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Opportunities

Food and Beverage Accelerator: Funding for food and beverage manufacturing innovation in Australia

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Opportunity for

  • Start-ups, small- to medium- enterprise, and multinationals working within the food and beverage manufacturing sector that are seeking non-dilutive investment for research and innovation.

Opportunity for

  • Start-ups, small- to medium- enterprise, and multinationals working within the food and beverage manufacturing sector that are seeking non-dilutive investment for research and innovation.

  • Companies operating in pet food, nutraceuticals, or technologies that directly improve food and beverage production quality are encouraged to engage also.

Opportunity description

Industry challenge

Australia’s reputation for high-quality, nutritious foods means our food and beverage is sought after around the world. For businesses to fully leverage the opportunities available, they must continually develop new products and ingredients, and innovate new processes and skills.

Australia’s Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA) invests in research and innovation projects in food and beverage manufacturing that will develop step-change innovations and help grow the nation’s F&B industry. Businesses gain 1:1 non-dilutive funding through FaBA and retain Intellectual Property arising from the project, royalty free.

Current opportunity

FaBA works with Australian and foreign businesses that are working to add value to Australia’s F&B industry. FaBA is actively seeking to co-invest with businesses in new projects to develop step-change innovations that a company cannot do themselves. The competitive scheme is targeting businesses working to bring new products and ingredients to market within the next two to three years. Projects should range between $100,000 - $10 million, with FaBA contributing half of the project investment. Importantly, FaBA’s co-contribution is non-dilutive and the industry partner will retain IP arising from the project, royalty free.

From the lab to the larder, FaBA can assist businesses take their ideas to innovation. Businesses will work with researchers from broad backgrounds including marketing, chemical engineering, bioengineering and food science. Together, research and business teams can use advanced data systems to track market trends and insights, develop new food and ingredient formulations, and test flavours in a commercial tasting environment. Through FaBA, businesses have access to MakerSpace facilities, state-of-the-art bioreactors to develop novel products and an advanced food-grade compliant pilot plant facility that enables at-scale testing.

Opportunity background

Australia’s Food and Beverage Accelerator is a $160 million Federal Government initiative to foster collaboration between industry and university researchers to

accelerate the development of new food and beverage ingredients, products and skills that benefit Australia.

FaBA has developed multidisciplinary teams across its four programs:

1. Innovation Pathways

2. Innovative Ingredients

3. Premium Food and Beverages

4. The FaBA Training Centre.

FaBA is proudly hosted by The University of Queensland, in collaboration with partners QUT, the University of Southern Queensland and UniQuest. It is supported by the Australian Government’s Department of Education through the Trailblazer Universities Program.

Potential other applications

FaBA is open to new ideas from across the food and beverage sector.

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