The Omni-System has been developed by start-up company Gaia Project Australia (GPA) in collaboration with La Trobe researchers from the School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences (SCEMS) and the School of Agriculture, Biomedicine and Environment (SABE).
The company’s flagship product is set to revolutionise Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), with tests showing it can increase yields of salad greens by up to 40 per cent while significantly reducing both capital and operational expenditure compared to other indoor farming systems.
Omni-System development demonstrates the opportunity for industry partners to connect with La Trobe’s expertise and intellectual property and advance their concepts through to a commercially viable product, supported by seed investment from Eagle Fund.
Eagle Fund, which was officially launched today, was established in 2023 between La Trobe and Breakthrough Victoria (BV), as part of BV’s $100 million University Innovation Platform. They have each contributed $9 million to the Fund to provide early-stage funding for researchers and start-up companies seeking to commercialise La Trobe intellectual property, particularly those working within areas of digital health, AI, disease detection and treatment and food security and other research strengths.
Through Eagle Fund, La Trobe and BV have co-invested $500,000 each in GPA.
The Fund has also provided $1 million to the University’s second spin-out biotech company, ExCelligent, formed to commercialise technology invented at La Trobe. This investment has been matched by an international industry partner.
Full story: La Trobe launches fund to invest in start-ups, News, La Trobe University
