{"id":90868,"date":"2021-03-24T09:08:35","date_gmt":"2021-03-24T09:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationaus.com\/?p=16758"},"modified":"2021-03-24T09:08:35","modified_gmt":"2021-03-24T09:08:35","slug":"john-brumby-on-victorias-2b-innovation-fund","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/03\/24\/john-brumby-on-victorias-2b-innovation-fund\/","title":{"rendered":"John Brumby on Victoria\u2019s $2b innovation fund"},"content":{"rendered":"

Victoria\u2019s $2 billion commercialisation<\/strong> fund will lead to a \u201cquantum shift\u201d for the state, according to former Premier John Brumby, who will chair the new fund.<\/p>\n

The Breakthrough Victoria Fund<\/a>, which will provide funding to local companies for R&D adoption and commercialisation over the next decade, is now up and running with the government establishing a new company and appointing its board and chief executive officer.<\/p>\n

Mr Brumby, who is now Chancellor of La Trobe University and chair of Biocurate after serving as Victorian Premier from 2007 to 2010, is the fund\u2019s first chair. He said the fund is one of the most significant state policies in industry development ever and would drive Victoria\u2019s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

\"John
John Brumby: The former Premier will chair the state’s new innovation fund<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOur ambitions are big. It\u2019s the biggest investment that the state has ever made in science, technology and innovation, and I think it\u2019s going to drive some big results for the state,\u201d Mr Brumby told InnovationAus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose results will come through business growth, employment growth, productivity enhancement and als through early-stage investment. We\u2019ll be building on some of the brilliant science that we\u2019ve got here, creating new companies, and hopefully breakthroughs that will change the state,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a quantum shift in terms of what any government has ever done in Victoria before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Brumby said that across his career in politics and since, he had witnessed first-hand Australia\u2019s long-standing commercialisation woes, and this was something the fund would help to address.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the big issue for Australia. We\u2019ve had, and continue to have, a fantastic reputation in terms of research, and what we do in our universities and industries, but in terms of how we translate that into therapeutics, into drugs, into products and into manufactured goods that generate jobs and make a difference in the world, we\u2019ve been pretty poor at that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s been an Australian problem for the best part of the last 30 to 40 years. The movement is all in the right direction, but we\u2019re still in this position where we do well, rank well and perform well in the research space \u2013 but far too little of what we do turns into things that make a difference in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

In September last year the Herald Sun asked every former Victorian Premier for their four big ideas to assist Victoria\u2019s economic recovery. Mr Brumby\u2019s first proposal was for a $1 billion fund.<\/p>\n

Soon after the story was published, current Premier Daniel Andrews called Mr Brumby, saying this was the standout idea from the piece, and something which fitted with what the state was looking to do.<\/p>\n

Two months later, the state budget provided $2 billion over 10 years for the Breakthrough Victoria Fund. A guaranteed $200 million would be deployed annually over the forward estimates.<\/p>\n

The fund\u2019s investments would focus on health, advanced manufacturing, clean energy, agri-food and digital technologies.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It will fund a range of grants, repayable loans, equity and joint ventures, through partnerships with private investors, superannuation, venture capital and the federal government.<\/p>\n

It will also be centred on Victoria\u2019s innovation and employment precincts, including Parkville, Arden and Macauley, Bundoora, Clayton and Fishermans Bend.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn early task will be to identify what\u2019s in scope in those sectors. We\u2019ve identified some precinct areas, which are particularly around the key innovation and employment precincts and universities,\u201d Mr Brumby said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat we do in those five sectors is going to be the key to the new businesses and jobs we will see in the future \u2013 it\u2019s exactly the right time and right place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr Brumby said the Breakthrough Victoria Fund will have two lines of potential investment opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first will be projects with strong commercial potential, to accelerate productivity, grow exports, support domestic manufacturing and create jobs across the R&D pathway. The second element is to consider transformational projects that are early-stage projects bringing together the best and brightest from the research community,\u201d Mr Brumby said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be intervening early to get breakthroughs and those proposals that often don\u2019t get funded because of market failures, they\u2019re just too early.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fund\u2019s other board members include former SEEK chief executive Andrew Bassat, former Deakin University vice-chancellor Jane den Hollander and Victorian chief scientist Dr Amanda Caples.<\/p>\n

The fund\u2019s inaugural chief executive will be former Federation Square CEO Xavier Csar.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the state government said an investment plan would be finalised by June, with the first round of investments to be made by the end of the year.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cThe coronavirus pandemic highlighted the importance of having a diverse, innovative economy and secure employment. This initiative will increase our economic resilience by unlocking more growth in sectors with strong fundamentals and investing in opportunities that can support the state\u2019s economic performance over the long term,\u201d the spokesperson told InnovationAus.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know Victoria has some of the best minds in the world, producing some of the most advanced research. The fund will cement Victoria\u2019s international reputation as a destination for investment, research and global talent.\u201d<\/p>\n

There are plans to hold industry forums in May and June this year for parties interested in the Breakthrough Victoria Fund.<\/p>\n

Two other venture funds are also being established<\/a> by the Victorian government for early and later stage firms in Victoria.<\/p>\n

The $61 million Victorian Startup Capital Fund will be providing cash for early-stage startups over three years, while the $25 million Venture Growth Fund will see the state government co-investing into a venture debt facility along with a private investor.<\/p>\n

The recent budget also included a $50 million fund for low-interest loans for eligible companies accessing the federal government\u2019s research and development tax incentive. It will provide for up to 80 percent of a company\u2019s forecast refundable tax offset.<\/p>\n

The post John Brumby on Victoria\u2019s $2b innovation fund<\/a> appeared first on InnovationAus<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

This post was originally published on InnovationAus<\/a>. <\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Victoria\u2019s $2 billion commercialisation fund will lead to a \u201cquantum shift\u201d for the state, according to former Premier John Brumby, who will chair the new fund. The Breakthrough Victoria Fund, which will provide funding to local companies for R&D adoption and commercialisation over the next decade, is now up and running with the government establishing…<\/p>\n

The post John Brumby on Victoria\u2019s $2b innovation fund<\/a> appeared first on InnovationAus<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":626,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15136,15137,15138,15139,15140,15141,1892,392,553,1905,15142],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90868"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/626"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90868"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90868\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90947,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90868\/revisions\/90947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}