The $200 million CSIRO Innovation Fund will be managed by venture capitalist Bill Bartee, who said the fund will help develop Australian innovations.
“To ensure the best ideas have the greatest impact, we will back the most ambitious entrepreneurs who want to build important, enduring companies,” Mr Bartee said.
“The Innovation Fund provides a fantastic opportunity to help ideas coming from accelerators and elsewhere realise their potential in the commercial market.”
The federal government has committed $70 million to the Innovation Fund, with a further $30 million coming from the CSIRO’s WLAN program. The remaining funds will come from private sector investment.
CSIRO chief executive Larry Marshall described the fund as part of a “virtuous cycle” assisting Australian ideas make it to the marketplace, adding that the fund “clears the pathway for science and technology to navigate Australia’s future”.
“We have aligned all the pieces, from market road maps that guide our science to address the most critical needs to the ON sci-tech accelerator to help Australia’s scientists apply their science for national benefit. And now, we have the Innovation Fund to invest in those ideas and reap the rewards of their success,” Mr Marshall said.