Discover Australia's leading agriculture research ecosystem

Opportunity for

• Thoroughbred and equine vets and radiologists interested in collaborating in field trials of a novel portable X-ray enhancing technology.
• Investors^ - including HNW, Angels, Family Offices, VCs, and other strategic investors.

Opportunity description

Industry challenge

Currently, for equine purposes, planar X-rays are useful for examining lameness, fractures, wounds, etc. on a limb, however they do not provide sufficient details for diagnosing issues that require more detailed imaging, that usually requires CT, MRI, or ultrasound scanning, such as micro-fractures and related soft tissue issues.

There is growing demand for equine X-rays both in racehorses and performance horses. Veterinary CT and MRI are expensive and not widely available and are not easily accessible for large animals like horses.

XR-Vet have developed a technology in the form of a filter that is retro-fitted to existing machines (CT or planar X-ray machines) and a web-based processing tool that provides enhanced multi-modal X-ray...

Opportunity for

• Researchers and startups in need of synthetic biology capabilities
• Industry partners seeking gene editing, tissue culture or field trial services
• Innovators exploring plant-based biomanufacturing or novel crop traits
• Investors and collaborators supporting commercialisation of agbiotech innovation

Opportunity description

Industry challenge:

Commercialising plant synthetic biology is complex and costly, with limited local access to high-containment facilities, regulatory support, and the specialised capabilities needed to bring early-stage plant innovations to field or market. Many researchers and startups are forced offshore, risking biosecurity delays and high costs, or stall altogether in the critical transition from lab to commercial-scale development.

The Plant SynBio Foundry, supported by BioPlatforms Australia and located at the Adelaide University, addresses this bottleneck. It provides open-access infrastructure, scientific expertise, and commercialisation support to help researchers and companies progress synthetic biology innovations in crops, including gene editing, trait development and field trials.

Current opportunity:

The newly launched Adelaide node...

This project will explore the potential for developing an alternative to conventional shearing through R&D directed towards a novel approach, based on delivering a product by feed or injection, which creates a weakened zone in the fleece. The fleece can then be removed by unskilled labour or an automated high-throughput system. If successful, this project will revolutionise wool harvesting, by improving wool quality, eliminating shearer injuries, allowing producers to decide harvesting time, harvesting small numbers of sheep and improving sheep welfare.

Australian Wool Innovation is now two years into a major four-year preliminary research project to help develop a commercial vaccine that will protect sheep