A further $28.7 million has been allocated to successful applicants through the federal Industry Growth Program (IGP), including several developing technologies to support the Australian and global food system. The latest round included Blue Carbon, Provectus Algae, and Uncharted Waters.
Innovative SMEs and startups play a crucial role in the economy, but many have difficulty bringing their ideas to market. The IGP aims to support eligible SMEs in their most challenging development phase through tailored advisory services, followed by an opportunity for matched funding grants.
Launched in November 2023, the IGP program has dispensed almost $112 million of the proposed $392 million, shared amongst 75 companies to date, supporting projects which “align to Australian Government priority areas for the National Reconstruction Fund and help build Australian manufacturing capability for the future.”
The latest round included:
- Blue Carbon – $640,400 to deploy the company’s wave-powered water circulation and oxygenation technology, improving water quality for fish pens, in ocean-based commercial salmon farming leases and large-scale commercial testing environments.
- Provectus Algae – $4,043,120 to construct a new 160,000 litre Asparagopsis production facility and facilitate the optimisation of cultivation processes, to lower production costs of the company’s Surf’N’Turf, a methane reducing livestock feed supplement. This is one of the larger grants amongst the entire cohort, tackling a problem which several other companies are working on, including Sea Forest and Rumin8.
- Uncharted Waters – $96,304 to help the company’s development of its customisable digital twin prototype of the global food system, in preparation for its commercialisation. The grant aims to support progress to minimum viable product stage and approach new clients, such as large companies in the agri-food-system, consultancy firms, and financing institutions that want to understand the opportunities and risks in their portfolio.
Previous food industry recipients have included Cauldron Molecules, the business arm of hyper-fermentation biomanufacturing start-up, Cauldron Ferm, which received $4,277,616 in the very first round, announced in August 2024. One of the largest grants to date, it supported the construction of a new 10kl precision fermentation facility.
Forager Automation was also one of the first round recipients, receiving $157,943 for the development of its robotic blueberry picking device, aiming to tackle labour costs and increase yield efficiency for farmers.
In January, Harvest B received $2.2 million to develop its gluten-free Australian faba bean plant protein alternative to meat products; Dairy-Free Down Under scored $1.2 million to develop its processes and recipes for the manufacture of plant-dairy hybrid cheeses, creams and dips for food manufacturers, quick service restaurants, home delivery meal kits and export markets; and Seastock landed $136,000 to develop an innovative solution, which lowers the environmental impact of supply chains by using ingredients from sustainably produced seaweed.
Cultured meat start-up, Magic Valley, also received $100,000 through the program in February, to support the scaling up of its production capacity and refining processes to prepare for commercialisation.
