Question Time

State Early Commercialisation Fund

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Employment, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation, Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Science and Information Economy) (14:27): I thank the honourable member for his question and the opportunity to speak about our support for innovation in South Australia. Members would be aware of, and I have talked about it a number of times, the support in the last budget we gave for this area. It was the biggest investment we have ever seen: $80 million worth of new money in this area.

One of the important areas was the South Australian Early Commercialisation Fund that set out a number of tranches of funding that could be applied for and could be granted. I know when the fund opened a number of months ago, there were somewhere between 180 and 200 expressions of interest, ideas from companies that wanted to avail themselves of those funds.

I don't have an exact figure. I am happy to go away and find out, but it's in the order of payments that have been made from the Early Commercialisation Fund. I think it's somewhere around a dozen companies already have received funding from that fund. Off the top of my head, most are at that very early stage but will be looked to be progressed through to the further stages. That is the idea of this fund. Seed funding can be applied for at the very early stage and companies will be case managed through TechInSA and worked through to further stages of funding.

It is also the case that there may be companies in SA that are already past that very early stage and may receive funding at the second or third level. The exact numbers at the different levels, I am happy to go away and find an exact answer for the honourable member. Off the top of my head, it is at least a dozen companies that have accessed funding through the South Australian Early Commercialisation Fund, but I'm happy to get the exact numbers for the honourable member.