Canberra Start-up Innovations Rewarded

Seven Canberra businesses have been awarded funding of $257,000 in the recent round of the Innovation Connect program.

Innovation Connect is the ACT Government’s flagship innovation program which has provided funding to support and encourage Canberra’s start-up entrepreneurs since 2008.

The program provides valuable early stage funding of up to $50,000 to enable businesses to prove their innovative concepts and encourage them to progress through to commercialisation.

Many successful ACT businesses received their first big break through Innovation Connect funding and more than $3.7 million has now been awarded to 149 small innovative companies.

As the first of a set of programs available to support innovation in the ACT, the funding is designed to accelerate the commercialisation process and convert companies to a highly supportive innovative ecosystem.

The latest successful applicants and their projects are:

• AxSys Performance – “Pump & Virtual Personal Trainer”, a wearable electronic gym training aid;
• Dr Jackson Thomas – “An Innovative Dermatological Solution to Scabies”;
• Platypus Instruments – “Portable Pocket Inverter”, allowing convenient fault trip time testing of residual current devices as required by electrical safety regulations; 
• Newman Events – “Newman Venues”, an online conference and event venue search system;
• Cycrete – “Cycrete”, a concrete agitator bowl cleaning additive;
• Elementice – “Automated Camera Systems Trial”, allowing real time capture and upload to social media of branded business promotional images; and
• Dr Moses Muti – “Safari Medical”, a web based travel health service.

Find out more about the Innovation Connect program.