Australia throws its backing behind spinouts by developing a plethora of funds to provide more than $772m in funding.
The number of spinouts in Australia is expected to increase as more than A$1bn ($772m) of capital is injected into the market from investment funds, according to AFRweekend.
The funds providing the capital are expected to begin operating this year.
The funds include the A$500m Biomedical Translation Fund and the A$200m Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Innovation fund, both announced in the government’s innovation statement in December 2015.
CSIRO is the Australia’s national science agency that was established in 1916 as the Advisory Council of Science and Industry.
The government will provide half of the capital for each of these funds, with the remainder being provided by private investors and the venture funds that manage the two vehicles.
Other potential sources of income for spinouts include the Group of Eight – a consortium of universities in the country that are setting up a A$200m innovation fund. The group is reportedly in discussions with the UK-based commercialisation firm IP Group and Australia’s superannuation funds.
The Group of Eight all have a strong research focus and include the Australian National University, Monash University, Adelaide University, Melbourne University, UNSW Australia, Queensland University, Sydney University and Western Australia University.
Uniseed, a fund run by Melbourn University, Queensland University, Sydney University, New South Wales University and CSIRO, has also created a A$50m fund.
