested by the University of South Australia using computer simulation. I understand the grant to Sodales Pacific will be used to develop and build the prototype unit, which will demonstrate the cost, quality and reliability of the system.

Makers Empire operate 3-D printing learning programs which are designed for primary and middle schools, and I understand are currently being used in 30 schools. The grant awarded to Makers Empire will be used to expand their distribution and to work with distributors in Hong Kong with a view to entering the lucrative Chinese market.

ODD Games have developed a dynamic MUD system, universal multiplayer gaming system and bug capturing and reporting program. I understand their grant will be used to employ a unity programmer to develop the systems to target export markets.

Make Safe Pty Ltd have developed BaitSafe, an innovative rodent control device that provides a new platform and solution for inspecting, monitoring and treatment of pests and rodents. I understand their grant will be used to improve the target market awareness through web development and other materials.

eSMART 21 has developed ePark technology, an automated parking enforcement system that uses vehicle detection centres and smart monitoring cameras to increase vehicle turnover in highly congested parking environments. Personify has developed a health analytics program that enables clinicians to monitor patients in real time so they can effectively target intervention supports.

Finally, the tenth grant recipient is the team at Six Foot Kid, who are developing Flick Fighters, an atmospheric adventure 'match three' puzzle game that is slated for release on mobile devices, PCs and hand-held gaming devices late in 2015.

The assistance provided to entrepreneurs to develop their ideas and new markets for their products will help the state government achieve one of its key economic priorities: economic priority 6, growth through innovation, and will support the growth of new innovative businesses in South Australia, potentially creating job opportunities, but importantly economic activity for our state.

I congratulate the recipients and look forward to hearing of their success in the future. I know the Hon. Andrew McLachlan has asked me a number of very perceptive and tough questions on this, some of which, I am afraid to say, I have not been able to answer at the time as they were so probing. So I am pleased to be able to inform him. One of his questions was, 'How many applications have been made?' I think I said earlier that there were 46 applications made for which the tender had been awarded. I expect I will get more tough questions about this in future.

Another question from the Hon. Andrew McLachlan was, 'Who are the members of the panel that assesses the applications, and what are their qualifications?' I am pleased to inform the chamber, and the Hon. Andrew McLachlan in particular, that the panel for the South Australian Micro Finance Fund comprised the following regular members: Chair, Dr Andrew Dunbar, Director of the Office of Science Technology and Research; Mr Geoff Thomas, Principal at Axant Corporate Advisory (he has an MBA and degrees in science and engineering); Mr Gavin Artz, Principal Project Officer, Innovation, in the Industry and Innovation Directorate at the Department of State Development; and Mr Andrew Rasch, Senior Policy Officer, Entrepreneurship and Digital Technologies in the Office for Science, Technology and Research. The panel also had access to a pool of independent experts to call upon if they needed to in assessing these individual applications.