❓ Mr. O'Gorman asks about initiatives to help innovators obtain seed capital. Mr. Brown highlights the UWA pathfinder fund, providing up to $40,000 for early-stage projects, with UWA contributing $250,000.
AnsweredQoN 202Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
I refer to the difficulty that innovators and entrepreneurs have in obtaining seed capital to commercialise new products and services. Is the minister aware of any new initiatives that will assist in this regard? Mr C.M. BROWN
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for some notice of this question. I had the opportunity earlier this week to launch the University of Western Australia’s pathfinder fund. One of the difficult issues for innovators in universities and elsewhere is to obtain seed and pre-seed capital to commercialise their ideas and innovations. That capital is always high-risk capital; nevertheless, it is needed. I was pleased to be asked by the University of Western Australia to launch its pathfinder fund. The UWA pathfinder fund will provide financial support of up to $40 000 for early stage projects with commercial potential. The fund can be used in a number of ways to evaluate the potential for commercial opportunity, the carrying out of market research and business planning, development of a working prototype, purchasing or renting of equipment required for proof of concept of work, carrying out field trials and funding for external services. The university has allocated $250 000 to this fund, and the fact that the University of Western Australia is making this contribution deserves to go on the record. I applaud the university, and I hope other members applaud the initiative and I invite others to consider it.
Mr C.M. BROWN replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. I had the opportunity earlier this week to launch the University of Western Australia’s pathfinder fund. One of the difficult issues for innovators in universities and elsewhere is to obtain seed and pre-seed capital to commercialise their ideas and innovations. That capital is always high-risk capital; nevertheless, it is needed. I was pleased to be asked by the University of Western Australia to launch its pathfinder fund. The UWA pathfinder fund will provide financial support of up to $40 000 for early stage projects with commercial potential. The fund can be used in a number of ways to evaluate the potential for commercial opportunity, the carrying out of market research and business planning, development of a working prototype, purchasing or renting of equipment required for proof of concept of work, carrying out field trials and funding for external services. The university has allocated $250 000 to this fund, and the fact that the University of Western Australia is making this contribution deserves to go on the record. I applaud the university, and I hope other members applaud the initiative and I invite others to consider it.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. I had the opportunity earlier this week to launch the University of Western Australia’s pathfinder fund. One of the difficult issues for innovators in universities and elsewhere is to obtain seed and pre-seed capital to commercialise their ideas and innovations. That capital is always high-risk capital; nevertheless, it is needed. I was pleased to be asked by the University of Western Australia to launch its pathfinder fund. The UWA pathfinder fund will provide financial support of up to $40 000 for early stage projects with commercial potential. The fund can be used in a number of ways to evaluate the potential for commercial opportunity, the carrying out of market research and business planning, development of a working prototype, purchasing or renting of equipment required for proof of concept of work, carrying out field trials and funding for external services. The university has allocated $250 000 to this fund, and the fact that the University of Western Australia is making this contribution deserves to go on the record. I applaud the university, and I hope other members applaud the initiative and I invite others to consider it.
I was pleased to be asked by the University of Western Australia to launch its pathfinder fund. The UWA pathfinder fund will provide financial support of up to $40 000 for early stage projects with commercial potential. The fund can be used in a number of ways to evaluate the potential for commercial opportunity, the carrying out of market research and business planning, development of a working prototype, purchasing or renting of equipment required for proof of concept of work, carrying out field trials and funding for external services. The university has allocated $250 000 to this fund, and the fact that the University of Western Australia is making this contribution deserves to go on the record. I applaud the university, and I hope other members applaud the initiative and I invite others to consider it.
Mr C.M. BROWN replied: I thank the member for some notice of this question. I had the opportunity earlier this week to launch the University of Western Australia’s pathfinder fund. One of the difficult issues for innovators in universities and elsewhere is to obtain seed and pre-seed capital to commercialise their ideas and innovations. That capital is always high-risk capital; nevertheless, it is needed. I was pleased to be asked by the University of Western Australia to launch its pathfinder fund. The UWA pathfinder fund will provide financial support of up to $40 000 for early stage projects with commercial potential. The fund can be used in a number of ways to evaluate the potential for commercial opportunity, the carrying out of market research and business planning, development of a working prototype, purchasing or renting of equipment required for proof of concept of work, carrying out field trials and funding for external services. The university has allocated $250 000 to this fund, and the fact that the University of Western Australia is making this contribution deserves to go on the record. I applaud the university, and I hope other members applaud the initiative and I invite others to consider it.
I thank the member for some notice of this question. I had the opportunity earlier this week to launch the University of Western Australia’s pathfinder fund. One of the difficult issues for innovators in universities and elsewhere is to obtain seed and pre-seed capital to commercialise their ideas and innovations. That capital is always high-risk capital; nevertheless, it is needed. I was pleased to be asked by the University of Western Australia to launch its pathfinder fund. The UWA pathfinder fund will provide financial support of up to $40 000 for early stage projects with commercial potential. The fund can be used in a number of ways to evaluate the potential for commercial opportunity, the carrying out of market research and business planning, development of a working prototype, purchasing or renting of equipment required for proof of concept of work, carrying out field trials and funding for external services. The university has allocated $250 000 to this fund, and the fact that the University of Western Australia is making this contribution deserves to go on the record. I applaud the university, and I hope other members applaud the initiative and I invite others to consider it.
I was pleased to be asked by the University of Western Australia to launch its pathfinder fund. The UWA pathfinder fund will provide financial support of up to $40 000 for early stage projects with commercial potential. The fund can be used in a number of ways to evaluate the potential for commercial opportunity, the carrying out of market research and business planning, development of a working prototype, purchasing or renting of equipment required for proof of concept of work, carrying out field trials and funding for external services. The university has allocated $250 000 to this fund, and the fact that the University of Western Australia is making this contribution deserves to go on the record. I applaud the university, and I hope other members applaud the initiative and I invite others to consider it.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.