SEVEN innovative wine and tourism tech start-ups have been announced as part of the state government's FOMENT program, to help accelerate innovation and new ideas within the wine sector.
The successful businesses were announced by primary industries and regional development minister, Tim Whetstone, at the recent Wine Industry IMPACT Awards at the Adelaide Town Hall.
They will launch into six intensive bootcamp sessions across three weeks at the Tonsley Innovation Hub next month with mentoring support, culminating in a project pitch to the Foment Advisory Board.
The businesses from across Australia were ZionTech, ROVER Journey, Twenty Five Doors, Dionysus, Taglog, Consilium/GAIA and Cellr.
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FOMENT is delivered through a collaboration between the Flinders New Venture Institute, Wine Industry Suppliers Australia Inc and Hydra Consulting.
Mr Whetstone said $80,000 of grant funding was given to the program and the state government was proud to support the program.
"This is about giving wine businesses an opportunity to think outside the square and test ideas in a fast-paced intensive environment, with expert support and mentoring," he said.
"This program will also help lead to more investment in SA by increasing the number of start-ups in our state.
"SA is globally recognised as a leader in the wine industry producing 80 per cent of Australia's premium wine and this program works in well with the State Government's AgTech growth agenda."
Flinders New Venture Institute's director Aron Hausler was excited about the potential of the ideas presented.
"Innovation and enterprise is embedded in Flinders University across all of our programs and is epitomised in our award-winning New Venture Institute," he said.
"The value of SA's wine exports is on a par with higher education at $1.8 billion, while tourism is worth $7.6 billion - record performance, but sustained growth cannot be left to chance. We need to pay constant attention to creating capacity to ensure these vital industry sectors continue to thrive."
