2022-2023 Annual Progress Review
Since 2015, Advance Queensland has supported more than 8,000 recipients, whose projects have directly driven close to 28,500 jobs and leveraged more than $1 billion in funds from external partners and investors.
In the 2022-23 State Budget, $142.2 million over 3 years was allocated to the Advance Queensland initiative to support science, research, innovation and entrepreneurship and accelerate economic growth opportunities for Queensland in the lead up to the Brisbane 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Priority outcome 1: greater investment attraction and more innovative businesses starting, growing and staying in Queensland.
Key achievements
- More than 700 startups & scaleups in Queensland
- Home to 3 unicorns (each valued at > $1 billion)
- Around 50 venture capital firms based in Queensland
- 22 Ignite Ideas grants awarded worth more than $2.6 million
- 55 high-growth potential companies supported through the new Ignite+ program
- Brisbane is ranked in the top 50 emerging startup ecosystems worldwide and the top 5 Oceania ecosystems in performance and funding.
Case studies
Go1 (Unicorn and Ignite Ideas recipient)
Logan-based global ed-tech company Go1 kickstarted as a web development company, became Brisbane's first unicorn business and are now worth $2 billion.
TomKat KoolPak (Ignite Ideas recipient)
North Queensland wild line fishing company TomKat KoolPak developed a world-first environmentally friendly packaging box to transport and store temperature-sensitive and perishable products.
Priority outcome 2: Queensland’s world-class research and collaborations are translated into creating commercialisation opportunities.
Key achievements
- Queensland Health makes the biggest investment in research and development (R&D) ($127 million) across Queensland Government. (2021-22 Queensland Government R&D Expenditure Report – Office of the Queensland Chief Scientist. 2022-23 published data is not yet available)
- Both business and higher education expenditure on R&D has increased in Queensland (Research and Experimental Development, Businesses, Australia (2021-22) - Australian Bureau of Statistics)
- 16 Industry Research Fellowships awarded worth $4.8 million
- 4 grants worth $500,000 provided to Queensland research organisations through the Queensland–Chinese Academy of Sciences Collaborative Science Fund
- 18 Queensland Health Clinical Research Fellowships (Round 4) awarded worth $2.73 million
Case studies
Dr Veronica Martinez (UQ) – new biopharmaceuticals platform (Industry Research Fellowships recipient)
Dr Verónica Martínez from the University of Queensland is partnering with a major international biopharmaceutical company to develop a novel platform to guide the design of cell factories for complex proteins.
Dr Matthew Bourne (Griffith Uni) – prevention of female athlete knee injuries (Industry Research Fellowships recipient)
Dr Matthew Bourne is working with industry partner, VALD Performance, to develop a suite of human measurement technology to predict which female athletes are most at risk of ACL injury, monitor rehabilitation outcomes, and revolutionise training for injury prevention.
Priority outcome 3: Queensland’s existing and emerging priority industries and talent are globally competitive.
Key achievements
- Queensland has around 140,000 tech workers - 15% of the national tech workforce
- The Made in Queensland Grants Program (Round 5) awarded $20.5 million to 33 manufacturing projects
- The 2023 Engaging Science Grants provided 41 grants with a total investment of $704, 922
Case studies
Made in Queensland
Made in Queensland supports small and medium sized manufacturers to increase international competitiveness, productivity and innovation, and to generate high-skilled jobs for the future.
Engaging Science Grants Recipients 2023
41 recipients will share in $704,922 worth of funding in 2023 to help increase public participation in Queensland scientific research and STEM-based (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) engagement events and activities under the Engaging Science Grants program.
Priority outcome 4: Queensland’s big challenges and events are supported through innovative and sustainable solutions.
- 6 corporate innovation challenges released to the market generating $550,000 for Queensland companies
- 22 companies participated in the Low Carbon Accelerator Program with the final 4 companies sharing around $300,000 to help drive emissions reductions
- More than 400 attendees at the 2022 SomethingX event
- More than 900 attendees at the annual BiiG Festival
Case studies
Mater Group and Advance Queensland partnership
Advance Queensland is partnering with Cardihab and Mater to roll out a virtual cardiac rehabilitation program to regional Queensland communities.
Low Carbon Accelerator 2022-23 Showcase PoC project recipients
Arteh accelerates transition to a net-zero economy through its time-cost efficient, climate science-based, and actionable decarbonisation digital platform.
Priority outcome 5: Queensland has world-class innovation infrastructure to drive ideas through to commercialisation, adoption and diffusion.
Home to around 70 workspaces, hubs and precincts
The Precinct in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley had:
- 28 tenants
- 89.5% occupancy rate
- 3 tenants vacated The Precinct due to growth
- more than 600 events held and 12 000 visitors.
Case studies
The Precinct
The Precinct, located in Brisbane's Fortitude Valley, is Queensland’s leading startup hub, bringing together startups, scaleups, the XR and AI hubs, incubators and investors under the one roof.
Queensland XR Hub
Based in The Precinct in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley, the Queensland XR Hub is committed to building and promoting the growing Extended Reality (XR) and immersive technology ecosystem in Queensland.
Priority outcome 6: Queensland has a well-connected, inclusive and thriving innovation ecosystem.
- 6 contracts awarded with a total investment of close to $400,000 for First Nations innovators under the Deadly Innovation program
- 11 contracts awarded with a total investment of more than $900,000 under the Accelerating Female Founders program supporting almost 500 female founders
- $810,000 provided to 5 regional innovators under the Regional Futures - Collaborative Projects Fund
Case studies
Cherbourg Service Centre
The Cherbourg Service Centre is the first digital service centre to operate in a remote Indigenous community.
Accelerating Female Founders Program Round 1 Recipients
Recipients of the Accelerating Female Founders Program will deliver a diverse range of initiatives to female founders across Queensland, to support every stage of their innovation journey, and their participation in key industries and technologies.
Regional Futures – Collaborative Projects
The Food and Agribusiness Network received almost $200,000 in funding for their Advancing Innovation in Place project to build a dynamic regional innovation cluster.
Download the Innovation for a Future Economy 2022-2032 Roadmap 2022-2023 Annual Progress Review. [PDF, 288 Kb]
