The Innovation Connect (ICON) grant program, a partnership between the ACT Government and the Canberra Innovation Network, has announced that it is awarding a total of $195,000 to eight Canberra start-ups for their innovative ideas.
The most recent ICON grant recipients are:
- Alfred – a meal-tracking service that is helping busy people keep a health-focused food diary.
- Aurabox – a cloud-based, medical imaging storage and viewing platform which allows doctors to access a patient’s entire imaging history on one platform regardless of where imaging was obtained.
- FC Tekkers – a tech-enabled, soccer-focused family entertainment centre involving soccer challenges, competitions, food and beverage, merchandise, and e-sports.
- Lift Pass – a personal device for snow transport, providing access to new slopes and tracks.
- Membrane Transport Engineers – provides a wastewater processing system providing advanced separation capability that can turn agricultural wastewater into valuable assets and drought-proofing Australian agriculture.
- PV Lab Australia – implements machine learning to automate solar panel electroluminescence (EL) image analysis.
- Recruitable Hub – aims to revolutionise the recruitment industry, making it easier for candidates to find jobs and hiring managers to quickly find the right person.
- Viortec – a smart surgical clamp aiming to improve precision and efficiency of robotic knee replacement surgery.
ICON is providing early-stage businesses with an opportunity to receive matched funding of between $10,000-$30,000 to support the market testing, prototyping, and determination of the commercial feasibility of their product ideas.
“Money is vital to any business, and we’re very grateful for CBRIN and the ACT Government’s support to help us expand Alfred to help users around the world manage their diets better,” Ben Alexander, former Brumbies rugby player who is behind the food tracking app Alfred, said.
“Innovation is so important for the future of our economy. The ACT Government is committed to support early-stage innovators as they set to grow their businesses and create sustainable jobs for Canberrans,” Andrew Barr, ACT Chief Minister, said of the announcement.
And Petr Adamek, CEO of the Canberra Innovation Network, said, “We see a growing range of highly ambitious innovations pursued by entrepreneurial Canberrans. I could not be more excited about the ambition, quality and diversity of projects that apply each round. If you believe you have an innovative business idea that can have a real impact around the world while creating innovation jobs in Canberra, make sure you do not miss the opportunity to apply.”
Applications are ongoing for the next round of the ICON grant funding, with the applications set to close on 8 April 2022.
