MEETING with a group of venture capitalists is a great way to learn about some of the exciting and innovative businesses emerging from Western Australia.
MEETING with a group of venture capitalists is a great way to learn about some of the exciting and innovative businesses emerging from Western Australia.
The participants in the WA Business News innovation forum have been directly involved in a wide range of success stories.
The following list provides a brief introduction to some of these companies, while the accompanying articles provide more detail on a select few.
p Biometrics, which has developed an identification and authentication system based on facial recognition, listed on the ASX late last year. “We are pretty happy with that because it’s the first BITS incubatee that listed in Australia, so we’re kicking some goals there,” said Greg Riebe, chief executive of BITS incubator Entrepreneurs in Residence.
p Advanced Powder Technology has obtained $6 million from Korean company Samsung and gone into production of its transparent sunscreen Zinclear. “It has become a benchmark for how we like to do things and we have some other start-ups that are looking equally promising,” UWA Professor Colin MacLeod said.
p Alzhyme, also based on research at UWA, is developing therapeutic agents for the detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
p Inner Vision Biometrics, another UWA spin-out company, was awarded two prizes at a commercialisation forum held in Sydney last year. It is developing biometric screening processes.
p Albany based Mt Romance is an established success story. “That company is creating a whole new market for Australian Indigenous produced ingredients into the perfume industry,” Foundation Capital’s Ian Murchison said.
p Jurien-based Carotec was the lure that first brought venture capital firm Venture Axess to WA. It is developing production techniques for feedstock for the global aquaculture industry.
p Calytrix is a software company whose products simplify the development of complex simulation systems. A major milestone last year was Lockheed Martin’s selection of Calytrix to lead a study of the simulation technologies used for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program.
p Osborne Park-based Structural Monitoring Systems has raised $10 million from investors and is working towards a stock exchange listing in the UK. Boeing, Airbus and the US military are using or testing its technology, which identifies cracks in aircraft.
