New South Wales Treasurer Daniel Mookhey to join UNSW tomorrow for the launch of major new funds to accelerate research commercialisation.
UNSW Sydney is investing $35 million to accelerate research commercialisation and launch new spinout companies. This includes a $25 million Pre-Seed Fund for early-stage spinouts and a $10 million investment in High Street Ventures, an independent venture capital fund that will support companies as they grow.
The Pre-Seed Fund will support about 50 spinouts over five years. Each company may receive up to $500,000 to bridge the funding gap in the early stages of commercialisation and before they can attract external capital.
High Street Ventures will help technologies reach commercialisation and market launch beyond the early stages and will focus on Series A (first significant round of venture capital) and beyond. The fund will be managed by an external venture group and aims to secure more than $100 million in committed capital (money investors promise to the fund).
New South Wales Treasurer Daniel Mookhey, who will attend tomorrow’s launch event, said entrepreneurial universities such as UNSW were essential to the state’s future growth.
“The culture of innovation at UNSW has produced truly pioneering companies and shows why New South Wales is a powerful place for ideas to take flight,” Mr Mookhey said. “The Minns Government supports research-driven entrepreneurship, because when discovery moves toward delivery, the impact multiplies.”
Professor Stephen Rodda, UNSW’s Pro Vice-Chancellor of Industry and Innovation, said the new funds reaffirm UNSW’s commitment to research excellence and would strengthen the University’s commercialisation pipeline and bring more Australian technologies to the world.
“There are multiple gaps that stall new technologies, and UNSW’s commitment is an important step towards expanding the risk capital available to our portfolio, entrepreneurial staff and students,” Prof. Rodda said. “This is about more than investment – it’s about building an ecosystem with the talent and commercial expertise to give our most promising discoveries their best chance to succeed and to keep Australia at the forefront of research translation and commercialisation.”
UNSW is recognised as Australia’s leading entrepreneurial university based on the number of new startups and spinout companies established from its technology. The University launched 25 new spinout companies in 2025 and topped the table in the annual Survey of Commercialisation Outcomes from Public Research Report for the fourth consecutive year. It was also recognised as one of the nation’s top domestic patent filers in the latest Australian Intellectual Property Report.
The new investment funds will help launch and scale more spinouts, such as SWAN Genomics, which is developing a DNA sequencing method to make genomic data more accessible in both established and new markets.
“SWAN is revolutionising DNA sequencing by surpassing the constraints of current short-read and long-read methods,” said SWAN Genomics Co-Founder and CEO, Associate Professor Lawrence Lee. “Our innovative technology draws on the expertise of a diverse technical team, which uncovered a novel approach to DNA sequencing that offers exceptional cost efficiency while maintaining complete information integrity.”
“Our single-molecule platform offers flexibility, scalability, and affordability, redefining the future of genomics and unlocking its full potential across healthcare and biotechnology.”
The new investments add to UNSW’s Proof-of-Concept Fund, launched in 2024, which invests $3 million annually in early-stage validation, market testing, prototype development and efficacy testing to prepare projects for licensing or spin-out. They also support UNSW’s wider innovation ecosystem, which includes Barker Street Ventures, the Industry & Innovation portfolio, New Ventures, UNSW Founders, professional development programs and co-location spaces.
ENDS
Media welcome to attend launch.
When: Tuesday, 17th February 2026, from 12PM
Location: UNSW Lounge, Level 11 UNSW Library (F21), entry adjacent to Scientia Lawn, Kensington Campus.
UNSW portfolio company showcase at the launch includes the following companies:
- UndaTech – protective and performance base layers that enhance the survivability, comfort and operation readiness of the modern day high-risk workforce.
- DeCarice – retrofittable low-carbon engine technology for diesel industry, solving emissions compliance in hard-to-abate sectors.
- CounterCurrent – greener shipping solutions through AI and science to determine how vessels can harness ocean currents to save fuels and cut emissions.
- HEO Space – space-based imaging and insights services to classify objects in orbit.
- Nuroflux – a wearable medical device for continuous monitoring of stroke through brain activity and blood flow.
- Jumpstart Fertility – developing unique solutions to improve IVF success during reproductive ageing.
- SWAN Genomics – a novel single-molecule DNA sequencing platform that delivers scalability, affordability and precision to genomics.
Contact details:
Ben Knight
External Communications Officer, UNSW Sydney
[email protected]
02 9065 4915 / 0422 651 085
