Overview
The federal government launched the Trailblazer program for universities to apply for funding in order to translate research into commercial outcomes with industry partners. The University of Queensland was driven to apply for this funding to collaboratively create new technologies, products and businesses in the food and beverage sector, ultimately creating jobs and boosting the Australian economy.
The challenge
UQ had invested in agrifood research and infrastructure in order to implement their vision of the southeast Queensland agrifood innovation corridor, recognising the role of connectedness, capabilities and infrastructure in achieving research and commercialisation outcomes.
Attracting research and industry partners to co-invest required a sophisticated understanding of the industry’s perception of the value proposition and the translation of this into clear governance, innovation support and articulation for the government reviewers assessing the business case.
The Project
TGD and partner PWC were asked to prepare a business case drawing on insights about industry value proposition, governance, intellectual property and innovation framework. Together we:
Interviewed industry stakeholders
Draw out key insights articulating the value proposition
Worked with UQ and industry to design innovation and commercialisation processes, governance options, and IP framework
Design and facilitate 4 focus groups in order to test program design, IP and commercialisation expectations and governance design
Lead development of the business case submitted as the final application for the grant funding
The Result
The UQ-led Food and Beverage Accelerator (FaBA) project will receive $50 million Trailblazer funding over four years to boost growth and innovation in the sector, potentially creating thousands of new jobs. UQ, and its industry and research partners will also invest a further $110 million funding in the project.
The Future
By 2030, this project aims to contribute to doubling the value of Australia’s food and beverage manufacturing sector through a focus on smart production and new ingredients, creating innovative foods and beverages. FaBA is expected to help attract $1 billion in investment into food and beverage manufacturing and create 1700 skilled positions, along with a further 15000 jobs across the sector.”
What we delivered
- Insights to drive partner negotiations and design the program in order to attract the grant and industry partners with cash investment
- A successful Business Case associated with $160m investment
