CSIRO Innovation Programs propel startups onto the world stage
Australian startups and small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly turning to overseas markets to scale their innovations, and CSIRO programs are providing critical support for them to succeed.
AgriFutures evokeAG. 2025 Strategic Partner, CSIRO, is equipping entrepreneurs with the tools, networks and expertise to navigate international markets, build strategic partnerships, and adapt their solutions for diverse audiences with its Innovation programs.
Initiatives delivered by Australia’s national science agency, such as the RISE Accelerator and the Venture Exchange Program (VEP) have become a launchpad for companies such as Hi-D and Rainstick, enabling them to address complex challenges in agriculture, food security and health, while expanding their reach into high-potential markets, such as India and Singapore.
RISE Accelerator tackles global challenges
The India-Australia Rapid Innovation and Startup Expansion (RISE) Accelerator is a nine-month program designed to foster collaboration between Australian startups and SMEs, and India’s vast market of potential consumers.
With a focus on climate and environment technologies and solutions, RISE provides participants with tailored mentoring, market research support, grants of up to $75,000 and access to key stakeholders through visits to both countries.
A partnership between CSIRO and the Indian government’s Atal Innovation Mission, the first round of the RISE program kicked off in early 2024 with 14 participating companies from India and Australia, including Hi-D, guided by delivery teams and experts-in-residence spanning both countries.
Hi-D business development manager Alex Mohanu said the program had been transformative for his company, which produces high-concentration Vitamin D supplements from shiitake mushrooms that have been exposed to UV light.
Hi-D business development manager Alex Mohanu said the CSIRO program had been transformative for his company.
Photos: Supplied
Initially, they began using seconds – the imperfect mushrooms that don’t make the grade for retail.
Now that production has begun to ramp up, Hi-D is importing organic shiitake mushrooms from Japan, and experimenting with Australian-grown button mushrooms to produce Vitamin D suitable for fortifying foods such as plant-based milks, margarine and breakfast cereals.
Scaling production for global demand
Hi-D launched its products in Australia in July, and in Delhi and Mumbai in December, and is in the process of becoming listed on the Indian healthcare website, 1mg, which Alex described as the “Amazon of vitamins”.
“If it wasn’t for the RISE program, it wouldn’t have been feasible,” Alex said. “It’s not only the advice, but also the teamwork and financial support that got us over the line in India.”
India’s Vitamin D deficiency crisis, which affects more than 70 per cent of its population, and its growing middle class make it an ideal market for Hi-D’s products.
The RISE program helped Hi-D refine its pitch, adapt the product for Indian consumers, and establish a strategic partnership with Woodberry, a distributor in Delhi Hi-D was introduced to through their participation in RISE.
Hi-D produces high-concentration Vitamin D supplements from shiitake mushrooms that have been exposed to UV light.
In addition to online learning, in-country visits form a crucial component of the RISE Accelerator including two Immersion Weeks.
“The first Immersion Week in Australia was about discovering who we are as a company,” Alex said. “The second (Immersion) week in India was about adapting that understanding to the Indian market.”
This included rebranding its products from “mushroom Vitamin D” to “natural Vitamin D”, emphasising their organic and whole-food attributes which are key selling points for health-conscious Indian consumers.
Venture Exchange Program opens doors in Singapore
While RISE focuses on India, CSIRO’s Venture Exchange Program (VEP) connects Australian startups and small to medium-sized enterprises with Singapore’s thriving agrifood ecosystem.
This three-month initiative offers participants access to world-class research facilities, coaching from industry experts, and networking opportunities at major events, including evokeAG. in Brisbane this month and the FHA-Food and Beverage trade show in Singapore in April.
It will be the fourth CSIRO program Rainstick has been involved in, after completing the ON Accelerate program in 2023, Kick-Start last year, and being accepted into the Climate Smart Agritech cohort of the RISE Accelerator.
Co-founder and chief rainmaker Darryl Lyons said support from CSIRO had been invaluable, with researchers helping validate their novel technology – giving it greater credibility – and the program networks were opening doors to potential overseas markets.
Mic Black (left) and Darryl Lyons from Rainstick.
Inspired by Darryl’s Indigenous heritage, he and co-founder and chief thunderstorm creator Mic Black, have developed a system that uses electric fields to simulate lightning as a chemical-free seed treatment which improves germination, seedling vigour and biomass, resulting in faster crop growth and higher yields.
“My ancestors, the Maiawali people of central western Queensland, used a chuggera, or rainstick, to influence thunderstorms,” he said. “There’s a profound effect that happens when you have electric fields in the air, and biology reacts to that, so we set out to build some technology to mimic that effect.”
The tech has been tested in hundreds of lab, nursery and small-scale plot trials on a range of crops, from tomatoes to Asian leafy greens, such as Pak choy, and broadacre crops such as wheat and canola.
As part of the RISE program, Mic flew out to India earlier this month for a 10-day visit that includes a full schedule of meetings with other RISE participants, and representatives of seed companies, universities and other potential partners for demonstration projects.
“We need to work on how this solves problems for Indian producers, have it independently validated to build trust, and then work on a go to market strategy,” Darryl said.
They’re hoping to achieve similar results from the VEP, working with research organisations in Singapore and gaining introductions to some of the dozens of global agriculture companies with headquarters in the city-state.
End-to-end support for startups
RISE uses a structured innovation framework to guide startups through every stage of market entry – from identifying customer needs and pain points, and extends support for understanding regulatory environments, and signing pilot agreements.
“The pain for a farmer in India might be completely different to the pain a farmer in Australia is facing,” RISE Accelerator and VEP expert-in-residence Asheesh Malaney said.
Asheesh Malaney speaking at the RISE Immersion Week program.
A defining feature of the CSIRO Innovation Programs is their emphasis on collaboration – not just between startups and mentors but also among participants and across global innovation ecosystems.
Asheesh said there had been genuine excitement, engagement and authenticity “on both sides” with RISE.
The results speak for themselves. In RISE’s first cohort of14 participating companies, 11 Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) or Partnership Agreements with in-country partners were signed, and 11 pilots or full-scale commercial projects commenced.
For startups like Hi-D and Rainstick, the CSIRO programs are more than just stepping stones – they’re lifelines enabling them to navigate potential new markets with confidence.
“The skills we’ve gained through RISE have given Hi-D a blueprint for entering other international markets,” Alex said.
