Incubator celebrates one year of nurturing businesses

Friday, 29 June 2018

Since opening its doors only one year ago, ThincLab, the University of Adelaide’s business incubator, has grown new businesses, provided employment and attracted millions of dollars in funding.

This week ThincLab, which is located in the heart of Adelaide overlooking North Terrace, celebrates its first birthday with a presentation attended by entrepreneurs, business leaders and academics.

The aim of the incubator is to give Members the tools and environment to develop their entrepreneurial ideas from concept to reality.
Professor Noel Lindsay, Pro Vice-Chancellor (Entrepreneurship) from the University of Adelaide, says the incubator, the tenants of which have attracted $189 million in funding, is one of the best performing in Australia.

“ThincLab has assisted 66 startups since opening last year,” says Professor Lindsay. “Stand-out startups include:

• The Solar River Project which recently announced approval to build South Australia’s largest solar energy installation

• Life Whisperer which is improving the selection of viable embryos for IVF implantation through an AI-driven, cloud-based image analysis system

• Inovor Technologies whose nanosatellite was launched by NASA in 2017 on the Atlas V rocket bound for the International Space Station

• Lift Cancer Care which has, for the first time in Australia, offered at one health centre fully coordinated, multidisciplinary support care for cancer patients.”

Businesses have access to 3D prototyping and printing, CAD design service, laser and water cutting technology, high-speed machining and lab testing facilities, as well as learning from other successful entrepreneurs.

ThincLab is also home to the Australian eChallenge program. The University’s annual pre-accelerator program is the largest in Australia and has helped create 951 startups and trained more than 7,200 entrepreneurs since its inception in 2006.

The University has invested in ThincLab’s success story by being an equity partner in businesses located at the incubator.

“The University has been delighted with just how rapidly ThincLab has grown. We have remarkable talent and creativity in our state, and the appetite for creating new start-ups is quite amazing,” says Professor Mike Brooks, Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research), at the University of Adelaide.

“ThincLab is so successful that the model has been replicated in Europe and Asia with sites in Châlons, France and Singapore. Significant talent has been attracted from Europe and Singapore to Adelaide because of these connections,” says Professor Lindsay.

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