Miranda McLachlan - Australian Financial Review
The Victorian government has attracted $84 million in private and public sector funding for fledgling technology businesses in the past three years under its Technology Commercialisation Program.

One of these projects, which has developed diagnostic tools for the brain, could be used in the event of an expedition to Mars, according to Victorian Innovation Minister and Treasurer John Brumby.

TCP partners had raised $17 million in the 2003 financial year, and the program had now helped more than 230 new technology businesses and 4200 inventors, Mr Brumby told the Business Strategies International Investor Forum last week.

"In the last financial year, our TCP partners have helped to attract $7 in investment into new technology businesses for every $1 the Bracks government invested in the program," Mr Brumby said. The government has provided $20 million over four years into the TCP.

One of TCP's successes was CogState, which had developed diagnostic tools for neurodegenerative disorders of the brain, he said. It was being used as part of a research project in the Utah desert which was attempting to simulate conditions expected on Mars as part of preparations for an expedition there.

Mr Brumby indicated to The Australian Financial Review that he was looking into the possibility of locating some of the government's innovation initiatives at the Digital Harbour technology park in Melbourne's Docklands precinct. "The government is examining whether there may be suitable activities within government that would be appropriately located at Docklands in Digital Harbour."

Mr Brumby said Digital Harbour was a key development at Docklands supported by the federal government and the state government. BSI promoted its recently acquired early stage investment fund, Australian Distributed Incubator, at the forum, which has been a key commercialisation partner in the TCP program.

Mr Brumby said ADI was "a great example of the TCP in action". Sixty-six companies had been accepted into the incubation program, and there had been 44 graduate companies and $5 million in external investment in start-ups by the end of ADI's contract.

BSI chief executive Ivan Kaye said the ADI fund was "critical in assisting innovative companies to raise small amounts of money which will enable them to commercialise".

"The general funds and super funds aren't interested at the moment to invest small amounts of money into these funds," Mr Kaye said. "Generally, people are looking for between $200,000 and $1 million to start off the commercialisation process. "We expect to work with between 50 and 100 companies that have got the ability to have exponential growth and get global."

ADI and BSI will move into Digital Harbour next June. There they will house the technology start-ups and help the companies commercialise by providing assistance with marketing, accounting, tax, strategy, recruitment and training. They will pay rent at a low commercial rate.

"They can focus on getting their core technology out there," Mr Kaye said, adding that his dream was to set up other incubators in Sydney, San Francisco, San Diego and London.