CSIRO Archives

CSIRO is spending $20 million to help up to 750 startups and small businesses dive deeper into R&D

Startup Daily - April 3, 2024 2 MIN READ

National science agency CSIRO has allocated $20 million towards supporting startups and smaller companies with greater access to vital research and development (R&D) opportunities to accelerate their growth. Up to 750 small to medium enterprises (SMEs) will be supported under the banner of SME Connect via programs that provide facilitation, training, dollar-matched funding and support… Read more »

Other tech

Synthetic biology is a $30 billion opportunity creating 50,000 jobs according to CSIRO and its VC arm

Simon Thomsen - February 27, 2024 2 MIN READ

Synthetic biology – referred to as “synbio” by insiders – could develop industry worth billions of dollars, creating thousands more jobs that previously expected according to a new report by national science agency, CSIRO, and its venture capital fund, Main Sequence. The Synthetic Biology National Progress Report, released this week, is an update to the 2021… Read more »

Accelerator

Here are the 12 deep tech startups CSIRO chose for its latest ON Accelerate program

Startup Daily - December 7, 2023 3 MIN READ

Science agency CSIRO has announced the 12 planned deep-tech startups selected for its ON Accelerate program in 2024. The ideas span everything from global health challenges to sustainability through circularity, and advanced manufacturing. The ON program gives university researchers access to a network of industry experts and investors, to help them refine and validate their… Read more »

Business

CSIRO opens the door for its R&D funding program, Kick-Start, to larger companies

Simon Thomsen - October 31, 2023 2 MIN READ

National science agency CSIRO has expanded the qualifying criteria its Kick-Start program, which offers Australian small businesses can now access research and development (R&D) funding. Businesses with a turnover of up to $10 million are now eligible, up from the previous $1.5 million threshold. The Kick-Start program offers dollar-matched funding to access CSIRO’s research expertise… Read more »

Events

CSIRO has launched a free online innovation program for agrifood startups

Startup Daily - September 19, 2023 2 MIN READ

Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, is offering a new online learning program for free for startups focused on innovation in agrifood. The ‘Innovate to Grow: Agrifood’ program runs for 10 weeks from November and is designed to help early-stage companies assess how they can advance their technologies, solutions and ideas through research and development (R&D).… Read more »

Other tech

How silicon are our valleys? New CSIRO mapping identifies Australia’s tech clusters

Simon Thomsen - August 1, 2023 2 MIN READ

Australia has nearly 100 Antipodean ‘Silicon Valley’ sites creating nearly two-thirds of the country’s tech jobs, according to a new report mapping digital technology clusters nationally for the first time. The report, ‘The geography of Australia’s digital industries’, was produced by CSIRO, and the Tech Council of Australia. It found there are 96 digital clusters… Read more »

Venture Capital

CSIRO’s deep tech VC, Main Sequence, bags $450 million third fund

Simon Thomsen - July 26, 2023 3 MIN READ

CSIRO’s VC arm, Main Sequence Ventures, has rounded up several high profile institutional investors for a $450 million first close of its third fund, as the six-year-old deep tech investment fund notches up $1 billion in funds under management. Founded in 2017, Main Sequence has now backed 53 companies including carbon capture agtech Regrow AG,… Read more »

Climate Tech

Why thermal energy storage is the overlooked solution to Australia’s renewable energy problems

Dominic Zaal - April 12, 2023 3 MIN READ

Australia’s transition to renewables is gathering speed, but there’s a looming problem with storage. We will need much more long-duration storage to get us through the night, once coal and fossil gas exit the system. We also need to find new and better ways to create heat for industrial processes. Renewables can supply much of… Read more »

Climate Tech

CSIRO says Australia’s renewable energy storage capacity needs to 10x to keep the lights on

Simon Thomsen - March 29, 2023 2 MIN READ

The shift to renewable energy to meet net zero targets will mean Australia has to dramatically scale up its battery storage capacity, a new report from national science agency,CSIRO says. The Renewable Energy Storage Roadmap outlines a 10 to 14-fold increase is required in electricity storage capacity between 2025-2050 for the national electricity market (NEM) to… Read more »

Space

CSIRO spinout Quasar Satellite Technologies banks $6 million pre-Series A

Simon Thomsen - March 17, 2023 2 MIN READ

Quasar Satellite Technologies, a space communications startup building ground station services to replace parabolic dishes has raised $6 million in pre-Series A. The round by CSIRO’s VC fund, Main Sequence Ventures, and included PAN Group, and Marc and Lindy De Stoop of Climatech Group. The company has also scored a $5.3 million Defence Innovation Hub… Read more »

Funding

CSIRO-backed, agriculture-focused fintech DAS pockets $3 million amid Canadian expansion

Simon Thomsen - March 15, 2023 2 MIN READ

CSIRO-backed fintech DAS (Digital Agriculture Services) has raised $3 million in interim funding in a round led by the VC arm of Canadian communications giant TELUS. TELUS Ventures was supported by existing investors, which include CSIRO, Startmate and several high net worths – and ahead of a broader US series later this year. The business… Read more »

Accelerator

CSIRO’s deep tech accelerator ON is back – and here are the 10 startups in the program

Simon Thomsen - December 15, 2022 2 MIN READ

National science agency, CSIRO, has chosen 10 deep-tech startups, including three of its own ideas, for its revived ON Accelerate program. The program, which first began in 2015, was shut down in late 2019, having created 66 new companies, more than 500 jobs, and raising more than $110m in investment capital. This will be the… Read more »

Accelerator

CSIRO revives its ON Accelerate program

Simon Thomsen - August 29, 2022 2 MIN READ

The CSIRO has revived its ON startup accelerator program, three years after shutting it down, as the government and universities ramp up their push to commercialise research. ON originally launched in 2015 as part of CSIRO’s Innovation Catalyst strategy, supported by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull’s National Innovation and Science Agenda. But in late 2019,… Read more »

Other tech

Climate change, going digital and autonomous: the 7 megatrends CSIRO says are shaping the world

Stefan Hajkowicz & Claire Naughtin - July 28, 2022 4 MIN READ

Around 3.7 million Australians have been unintentionally caught in an ocean rip. For the unprepared it can be a harrowing experience – but for experienced surfers, rips are a handy way to ride through the whitewash and out to the break. We’re not surfers, but we work at Australia’s national science agency in “strategic foresight”,… Read more »

Advice

From plant-based burgers to insects: the CSIRO’s protein roadmap to where to invest

Katherine Wynn & Michelle Colgrave - April 19, 2022 3 MIN READ

As demand for alternative protein sources grows, Australians are increasingly looking for options that are healthy, sustainable and ethically made. At CSIRO, we have produced a “protein roadmap” to guide investments in a diverse range of new products and ingredients. We believe plant-based patties, lab-made meat and insects are just some of the foods set… Read more »

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