December 2020

Welcome to the final New Industries WA newsletter for this year.

2020 will no doubt forever remain in our minds as the year that delivered a host of both unimaginable challenges and opportunities for startups and small to medium enterprises (SMEs), due to COVID-19.

As we draw to a close on this unprecedented chapter, it is time to celebrate some recent successes within the WA Innovation community and look forward to a more positive 2021 ahead.

We wish all of our readers a safe and happy festive season this summer!

Pictured: StartupWA board members Rafael Kimberley-Bowen, Dr Kate Brooks, Tom Goerke, and Cam Sinclair with Minister Dave Kelly.

Supporting innovation through funding granted for Startup WA and the South West Angels

On 2 December at West Tech Fest, Innovation and ICT Minister Dave Kelly announced that peak start-up advocacy organisation StartupWA, will receive $160,000 over two years. This funding comes from the $16.7 million New Industries Fund (NIF) and will facilitate a series of summits aimed at showcasing local talent and start-ups. In addition, StartupWA will provide local start-ups and entrepreneurs with access to information and networks to grow their ideas into strong WA based global businesses.  A part-time employee will manage events and strengthen support for the organisation. 

It was also announced that South West Angels has been provided with $30,000 from the NIF to support their endeavours to develop and grow Angel Investor networks across regional WA. They aim to deliver better access to investment capital and mentoring for start-ups and small to medium sized enterprises in the regions. The funding will go towards hosting multiple pitch nights, investor masterclasses and educational opportunities to assist entrepreneurs to become investor ready.

​Pictured: Asher Vukelic and Jason Shaw of South West Angels with Minister Dave Kelly and Don Punch MLA.

New round for Quantum TX

WA Startups and SMEs interested in entering the space sector supply chain will be excited to learn a new round of Atomic Sky's Quantum TX accelerator program will take place. Announced on 25 November by Minister Dave Kelly, the NIF is supporting the program with a further $100,000 contribution. Applications for next year's program are now open and close on 15 January 2021. Further details are available on the Quantum TX website.

Pictured: Minister Dave Kelly, Sam Forbes, Dr Liz Dallimore, Renae Sayers, David Flanagan and Peter Rossdeutscher.

The future of data science

The WA Data Science Innovation Hub recently published a report titled 'Data Science in Western Australia - What we do today will pave the way for a better tomorrow.' To learn more about the findings and to access the report, please read the media statement 'Report finds 3,000 data science jobs to be created in WA in next decade.'

The WA Government is proud to support the WA Data Science Innovation Hub, with a $1 million commitment over four years through the NIF.

New hub appointment 

Kate McGilvray joined the WA Data Science Innovation Hub (WADSIH) as a Program Manager in September this year. We asked her a few questions about her experience there so far!

In your own words, what does your position involve?

My role involves managing the projects and initiatives we deliver through WADSIH, and ensuring that they are meeting our program outcomes and objectives. WADSIH’s mission is to enable the development of a sustainable data science ecosystem in WA to support innovation and job creation. We focus on upskilling data scientists, facilitating increased data literacy within WA organisations and businesses, helping to prepare students for the workforce of the future, and promoting the WA data science sector. We sit at the intersection between government, industry and academia so our approach is very collaborative and we often deliver projects in partnership.

What do you enjoy about working for WADSIH?

I worked in State Government before joining WADSIH, primarily in regional and remote engagement and service delivery. So, I am particularly excited to drive more regional engagement and initiatives over the coming year. Data science and digital technologies offer so many amazing opportunities for people living in regional Western Australia to work in growing industries while still getting to stay in their home towns and local communities. Many of the industries producing significant volumes of data i.e. agriculture and mining deliver their operations in regional locations. However, due to existing regional capacity gaps, most of this data is funnelled to Perth-based data scientists. This means that the regional workforce are missing out on much of the economic benefit from businesses operating in their region. Removing this barrier will require support for regional businesses to upskill their organisations and workforces in data science and digital technologies and a focus on embedding data science into school curriculums.

At WADSIH we are very keen to support schools and families to reduce the impacts of the ‘digital divide’ on disadvantaged students. We plan to work with regional communities in 2021 to better understand how we can facilitate upskilling and increased access to digital technologies for students and local workforces. 

How do you see data science developing in WA in the near future?

We recently released a report on the current state of the data science ecosystem in Western Australia and future prospects. It highlighted that data science is a growth industry and will support employment opportunities and innovation to the benefit of all West Australians. Critically, it found that many local data scientists are lacking crucial technical and behavioural skills (communication, design-thinking, project management), which can result in businesses looking for talent overseas. So, to ensure a sustainable data science ecosystem moving forward, we need to ensure that data scientists have access to upskilling to increase their technical and behavioural capacities and students are supported to develop the holistic skill sets required in the workforce of tomorrow.

Industry News

WA-born-and-bred start-ups, as featured in Startup News:

2020 Startup News Awards
The third Startup News Awards were announced recently at Freo Startup Fest, of which the NIF is a proud sponsor. Congratulations to all those awarded and to Tender Relief and Charli, joint winners of the Golden Ticket Pitch event that will see these two companies taking part in Plus Eight 's 2021 program.

AMLab raises $1.3M
Well done to 2019 Innovation Voucher recipient, AMLab, for raising $1.3 million to accelerate development of their container crane technology.

Nuheara named one of Time Magazine's best inventions 2020
2015 Innovation Voucher recipient Nuheara continues to make a global name for themselves and their revolutionary IQbuds, the only wireless earbuds that feature both active noise cancellation and audio-isolation. 

2020 Curtinnovation Awards 
Take a closer look into this year's Curtinnovation award winners, who were celebrated at a ceremony which took place at Optus Stadium.

CORE Exchange 2020 virtual conference names Hot 30
Nexxis and Tan Ninety, two of this year's Innovation Voucher recipients, were named in this list of the nation's top innovators, as chosen by CORE Innovation Hub. Congratulations!

2020 SPUR winners
Congratulations to this year's SPURonWA grant recipients, which includes 2018 Innovator of the Year winner, uDrew. The program is run through Landgate for innovators who utilise location data in new ways. 

Vitruvian raises $3.4M
Perth-based fitness tech startup Vitruvian announces A$3.4M seed capital round, which will allow them to progress further production for their strength training device, the V-Form Trainer.

Kate Kirwin - Startup West podcast feature
The Startup West podcast team recently sat down with Kate Kirwin of She Codes, who has taught more than 4,500 women to code in the past five years in both Perth and Brisbane. The NIF is a proud supporter of She Codes. Have a listen to learn more about Kate's story.

10 Years of Perth Angels
As the Perth Angels celebrate 10 years, Startup News revisit some of their recent success stories to mark the occasion. 

Events & Opportunities

City of Subiaco accelerator program
Subiaco CONNECT is a free six month program for start-ups and SMEs, which aims to connect new businesses and innovators with experienced mentors, investors and advisors as they make their journey towards commercialising their business idea. Delivered by Atomic Sky, participants can be located anywhere in WA. Applications close 15 January 2021, apply here.

$311 million for dementia, cancer and additional medical research

Twelve grant opportunities from the Federal Government's Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) have recently launched. To find out more information, please visit the Minister for Health's media statement '$311 million for dementia, cancer and additional medical research.'

Manufacturing Modernisation Fund - Round 2
This Commonwealth fund supports small to medium manufacturers with up to 199 employees, co-funding grants are available between $100,000 to $1 million over three years. Applications close 21 January 2021. Visit business.gov.au to learn more about eligibility requirements and how to apply.

REDI Industry Fellowships program
The $32 million Researcher Exchange and Development within Industry (REDI) program is now open for applications. This program is able to provide up to $250,000 per Fellow, per annum, for up to 40 industry Fellowships, giving Australian medical technology, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies the financial support to bring academics and clinicians in-house for up to twelve months to work on research projects. Visit the MTP Connect website to learn more and find out how to apply.