10/06/2021 - Sydney – The Sydney Royal Mint was transformed into a hub of innovation last night, as the NSW Government announced the winners of the Innovation Districts COVID-19 Challenge. Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said the second Innovation Districts Challenge was designed to find R&D solutions that foster economic resilience, which is vital following the economic and business disruption caused by the pandemic.
“By backing businesses and driving innovation all across NSW, we’re helping to stimulate the economy, grow industries and create jobs,” Mr Ayres said.
“It’s exciting tha tin addition to many female-run businesses, there are initiatives to address the needs of the most economically vulnerable in our communities, including people with a disability and those experiencing financial distress.”
The top winner of a $250,000 equity-free investment was Sydney-based logistics and delivery artificial intelligence company Adiona. Named after the “Roman Goddess of the Return Journey”, Adiona has spent the last year developing a software service that automates and optimises large numbers of deliveries to create more efficient fleets. The technology is a spinout of research at UNSW and is currently powering millions of efficient global deliveries for parcel, retail, FMCG, grocery, and even furniture manufacturers.
CSIRO Chief Executive Dr Larry Marshall congratulated Adiona, a former resident of CSIRO’s Lindfield Collaboration Hub, where small businesses can work alongside the national science agency to accelerate their growth with tailored commercialisation and engineering support.
“CSIRO’s commitment to NSW includes working with government, research and business partners across the state to turn more world-class science into real-world solutions that create jobs and benefit for all of NSW, driving our recovery from COVID-19 and building back better for the future,” Dr Marshall said.
Parliamentary Secretary to the Premier Gabrielle Upton said, “Commercialising more R&D is the central priority of the NSW R&D Action Plan. The Challenge strongly supports that outcome, solving problems while helping to grow jobs and new industries.”
The NSW Government Innovation Districts Challenges program is part of a $11 million innovation scaleup commitment, designed to support business communities across NSW to develop innovations to tackle the many challenges of COVID-19.
