Third round of Innovation Challenge offering up to $250,000
The third round of a NSW Government initiative, offering a prize pool of $500,000 to accelerate solutions that can mitigate the financial impacts of COVID-19, is now open.
The Innovation Districts Challenges series, delivered in partnership with NSW universities and CSIRO, has been running since October 2020 and the focus for Round Three is “Entrepreneurship”.
Businesses from across the New England North West are invited to address the Challenge Statement, “R&D solutions that strengthen the entrepreneurship capability of the State for a post-COVID-19 economy”, by submitting an expression of interest through the UNE SMART Region Incubator (SRI). The top three ranked businesses from across the state will take home between $30,000 and $250,000, and the top ranked local business will be awarded $10,000.
The second round winners were announced recently, with Nowendoc business, New England Cheese, awarded $10,000 for their innovative approach to dairy processing.
John and Lia Christensen from New England Cheese are qualified Dairy Technologists, who moved to Nowendoc to develop a ‘Paddock to Plate’ cheese production facility. The funding will assist them with their research into the production of a new dairy product.
UNE SMART Region Incubator’s Alison Treloar said it’s exciting to see New England Cheese’s research-rich developments being recognised and she is encouraging local businesses to apply for Round Three.
“Our region boasts incredibly innovative businesses developing solutions for state-wide problems. The Innovation Districts Challenge is a great opportunity for those organisations to access funding to validate their idea, refine prototypes and enhance research-rich solutions,” explains Ms Treloar.
“New England North West is home to businesses exploring manufacturing solutions, developing strategies to adapt to climate change impacts, addressing regional healthcare challenges and more – all perfectly suited to Round Three’s entrepreneurship theme.
”Round Two projects from outside the local region include optimising logistics for rapid vaccine distribution, mobile apps and games to teach STEM to students, and a business tool to support the wellbeing of customer service workforces.
The NSW Government Innovation Districts Challenges program is part of an $11 million innovation scaleup commitment, designed to support business communities across NSW to develop innovations to tackle the many challenges of COVID-19.
Expressions of interest close on Tuesday 24th August. For more information visit https://www.unesri.com.au/innovationdistricts