ANSTO companies receive business boost

Two new companies ANSTO established early this year have each had a boost of $80,000 following the award of competitive-based COMET grants from the federal government, which supports early growth in spin-off companies to commercialise their innovations.

According to Warren Bradey, the general manager of Access ANSTO, Australian Membrane Technologies (AMT) and CeramiSphere are both looking to raise external capital with a view to taking these Australian-developed technologies to the market.

"The COMET program helps companies raise capital, fund strategic and business planning work, undertake market research and validity work and review of intellectual property," said Bradey.

AMT provides a water recycling product that aims to revolutionise household water use through recycling, cutting consumption by 60%. The product is a nano-particulate membrane bioreactor that is described as a simple arrangement of gills that uses bacteria to operate as a lung and stomach, which literally eats waste matter and breathes air, so is self-perpetuating.

CeramiSphere offers new methods to deliver active compounds to produce desirable properties for building products, paint manufacturers, drug therapy, chemical, cosmetic and nutrition companies.

"ANSTO is constantly evaluating its intellectual property and these two technologies currently stand out, having, we believe, great potential to change the way products work and are made, and how we manage our water and the environment," said Bradey.