1998 to 2002

It would be a long taxi fare from Braeside in Melbourne to Dubai, but the Australian Government has helped one local business make the trip.

A two-year $1.75 million Commercial Ready Grant in 2007 helped intelligent transport systems integrator Sigtec develop and export its computer-aided dispatch (CAD) service for taxis to a range of international markets, including Dubai.

Sigtec's innovative CAD architecture has paved the way for new opportunities. In response to a request from the Dubai road authorities, the company developed a system that could capture spatial data from the 8000 taxis on the country's roads. Fed into Dubai's traffic management software, this allowed road authorities to gauge how well traffic was flowing on major arterial roads.

In early 2007, Sigtec had just 27 employees and operated only in the CAD market. The company's management team wanted to grow the business by exporting its systems and expanding into adjacent markets.

Sigtec used the Commercial Ready Grant to support its research and development activities, a decision that persuaded its investors to fund acquisitions to build its capabilities in similar markets and helped it create early system prototypes. The company has since commercialised many of the systems it developed using the grant, and still uses some components in its current products.

The grant has also helped Sigtec build its presence in the Australian marketplace. For example, the company has developed a system that monitors whether truck drivers are using government-mandated heavy vehicle routes. Sigtec also recently won a major system contract to implement a national vehicle reservation and dispatch management system for the Department of Finance and Deregulation's COMCAR fleet.

Prior to this in 1998, Sigtec was awarded a $1.8 million R&D Start Grant.

With more than 100 staff, including 50-plus design engineers and developers working from Brisbane and Melbourne, the company now has three core businesses:

• providing CAD systems to taxi and hire car fleets in Australia and internationally
• delivering mission critical wireless data systems for emergency services in Australia and New Zealand
• supplying passenger information systems for public transport networks in Australia and New Zealand.

"We have been able to identify profitable paths for the future," says John Thompson, Managing Director. "We couldn't have done this without the Commercial Ready Grant."

Sigtec has also benefited from the R&D Tax Concession and Austrade support to help enter international markets such as the Middle East.

Travellers who explore remote regions can experience new cultures and life changing encounters. But managed poorly, this type of travel can dilute local cultures, drain natural resources and destroy the attractions that drive visitors there in the first place.

In 1989, Darrell Wade and Geoff Manchester founded Intrepid Travel as a business that would run environmentally, culturally and socially responsible travel.

The company, with headquarters in Australia, now has more than 900 employees in around 30 companies worldwide, including in China, India, Morocco and Peru.

In 1999, the Australian Government awarded Intrepid Travel an $85,000 R&D Start Grant to help it conduct research into improving the sustainability of its operations.

Intrepid Travel used the grant to partner with Victoria University and a Master's degree graduate student to research the impact of its tours on tribal cultures in Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysian Borneo (also known as East Malaysia).

The report, titled Small Tour Group Impacts on Developing Communities, found the tours supported traditional practices and empowered women through employment opportunities. But in some cases the tours also caused unequal distribution of income in local villages and the commodification of traditional crafts.

"This research enabled us to improve our ways of engaging with villagers and we applied this knowledge to tours in other countries," Manchester says.

The project positioned Intrepid Travel as a world leader in responsible travel. Intrepid Travel now operates in Africa, Antarctica, Europe, the Middle East, North America and South America, as well as Asia.

"Travellers are increasingly concerned about sustainability issues and choosing companies that follow responsible practices," Manchester says.

From 1999 to 2006, Intrepid Travel benefited from assistance through Austrade's Export Marketing Development Grants Scheme. The assistance, comprising $50,000 plus 50 per cent of the company's marketing expenditure, allowed Intrepid Travel to expand its operations into selling in the UK and US.

In 2008, Intrepid Travel established joint ventures with Flight Centre in Australia to sell its tours directly to the public through retail stores. This has now been extended to Canada and the UK.

In 2011, UK-based TUI PLC, the largest travel company in the world, became a substantial shareholder of Intrepid Travel, incorporating up to 10 brands and forming the new PEAK Adventures group to maximise the benefits of new markets and exciting growth opportunities.

"The integration of Intrepid into PEAK Adventures will give Intrepid the ability to concentrate on its products and customers without the diversion of back office issues," Manchester says. "It will also give Intrepid added strength to create new innovative products and expand its marketing reach."

"People who visit our research and development facility think it's so high-tech it belongs in Switzerland, not Adelaide," laughs Dr Bob Johnson, Founder and Chairman.

Maptek employs 180 people in Australia and more than 150 overseas. The company develops 3D modelling solutions, including Vulcan 3D software and I-Site laser scanning systems, for the global mining industry.

By quickly creating detailed 3D geological maps, the Maptek I-Site laser scanner has radically improved safety and productivity at mines.

"The I-Site 8800 laser scanner can measure to within two centimetres of accuracy from two kilometres away," says Johnson. "It means surveyors don't have to get close to dangerous areas and risk their lives."

"It used to take a team of surveyors several days to create an accurate 3D map of a mine site. Now it takes one person a few minutes to survey the scene and download the images to a computer."

Johnson and the Maptek team developed the concept for the I-Site laser scanner in 2001 after working on a joint project with the Department of Defence. After three years of research and development aided by a $2.4 million Australian Government R&D Start Grant, the first I-Site 4400 laser scanner was released in 2004.

The 3D laser scanning device incorporates an inbuilt telescope and digital camera, a handheld tablet for operating the scanner and I-Site Studio software. It creates high resolution 3D maps that can be used to measure the movement of large volumes of material. "For instance, a company can measure how many millions of tonnes of dirt its contractors move in a mine each day," says Johnson.

Although its main use is in the mining industry, the I-Site laser scanner is also used in archaeology, architecture, engineering, emergency services and defence.

In four years, Maptek sold 150 units of the I-Site 4400 laser scanner. The company continued to heavily invest in research and development, releasing its second generation I-Site 8800 laser scanner in mid-2010. It sold 80 units in just 12 months to mining companies in Asia, Australia, Europe, North America and South America.

The company also supplies global spatial solutions provider Leica Geosystems with laser scanners and software to sell under its Leica Geosystems brand.

"Not only is I-Site a game-changer for the mining industry, Maptek is a thriving manufacturer and we'll continue to invest in research and development to improve our products," says Johnson.

In 2008, the World Health Organisation (WHO) identified cardiovascular and chronic respiratory diseases, diabetes and cancer as the four leading threats to human health and development. Developing new treatments for these illnesses has never been so important.

Since 1995, Australian biotech company Alchemia has been striving to do just that. The company uses its laboratories in Brisbane and Melbourne to research and develop cost-effective treatments for illnesses including cancer, diabetes and deep vein thrombosis.

Alchemia has 20 employees and is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange. The company recently received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration to market its first completed drug – a treatment for deep vein thrombosis called Fondaparinux.

Sales in the US for Fondaparinux are worth $340 million, with the global market worth approximately $540 million. The company expects to receive licences to sell the product in Europe and Australia within the next few years.

Developing the technology used to manufacture the drug was made possible with support from the Australian Government. In 1998, Alchemia was awarded an R&D Start Grant of $2.1 million to create a new synthetic method for developing drugs. In 2001–02, Alchemia was awarded another $4.2 million R&D Start Grant. In 2005, a Commercial Ready Grant of $3 million enabled the company to employ extra researchers to develop technology that would allow drugs to be produced cost-effectively on a large scale.

The company also claims deductions for its extensive research and development activities under the R&D Tax Concession, and has benefited from venture capital assistance through the Innovation Investment Fund (IIF) program. The company received $4 million from CM Capital, about $3.9 million from Start Up Australia, about $2 million from GBS Venture Partners and $3.25 million from AMWIN.

"We were fortunate to find financial support from the Australian venture capital community to develop our novel technology. Some partners brought business and financial expertise, while others helped by offering access to much-needed global networks," says Dr Tracie Ramsdale, co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer.

"The Australian Government has been with us along the commercialisation journey. The R&D Tax Concession has assisted and now the new R&D Tax Incentive will allow us to continue to invest in research for developing innovative products aimed to help improve the lives of sufferers of serious illnesses."