State Early Commercialisation Fund

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (15:15): My question is to the Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation. Can the minister update the chamber on the success of the government's South Australian 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) (15:15): I can and I thank the honourable member for her interest in this area. Certainly, when the honourable member was minister for science, she was heavily involved in the RedFire report that gave rise to recommendations that included the establishment of the South Australian Early Commercialisation Fund as well as the South Australian Venture Capital Fund, so I thank her for her efforts in helping get these sorts of thing started.

I would also like to thank the Hon. David Ridgway who has shown his own particular interest in this program during the course of this week. I was able to answer nearly all his questions but I'm sure the answer I am able to give today will further enlighten him and provide extra information for his benefit and satisfy his strong interest in this area.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter: Insatiable curiosity.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The Hon. David Ridgway is a curious fellow: he is always curious about things. The state government launched the $10 million South Australian Early Commercialisation Fund in November 2016 to support innovative early-stage high-growth ventures with national and possible global market potential that could have a benefit for the South Australian economy.

This is currently a four-year program with funding provided to the 2019-20 financial year. The program is designed to support eligible companies and organisations with tranche grants up to a combined total of a maximum of $500,000 per project. Since its inception, TechInSA have administered the fund and I am pleased to report that there has been a very high level of interest from early-stage businesses seeking support to take their idea, product or service to the next level.

I am advised that, at 25 May, there had been 225 expressions of interest received by TechInSA for the South Australian Early Commercialisation Fund, so there is significant interest in this program. As I outlined this week, to date, 24 different companies have been approved and TechInSA continues to receive around six new expressions of interest every week. These grants have been provided to companies from a very wide range of sectors—manufacturing, health care, banking and finance, agriculture, environment, entertainment, aeronautics and mining, to name a few.

For honourable members' benefit, I will outline a few of the different companies to give an idea of the range of companies that are becoming involved with this program. Beta Cell Technology is a company that has extensive experience in the field of medical science and technologies. The company recently received a grant of $50,000 to assist in the design of a prototype of a device that will load islet insulin-producing cells in a biodegradable temporising matrix to create an ectopic skin pancreas which, if successful, will be a breakthrough in the treatment of type I diabetes. My colleague and former scientist, Ian Hunter, who obviously understands these things in great depth, is nodding.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter: What type of cells are they again?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Beta cells. Also, the team at Liquid Integrity, which has expertise in environmental science, received a grant of $50,000 to further develop an innovative sensor system that remotely provides information to detect and locate leaks in large liquid storage facilities. This product is expected to prevent financial loss and environmental contamination. The grant money will be used by the company to develop and calibrate their technology and conduct field demonstrations of their technology.

Moose Industries is working in the agricultural sector developing the Adapta-Bar prototype, which is a cultivator adaptable to the size of the cultivation machinery, whilst also allowing the farmer to seed to specific depths and densities. I understand it has the ability to perform a wide range of seeding functions in a variety of conditions and can be flat-packed for shipping around the world. The company received a grant of $50,000 to design and build the Adapta-Bar prototype for feasibility testing in the field.

Another company is Sine, which is developing a new set of integrated products to modernise not only the paper visitor book at front reception but many other on-site registration situations that often involve contractors. Sine's products will give a far more secure experience for all users and will allow for the introduction of training systems and physical access systems for other third-party application integrations.

Solutions include a verification process that involves the use of QR codes, georeferencing and NFC (near-field communication) through mobile devices that will allow access to a site that will not necessarily require the old paper-based sign-in book and registration procedures. The company has received a grant to design, implement, test and release enhancement micro-services, software architecture and additional core features of their pre-site check-in forms.

Another interesting company that I am sure the Hon. David Ridgway would be particularly interested in is Safe Ag. They are developing a health and safety system which is an online mobile solution to be completely individualised to different agribusiness situations. The system will be supported using educational tools and geofence technology. Safe Ag has developed a cloud-based system that translates work health and safety requirements into easy-to-understand applications for primary producers and provides the tools that employers and employees need to be compliant with regulations.

The system enhances training and hazard identification in the workplace to reduce injuries and improves reporting and compliance in real-time for workforce management. Safe Ag will receive funding from the early stage commercialisation fund to automate their current system, create training resources and obtain expert advice to support the development of their product.

I am told the company's team is from the primary producing industries on the Yorke Peninsula and have a wealth of experience in agribusiness and strategic content marketing. They are well-placed to deliver a system that improves workplace safety for agricultural businesses, as well as providing a potential high-growth company that can provide economic benefit for South Australia.

The commercialisation arm of Flinders University, Flinders Partners, is developing an innovative sports hydration system called PREP'D, which is borne out of medical research into dehydration at Flinders University. I am advised they have a scientifically proven product for elite athletes and anyone who strives to maximise their athletic performance, much like the Hon. David Ridgway. Many of these things have him very interested. It is a two-part hydration system, which primes the body for optimal fluid absorption using a specialised resistant starch in its patented formula.

These are just a sample of some of the companies that have already received funding through the South Australian Early Commercialisation Fund.

The Hon. J.S.L. Dawkins interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: The Hon. John Dawkins is very interested in these and is very keen for me to talk about more. I have more for another day. I will be more than keen to talk about them on another day.