The $18.6m Curtin Venture Studio is the first venture studio developed by an Australian university, an initiative that will provide researchers and founders with access to capital, talent, market expertise, capability building, mentorship, as well as infrastructure and equipment, to fast track the building of ‘protoventures’, successful enterprises based on demand driven research.
The initiative has been developed with critical support from the Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Trailblazer funded by the Department of Education’s Trailblazer Universities Program. As a result of this, the venture studio will initially focus on supporting the development of innovative products and services that can support resources sector productivity and critical minerals production and processing, incorporating other industries once the model has been proven successful.
Specifically, the Curtin Venture Studio will enable access to:
- Capital: A $10m seed fund with investment from Trailblazer Industry Partners including up to $1 million per annum from Woodside Energy.
- Talent: A pool of post doctorate, MBA, and HDR students along with shared advisory boards with deep business expertise.
- Market Expertise: Access to potential partners and customers to provide sector specific business expertise and feedback on prototypes and a network of early-stage investors willing to engage at the protoventure stage.
- Training: Capability building and mentorship opportunities will be provided through entrepreneurship programs such as the National Energy Transition Accelerator, Curtin Accelerate, and Curtin Ignition with support from Venture Scouts and Venture Builders.
- Infrastructure and Equipment: Access to facilities such as the Pawsey Supercomputing Research Centre, Curtin University’s Makerspace, and the John De Laeter Centre, to enable prototyping and pilot trialling.
Our Protoventures
DARC
DARC are developing semi and fully automated solutions to drill control and drilling fluid management which will eliminate hazardous jobs, increase drilling efficiency, and minimise environmental impacts.
RapidGraphite
Essential to lithium-ion batteries and other technologies for our decarbonised future, RapidGraphite is pioneering a new method to produce synthetic graphite to meet the demand for this critical mineral. With over 90% of the world’s graphite exports emanating from China, and an expected $14 billion shortage of graphite expected by 2030, developing Australia’s sovereign capabilities in synthetic graphite production is essential for a clean energy future.
SpiroPak
Researchers from Curtin’s WA School of Mines: Minerals, Energy and Chemical Engineering have developed 3D-printed structured packing technology that offers cleaner and more efficient gas separation and chemical processing for industries such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) and carbon capture.
Nepternal Hydrogen
A novel method of producing green hydrogen directly from untreated sources of water. This could play a key role for energy storage, fuel and drinking water for remote communities across Australia.
How Does It Work
A protoventure is a pre-company structure designed to transition a research team from building a technically focused research project to developing a beta version of a product or service. Protoventures mature to become full ventures once their product or service is validated through material sales and/or independent commercial investment.
Venture Scouts are engaged to identify and support the onboarding of new protoventures, working with the research teams to accurately assess their potential to transition to a full venture.
Venture Builders are then provided to the team to provide specific business expertise and advice on product development, regulatory frameworks, IP, finance, marketing, and strategy to support the teams transition to full venture formation.
Finally, once a protoventure’s potential and transition to full venture has been established, members of the Curtin C-Suite, a pool of talented senior executives, are embedded within the protoventures as it becomes established as a full venture and enters the market.
Several Curtin research teams have been identified to pilot the Venture Studio model. Read more about each of the teams and the innovative productions and solutions they are developing into successful ventures with support of the Venture Studio below.
Get Involved
Want to find out more about the Curtin Venture Studio?
Connect with a member of the Curtin Commercialisation team to discover the opportunities available for researchers, investors, industry and students through this exciting initiative.
