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LOCAL innovators have collected nearly $245,000 in funding from the state government’s innovation vouchers program.
In all, 13 small- to medium-sized businesses received grants of up to $20,000 to assist them secure the professional skills and services to commercialise their innovations.
Science and Innovation Minister John Day said the program had received a large number of promising and viable applications.
“The innovation vouchers program aims to assist WA-based small to medium-sized enterprises to achieve success on their path to commercialisation,” he said.
Winning applicants include Infra Tech, a specialist in geotechnical and pavement engineering, for its new controlled dynamic compaction device.
A former winner of ‘start-up’ WA Innovator of the Year, Firstphysio, secured funding for work on its HALO goniometer, which Hayley Warren developed to measure a patient’s range of motion during her studies at Curtin University.
Offshore drilling and construction engineering provider Tensa Equipment received funding for its dynamic motion sensor.
Other winners include medical company Oz Sonotek for its needle to improve cataract surgery, and a shark mitigation wetsuit from marine technology developer Dunbar Harper.
The announcement of grant recipients coincides with the opening of second round applications, which will close on March 2.