GOLD COAST innovator Superior Jetties is capitalising on the hundreds of emerging seaside and waterfront developments in China, shaping a deal to streamline business between the two nations.

Superior Jetties is finalising a China Business Assurance Programme with Brisbane-based Chinese business facilitator Think Queensland to snare a greater slice of the Chinese marina market. 

Superior Jetties CEO John Hogan said China’s growing middle class was showing strong interest in waterside living and yachting, creating new international opportunities for the award-winning company.

While the company had worked in China before, he said Superior Jetties was working with Think Queensland to sharpen its offering to potential Chinese partners.

“We have been trading with China for many years as both a vendor and customer for raw materials, however we have also made beginners mistakes along the way,” Mr Hogan said.

“We knew that the next step for us involved more complex corporate structures, banking and JV agreements and in this area we have worked with Think Queensland because of their experience on the ground in China.

“It is a massive country with many different needs.  It is not always immediately obvious to us what needs to happen to build relationships and service clients,” Mr Hogan said.

“Therefore we need to partner with locals so that we can provide them with the intellectual property and training to allow a complete solution to be provided.”

Think Queensland CEO Michael Mason said China had named 2013 the Year of Marine Tourism to further develop the country’s marine tourism resources, highlighting the growing importance of the sector. The emphasis was already paying off.

“By helping Superior Jetties strengthen its foothold in China, we can drive investment, sustainable jobs and positive economic impact to Queensland and Australia,” Mr Mason said.

“There are countless opportunities in China for mature Australian companies like Superior Jetties. Chinese companies are actively looking for reliable and trusted partners with proven products and services.

“The key is to understand the unique business requirements and relationships you need to succeed.”

Mr Hogan said Chinese developers were increasingly realising how a quality marina could benefit their broader property development.

“With time there are real sailors and boating knowledge growing in China so our products are gaining traction along with the local sophistication of the market,” he said.”

“There are many more developments planned in China than Australia so it is an obvious growth opportunity.

“Our strategy is to use the installed base here on the Gold Coast as a reference site for what can be achieved in China.”

Mr Mason said Think Queensland had also produced a book, Sustainable Marina Development  to assist developers understand what they needed to do to be successful when building a marina. 

“In this way we believe we can add more value than a local supplier as we can assist with the entire business plan,” Mr Mason said.

www.superiorjetties.com

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INNURVATION, a US medical device company, plans to establish a Brisbane headquarters to further develop its next generation capsule endoscopy pill and provide a springboard into the Australian and Asian markets.

Maryland-based Innurvation will bring its capsule endoscopy technology for the diagnosis of gastrointestinal (GI) disorders to Queensland for clinical trials and aims to establish local manufacturing, distribution and software development partnerships.

Innurvation CEO Cameron Plummer said the company’s Brisbane headquarters would focus on software development and clinical trials leading to its Australian and Asian launch.

“The beauty of Brisbane is that the city provides a stable and conducive business environment where we can access world-class medical research facilities to support the ongoing development of our capsule,” Mr Plummer said. “At the same time, Queensland is a beachhead for us to establish our Australian and Asian business moving forward.” 

Innurvation has signed an agreement with Catalyst61, a Brisbane-based technology incubator, which will see the medical imaging company operating in Brisbane by the end of 2016.

It is looking at an initial investment this year of around A$8-10 million, with assistance from the local market, and the creation of 20 to 30 jobs in knowledge-based professions, such as software, manufacturing and clinical trials.

“Through the activities of Think Queensland and Catalyst61, we will have the resources and capability here in Brisbane to quickly incubate, seek investment and bring to market our technology,” Mr Plummer said.

“Our advanced acoustic technology will transform the patient experience as it provides enhanced diagnostic capabilities without patient clean-out and will also encourage more people to seek to preventive care.

“As a result, this solution dramatically improves gastroenterologists productivity compared to a traditional endoscopy and capsule endoscopy competitors, and will lay the foundation for the first gastrointestinal dataset for population-wide diagnostic analytics.”

Catalyst61 CEO Tony Wood said the agreement with Innurvation would deliver ongoing investment and jobs to the Queensland economy.

“Innurvation believes its product has a market potential of up to $400 million in revenue over its first three years, and Brisbane will play a key role in the product’s market entry,” Mr Wood said.

“The city is also well positioned to benefit from Innurvation’s ongoing development of their next generation products that draw on its patented acoustic imaging technology.

“Innurvation is one of several companies our technology incubator Catalyst61 is currently working closely with. International companies are drawn to Queensland’s established infrastructure, location and business environment, and through Catalyst61 we’re helping them to rapidly commercialise their technology into export markets.”

www.innurvation.com

www.catalyst61.com.au

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THEY ALREADY have more than $25 million in combined annual turnover, but all 11 fast-growth technology firms in Advance Australia-KPMG’s elevate⁶¹2016 cohort are aiming to accelerate growth through US expansion.

The 11-strong ‘Aussie team’ recently participated in a 10-day programmed visit to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and New York. Following the trip, the program highlight was a ‘demo-day’ of presentations to investors and Australian corporates. 

The elevate⁶¹ 2016 cohort includes a number of high-profile companies from sectors as diverse as logistics (Sendle), fintech/insurance (Cover Genius), and hospitality (Newbook). They represent a cross-section of Australia’s startup eco-system with six headquartered in Sydney, three in Melbourne, two in Adelaide and one in Queensland’s Gold Coast.

The 11 companies have proven their traction by securing customers and delivering strong business results, together achieving a combined turnover in excess of $25m over the past 12 months.

“Based on the number of quality scalable businesses uncovered during the elevate⁶¹application process, I can honestly say there has never been a more exciting time to be an Australian enterprise tech startup,” head of KPMG Innovate, James Mabbott said. “The successes these entrepreneurs are achieving demonstrates the potential of Australia’s startup eco-system to compete on the global stage.

“By up skilling these proven businesses and entrepreneurs, and accelerating their understanding of the US market, elevate⁶¹ hopes to empower the next generation of global Australian leaders.

In April, the elevate⁶¹companies attended several days of intensive workshops that offered them specific guidance on how to approach the US markets, so they would be pitch-ready in the US.

“This global Australian powerhouse, made up of many of our best and brightest, builds our global connectedness, driving innovation and sustainable long-term growth,” Serafina Maiorano, Advance Global CEO said. “Whether working overseas or as returnees, the Australian diaspora have an important role to play in growing jobs, investment and exports.”

The elevate⁶¹ program participants are:

Accodex: (accodex.com) a scalable back-office service solution for freelance professionals. Based in Adelaide. 

Artis Group: (artisgroup.com.au) develops critical business applications for leading enterprise and government organisations, with expertise in incident and emergency management, financial services, defence, education and agribusiness. Headquartered in Sydney.

City Beach Software / Omnivore: (citybeachsoftware.com) an ecommerce platform that specialises in helping retailers list and sell their products across multiple marketplaces. Headquartered in Sydney.

Cover Genius: (covergenius.biz) global distributors of insurance products for online businesses. Cover Genius' first brand to launch was RentalCover.com which sells insurance for car rentals from its own site and also through the largest online travel agents globally.  Headquartered in Sydney.

Gymsales: (gymsales.net) a sales CRM for the fitness industry. Based in Melbourne.

Inkling Women: (inklingwomen.com.au) a training provider specialising in gender diversity, offering in-person and online programs that significantly lift the percentage of women at leadership level. Headquartered in Adelaide.

Newbook: (newbook.com.au) a cloud-based online property management system for the hospitality industry. Based in Gold Coast, Queensland.

Rapporr: (rapporr.com) a private messaging platform that offers more contextual and expedient communication for teams on the move. Headquartered in Sydney.

Sendle: (sendle.com) unlocks the power of big business delivery networks for small business and consumers to make it as easy to send a parcel as it is to send a text. Headquartered in Sydney.

Studylane: (studylane.com.au) operates a disruptive technology platform for international student recruitment. Headquartered in Sydney.

VoiceID: (voiceid.com.au) designs, integrates and supports solutions to enable process optimisation through the integration of voice recognition technology. Headquartered in Melbourne.

www.elevate61.com.au

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THE CREATORS of what is possibly the world’s most versatile roofing system – which generates electricity, heats water and is a cyclone-rated tiling system -- building products company Trac Group Holdings is seeing strong interest in its initial public offering (IPO) on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).

Trac Group has diversified into other sustainable building products beyond its original Tractile system – which was developed in Queensland with testing by James Cook University in Townsille – and its potential is raising interest from potential purchasers and international partners. 

Trac Group managing director Jason Perkins said the company had received more than 200 business leads since the launch of its IPO.

“Trac Group Holdings has been approached by 53 distributors interested in distribution arrangements in 12 different countries,” Mr Perkins said.

“We also have had requests for product information from 140 retail customers in five different countries for new construction projects and renovations.

“Of those 140 requests, we have issued quotes in relation to 30 serious leads.

“The company has also been approached by 11 new architecture companies searching for sustainable, innovative products for r current projects and have been approached by seven builders who are investigating whether they will specify Tractile in their future projects.”

Mr Perkins said the interest was exciting and came at a time when the company was closing on its capital raising target.

Trac Group Holdings has lodged a prospectus with the Australian Securities and Investment Commission to raise up to $6,500,000.

The company intends to use the money raised to distribute its award-winning building products nationally and internationally. 

Trac Group is the designer and manufacturer of award-winning roofing products. The company has designed smart roofing solutions that can also harvest the sun’s energy to generate electricity and heated water.

Trac Group has been reserved the ASX ticker code TRC.

www.tractileipo.com.au

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