An idea is only the beginning. For Australian start-ups, turning a concept into a market-ready product often means first proving it works - rigorously, credibly, in ways that satisfy retailers, investors and regulators.
CSIRO's Kick-Start program provides matched funding to help make that possible, connecting SMEs with scientific expertise for critical early-stage R&D.
Here's how five Australian businesses used that opportunity.
Wash Wild – unlocking the antimicrobial power of native Australian oils
When founder Belinda Everingham set out to create a range of effective natural cleaning and care products, she wanted to verify a theory she had been working on - that different Australian native oils have different potencies against different pathogens. She needed a rigorous scientific approach to verify it and to identify a ‘blend’ of these native oils that would be effective against a wide range of household microbes.
Through Kick-Start, Wash Wild collaborated with CSIRO researchers to conduct systematic antimicrobial testing across multiple oil combinations. The collaboration yielded W4C - a proprietary blend of nine native oils proven highly effective against a range of bacteria and fungi.
This scientific validation gave Wash Wild the credibility needed to secure national distribution through Woolworths.
“I would highly recommend the Kick-Start program. It gave us access to specialist expertise within CSIRO at an affordable cost, which was instrumental to our growth,” Belinda said.
The brand's toilet drops have proven particularly popular, with plans to expand the full product range across supermarket shelves nationally.
Uluu – transforming seaweed into the next generation of materials
Western Australian start-up Uluu, is tackling one of the planet's most challenging environmental problems: plastic pollution. Co-founder Julia Reisser and her team are developing a biodegradable material derived from seaweed that can slot into existing manufacturing as a plug-and-play replacement for conventional plastics - without requiring industries to overhaul their production processes.
Kick-Start supported Uluu through two critical phases: proof-of-concept manufacturing and enzyme research to extract sugars from seaweed.
CSIRO's scientific rigour helped provide Uluu with the technical credibility to secure partnerships with major brands including Quiksilver and Audi. Today, Uluu's biomaterial features in consumer products ranging from buttons on Papinelle pyjamas to surf wax combs.
"Kick-Start is a great source of funding for innovative start-ups requiring specialist expertise," Julia said. "It was quick to secure and incredibly helpful in our early stages when access to world-class materials science was essential."
Ochre Sun: Where First Nations botanical knowledge meets cutting-edge science
Alana Kennedy, a proud Kalkadungu, Eastern Arrernte and Waanyi descendent, founded Ochre Sun to share the power of native botanicals through high-performance sunscreen and luxury skincare. Her products draw on deep First Nations knowledge passed down through generations - but to compete in mainstream markets, that traditional wisdom needed rigorous scientific validation that retailers and consumers would recognise.
Kick-Start provided the bridge.
Working with CSIRO scientists, Ochre Sun built the evidence base to demonstrate what Indigenous communities had long understood about native ingredients' protective and healing properties.
"It felt like a genuine partnership where cultural knowledge sat alongside science to bring forward innovation, which is what the Global market deserves," Alana said.
For Alana, commercial success serves a larger purpose: creating economic opportunities for Indigenous communities through ethical sourcing and business growth. It's a model where cultural respect and scientific rigour work hand in hand.
Her advice for future Kick-Start participants: "Be open, be clear about the problem you're trying to solve, and don't worry if you're not a technical founder. The CSIRO team makes the science accessible."
Nutri-V: Rescuing surplus vegetables to tackle Australia's nutrition gap
Australians aren't eating enough vegetables - and tonnes of perfectly good produce goes to waste every year. Award-winning food innovation company, Nutri-V, saw an opportunity to solve both problems by transforming surplus vegetables into nutritious powders and snacks, now available through online retailers and Nutri-V’s website.
But scaling from kitchen concept to commercial production required answering critical questions: Would the formula work at industrial scale? How would ingredient variations and equipment choices affect the final product? Getting these answers wrong could have cost the company years and significant capital.
Through Kick-Start, Nutri-V partnered with CSIRO to test scalability before investing in their own production line. The research revealed exactly how small changes in ingredients and processing equipment influenced product quality - insights that directly informed equipment selection, process design and staff training when Nutri-V later established its manufacturing capability.
"Kick-Start is a nimble program that was able to quickly support a commercialisation need," explained business development manager, Olivia Said.
"The CSIRO team remained champions of our product long after the project finished. Being clear about outcomes and building a collaborative relationship helped us reach commercialisation faster."
Worn Up: Turning fashion's waste crisis into high-performance building materials
The fashion and textile industries generate staggering waste - billions of tonnes destined for landfill each year.
Annie Thompson founded Worn Up to intercept that waste stream and transform it into FABTEC™, a composite material used in interior furniture including benches, tables and splashbacks.
But in a market saturated with questionable sustainability claims, Annie faced a credibility problem. Without rigorous third-party validation, FABTEC™ risked being dismissed as just another ‘eco-friendly' product with unproven performance - undermining both sales and the patent application that would protect her innovation.
Kick-Start connected Worn Up with CSIRO scientists to conduct comprehensive materials testing, measuring durability, safety and performance against industry standards for laminates and plastics. The independent validation proved decisive: FABTEC™ secured its patent in February 2025, has been shortlisted for the Sustainable Building Awards' Innovation Category, and is now installed in high-profile locations including Bendigo Bank (WA) and the University of Melbourne's Engineering Building.
As a material FABTEC™ is 100 per cent recyclable. Worn Up has developed a program to capture fabrication waste which is also upcycled into new panels. FABTEC™ furniture can be upcycled into new products up to five times.
"Potential customers trust CSIRO," Annie said. "Validated testing allowed us to market our product with confidence.
“With so much greenwashing, it was vital to prove any claims about re-use of waste resources."
Supporting Australia’s next wave of innovators
Programs like Kick-Start help Australian SMEs turn ambitious ideas into real-world solutions by providing matched funding and access to national scientific capability.
Learn how CSIRO’s SME Connect suite of programs can support your business
An idea is only the beginning. For Australian start-ups, turning a concept into a market-ready product often means first proving it works - rigorously, credibly, in ways that satisfy retailers, investors and regulators.
CSIRO's Kick-Start program provides matched funding to help make that possible, connecting SMEs with scientific expertise for critical early-stage R&D.
Here's how five Australian businesses used that opportunity.
Wash Wild – unlocking the antimicrobial power of native Australian oils
When founder Belinda Everingham set out to create a range of effective natural cleaning and care products, she wanted to verify a theory she had been working on - that different Australian native oils have different potencies against different pathogens. She needed a rigorous scientific approach to verify it and to identify a ‘blend’ of these native oils that would be effective against a wide range of household microbes.
Through Kick-Start, Wash Wild collaborated with CSIRO researchers to conduct systematic antimicrobial testing across multiple oil combinations. The collaboration yielded W4C - a proprietary blend of nine native oils proven highly effective against a range of bacteria and fungi.
This scientific validation gave Wash Wild the credibility needed to secure national distribution through Woolworths.
“I would highly recommend the Kick-Start program. It gave us access to specialist expertise within CSIRO at an affordable cost, which was instrumental to our growth,” Belinda said.
The brand's toilet drops have proven particularly popular, with plans to expand the full product range across supermarket shelves nationally.
Uluu – transforming seaweed into the next generation of materials
Western Australian start-up Uluu, is tackling one of the planet's most challenging environmental problems: plastic pollution. Co-founder Julia Reisser and her team are developing a biodegradable material derived from seaweed that can slot into existing manufacturing as a plug-and-play replacement for conventional plastics - without requiring industries to overhaul their production processes.
Kick-Start supported Uluu through two critical phases: proof-of-concept manufacturing and enzyme research to extract sugars from seaweed.
CSIRO's scientific rigour helped provide Uluu with the technical credibility to secure partnerships with major brands including Quiksilver and Audi. Today, Uluu's biomaterial features in consumer products ranging from buttons on Papinelle pyjamas to surf wax combs.
"Kick-Start is a great source of funding for innovative start-ups requiring specialist expertise," Julia said. "It was quick to secure and incredibly helpful in our early stages when access to world-class materials science was essential."
Ochre Sun: Where First Nations botanical knowledge meets cutting-edge science
Alana Kennedy, a proud Kalkadungu, Eastern Arrernte and Waanyi descendent, founded Ochre Sun to share the power of native botanicals through high-performance sunscreen and luxury skincare. Her products draw on deep First Nations knowledge passed down through generations - but to compete in mainstream markets, that traditional wisdom needed rigorous scientific validation that retailers and consumers would recognise.
Kick-Start provided the bridge.
Working with CSIRO scientists, Ochre Sun built the evidence base to demonstrate what Indigenous communities had long understood about native ingredients' protective and healing properties.
"It felt like a genuine partnership where cultural knowledge sat alongside science to bring forward innovation, which is what the Global market deserves," Alana said.
For Alana, commercial success serves a larger purpose: creating economic opportunities for Indigenous communities through ethical sourcing and business growth. It's a model where cultural respect and scientific rigour work hand in hand.
Her advice for future Kick-Start participants: "Be open, be clear about the problem you're trying to solve, and don't worry if you're not a technical founder. The CSIRO team makes the science accessible."
Nutri-V: Rescuing surplus vegetables to tackle Australia's nutrition gap
Australians aren't eating enough vegetables - and tonnes of perfectly good produce goes to waste every year. Award-winning food innovation company, Nutri-V, saw an opportunity to solve both problems by transforming surplus vegetables into nutritious powders and snacks, now available through online retailers and Nutri-V’s website.
But scaling from kitchen concept to commercial production required answering critical questions: Would the formula work at industrial scale? How would ingredient variations and equipment choices affect the final product? Getting these answers wrong could have cost the company years and significant capital.
Through Kick-Start, Nutri-V partnered with CSIRO to test scalability before investing in their own production line. The research revealed exactly how small changes in ingredients and processing equipment influenced product quality - insights that directly informed equipment selection, process design and staff training when Nutri-V later established its manufacturing capability.
"Kick-Start is a nimble program that was able to quickly support a commercialisation need," explained business development manager, Olivia Said.
"The CSIRO team remained champions of our product long after the project finished. Being clear about outcomes and building a collaborative relationship helped us reach commercialisation faster."
Worn Up: Turning fashion's waste crisis into high-performance building materials
The fashion and textile industries generate staggering waste - billions of tonnes destined for landfill each year.
Annie Thompson founded Worn Up to intercept that waste stream and transform it into FABTEC™, a composite material used in interior furniture including benches, tables and splashbacks.
But in a market saturated with questionable sustainability claims, Annie faced a credibility problem. Without rigorous third-party validation, FABTEC™ risked being dismissed as just another ‘eco-friendly' product with unproven performance - undermining both sales and the patent application that would protect her innovation.
Kick-Start connected Worn Up with CSIRO scientists to conduct comprehensive materials testing, measuring durability, safety and performance against industry standards for laminates and plastics. The independent validation proved decisive: FABTEC™ secured its patent in February 2025, has been shortlisted for the Sustainable Building Awards' Innovation Category, and is now installed in high-profile locations including Bendigo Bank (WA) and the University of Melbourne's Engineering Building.
As a material FABTEC™ is 100 per cent recyclable. Worn Up has developed a program to capture fabrication waste which is also upcycled into new panels. FABTEC™ furniture can be upcycled into new products up to five times.
"Potential customers trust CSIRO," Annie said. "Validated testing allowed us to market our product with confidence.
“With so much greenwashing, it was vital to prove any claims about re-use of waste resources."
Supporting Australia’s next wave of innovators
Programs like Kick-Start help Australian SMEs turn ambitious ideas into real-world solutions by providing matched funding and access to national scientific capability.
Learn how CSIRO’s SME Connect suite of programs can support your business