Plant-based ingredients system start-up Harvest B is one of six manufacturers to receive funding in the first round of the federal government’s Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) Commercialisation Fund.
AMGC allocated $3.73 million, which has been matched by the manufacturers with around $4.7 million.
AMGC managing director Dr Jens Goennemann said it was critical for the centre to build on the industry’s momentum in light of COVID-19. “These are not grants for grants sake. AMGC has fine-tuned the impact of its grant program over the past 5-years. We know what works and we know how to derive value for the manufacturer, the industry, and the taxpayer.
“These first six co-funded projects combine industry money with federal funding to generate higher-paying, more resilient jobs onshore, this mean supplying our high-quality products and services locally and abroad,” Goennemann said.
Harvest B is a smart ingredient system for making plant-based meat. It is made in Australia with locally sourced wheat, and says it is optimised to provide four times the performance of TVP used for plant-based meats.
The company was founded in mid-2020 by Kristi Riordan, Alfred Lo, and Werner Fuggersberger. It received $1 million in the round.
Lo said, “We’re so proud that our combination of R&D and advanced manufacturing to tackle the fast growing opportunity in alt proteins was recognised by the Australian Department of Industry, Science & Technology and industry experts.
“We’re just at the start of a movement to create a new food system.”
The grants were awarded in consultation with all Industry Growth Centres and CSIRO. The other recipients were:
Alcholizer – Medical Products – Design and validation of a portable, saliva-based, rapid COVID-19 antigen test for asymptomatic cases.
Loupe Geophysics – Resources and Critical Minerals Processing – Pre-production manufacturing, design, and validation of a portable electromagnetic system for shallow conductivity profiling to locate material deposits.
Glyde It – Medical Products – Design and manufacture of a revolutionary biodegradable orifice delivery system for female hygiene products.
Omni Tanker – Clean Energy, Space and Defence – Commercialisation of carbon-composite tanks for hydrogen transport and storage.
Zero Co – Recycling and Clean Energy – Turning single-use plastic into forever-use via recycling, refilling, and reusing via a world-first machine to clean and sterilise plastic pouches.
For more information and to apply for a grant click here.
