CERI - Centre for Entrepreneurial Research and Innovation

A sincere thank you to our incredible supporters, partners, residents, alumni, and course participants for contributing to a truly successful year at CERI. Wishing you a joyful Festive Season, and we can’t wait to see you in 2025 for another fantastic year ahead!

@GeneS is a current CERI resident and graduate of our Concept to Creation program. In 2024, they successfully launched RosaMIND, their first pharmacogenomics (PGx) product for mental health.   GeneS launched Early Access to the Next-Generation Sequencing PGx Solution at the Human Genetics Society of Australasia (HGSA) conference in September, marking a significant step forward in improving mental health treatment through precision medicine. We look forward to seeing GeneS continue to innovate and drive change in mental health care in 2025. Our next Concept to Creation program begins in March 2025—see the link below for more information and to apply.

As part of our ongoing celebration of 2024, we’re excited to share another inspiring success story. Lixa is a Perth-based biotechnology company and proud CERI alum.    As a past resident and graduate of our Concept to Creation program, Lixa has achieved remarkable progress, recently launching its first clinical trial of NeoX-101. NeoX-101, developed at the University of Western Australia, tackles antibiotic-resistant biofilms, offering hope to patients with conditions like cystic fibrosis and bronchiectasis.   This groundbreaking antibiofilm agent is designed to improve treatments for chronic bacterial lung infections. We look forward to following the outcomes of the trial. CERI's next Concept to Creation program begins in March 2025—see the link below for more information and to apply.

As we come to the end of the year, we would like to celebrate some of our great success stories for 2024. CERI resident and graduate of the Concept to Creation program WaveX: Wave Powered Generators, is transforming renewable energy with its cutting-edge wave D-Spar technology. In October, WaveX was announced as a recipient of CRC-P grant funding from the Australian Government. They secured $2.4 million as part of a $55 million initiative to work on the development of its unique anchors for offshore wind and wave energy. We are looking forward to seeing their journey continue in 2025. Our next Concept to Creation program starts in March 2025—if you’d like to be part of it, see the link in the comments below.

What a wonderful way to wrap up 2024 at our CERI End of Year Party last night!   We celebrated with an incredible group of alumni, supporters and collaborators. A special thank you to Hon. Stephen Dawson MLC for joining us.   We were also honoured to have Lyn Beazley AO and Wilson Tucker MLC attend.   As we look forward to the new year, we’re very grateful for all the connections and milestones we've achieved. We're looking forward to a big 2025!   Wishing you all a safe and happy Festive season!

86 jobs, 10 patents, $114m combined valuation… These figures, taken from our 2024 Alumni Survey, underpin the work that CERI has done to diversify the WA economy.  We wanted to share these results and more in CERI’s 2024 Impact Report as we wrap up another great year. The report outlines our achievements from across the year and some of the direction for 2025, including opportunities to financially support CERI as we work towards an expansion plan for scaleups. Please get in touch if you are interested in being involved with CERI in 2025. CERI’s programs for 2025 start with the two-day Entrepreneurial Mindset Bootcamp on February 17 and 18. For more information about the Bootcamp, other CERI programs and to apply visit: https://lnkd.in/gEVS9xnq Thank you to everyone who has helped us to achieve these great results! Toby Swingler David Smith Mollie Clement Liz Blaxell #InnovationWA #Startups #Startupwa https://lnkd.in/gDuBghtC

A huge thank you to the West Tech Fest (WTF) team for hosting such a vibrant innovation showcase last week! WTF started on Monday with West Tech Women where keynote speaker Elaine Stead spoke about her courage to overcome, particularly as her principles of fairness and justice mattered. Later that day satellite event First Nations House Summit highlighted the important themes of economic empowerment through entrepreneurship, innovation and digital inclusion, culture and collaboration, and connection and celebration. CERI’s amazingly placed booth at West Tech Main on Thursday was buzzing with curious visitors and engaging conversations. It was a great opportunity to connect with fellow innovators, show what we do at CERI and showcase two of our resident startups Gene S and WaveX: Wave Powered Generators. It was great to see CERI Alumni Novolo and FoundAt also in the mix. A special shoutout to The Young Entrepreneurs Showcase – what an inspiring group of future leaders. It’s always exciting to see the next generation stepping into the world of entrepreneurship. Looking forward to staying connected with all the amazing people we met as we head into 2025. #WestTechFest #WTF24 Danelle Cross Rohan McDougall Larry Lopez

Art as research | Research as art Fantastic session last night at Forrest Hall as Dr Jennifer Halton (PhD) and team (re)launched The Metamorphosis Project. After a briefing on the project history and a teaser of issue 1 of the publication, a free flowing conversation ensued covering the intersection of art and research, the importance of public discourse, the challenges of siloed thinking and the merits of a vocational education system. As a sector-agnostic organisation focussed on the commercialization of deep technology, the CERI - Centre for Entrepreneurial Research and Innovation team live and breath inter-disciplinary collaboration. As a participant in one of our programs you are just as likely to be sitting next to a microbiologist as you are an engineer. This naturally leads to a focus on clear communication, as founders are forced to steer away from sector specific jargon. Those that are able to break out of their silos and communicate their technology-based concepts most clearly often experience the most success. Thank you to Dr Jennifer Halton (PhD), James Arvanitakis, Lee Yang Yang, Isaac Mccormack and The Metamorphosis Project team for stimulating such an engaging conversation. Watch this space! https://lnkd.in/g5qDwCfQ

There was a lot of energy in the room as a group of Concept to Creation participants presented their diverse pitches at CERI’s Semester 2 Finale. With expert judges Schellie-Jayne Price, Jane Tandy and Kale Miller asking considered questions and offering thoughtful feedback the eventual winners were: 1st place and People’s Choice Award: Mingxin Ye Revive OrthoComposites Innovative composite bone implants that do not break 2nd place: Jayden Harp Living Oceans Simple, sustainable marine aquariums for everyone 3rd place: Lucas Wood & Erzhena Tsydenova VESLA STUDIO Nordic inspired wellness facility and sanctuary It’s wonderful to see the progress participants made throughout the 11-week program and we look forward to seeing great outcomes in the near future. Many thanks to MC James Lush, the judging panel and photographer Amanda Zuvela. For more information about the program and to submit an EOI visit: https://lnkd.in/gtM2zyx

Congratulations to CERI alum Lixa on the announcement of the launch of its first clinical trial to evaluate the safety and tolerability of NeoX-101, an innovative antibiofilm agent designed to enhance the effectiveness of antibiotics in treating chronic bacterial lung infections. This is a great achievement as Lixa transitions to a clinical-stage company. Maud Eijkenboom Kristen Houston Andrew Barker