LOCAL HEROES
TWO innovative Townsville start- up venturers look to be winners after coming out on top in a Shark Tank- style inventors competition in Townsville yesterday.
Hosted by innovation hub iNQ at the YWAM conference centre, the venturers, Coral Sunscreen and Solar Relief, were selected from about 30 start- ups to present to the Local Heroes Showcase event.
The budding entrepreneurs also heard from Heather MacKenzie, co- founder of SheEO, Dominic Holland, CEO Tow. com and director of Alicorn Ventures and Aaron Birkby, CEO of Startup Catalyst.
Coral Sunscreen is a biotechnology venture developing ultra violet filters that mimic the sun protection mechanisms present in shallow water corals.
Using research data from the Australia Institute of Marine Science, the company has worked with the CSIRO to produce filters which can be used in sunscreen, plastics, eye wear, paint and the marine and automotive industries.
Coral Sunscreen partner Claudia Brumme- Smith said they had been granted a pat- ent in the United States and more were pending.
“We are in commercial mode. For us it’s a case of finding the right commercial partner in the UV filter manufacturing industry,” Ms Brumme- Smith said.
She said the paint and plastics industries appeared to have the widest application for their filters.
Solar Relief has developed a portable power supply unit by combining solar panels and batteries to provide lightweight systems for multiple uses but particularly in remote areas or to provide relief during natural disasters.
The units were used in Fiji after Cyclone Winifred 2016 which won the company a World Energy Globe Award from the United Nations.
Solar Relief founder Trent Small said they were working with other Townsville companies VRM, to use the units in buildings and hydroponics, and with EV North to further develop battery systems for use in electric vehicles.
Mr Small said the venturers were developing a building using recycled plastic, glass and fly- ash in Brisbane which combined with the power units would take sustainability to a “whole different level”.
iNQ board member Kylie Bartlett said the event had provided a platform for some of the region’s entrepreneurs to showcase their products.
The two winning companies will join a group of 12 entrepreneurs from iNQ to attend the Queensland Government’s marquee innovation and investment event, Myriad, in Brisbane on May 16- 18.
iNQ is based in offices at Central Village in the Townsville CBD, providing facilities including hot desks, meeting facilities and high speed broadband for start- up companies.