Nine category winners and two runners-up shared more than $310,000 in prize money, chosen from 152 applications as the awards mark their 20th anniversary.
Oto Medicines won the Emerging Innovation Award for Spritz-OM, a nasal spray being developed to prevent childhood ear infections using beneficial bacteria. The Kids Research Institute Australia spinout aims to reduce reliance on antibiotics and surgery.
Growth Innovation winner Augment Technologies uses physics-based modelling and AI to track where ore moves during blasting. Its Muckpile Block Model helps gold and copper miners in Australia and Africa reduce ore losses.
SpiroPak won the inaugural Advanced Manufacturing Award for 3D-printed structures that improve gas and liquid flow inside industrial processing columns, potentially cutting energy use and costs in sectors including chemicals and carbon capture.
Atherid Therapeutics took the Community Benefit and Wellbeing Award for ATH01, an experimental treatment designed to clear fatty deposits from arteries and reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and amputations.
Energy Innovation winner Wevolt develops software that manages EV chargers from different manufacturers as one network, sharing available electricity across vehicles. Its platform manages more than 800 charging ports across Australia.
Infin Robotics won the Great for the State Award for an autonomous underwater robot that surfaces to recharge using solar energy and transmit data before diving again.
Landgate received the Government Innovators award for its WA Vegetation Extent pilot, which uses AI to improve native vegetation mapping across sparse and complex landscapes.
Two projects won Young Innovators awards: Agni Renewables, from Comet Bay College/GoSH, is developing a process to recover aluminium from electronic waste and convert it into high-purity alumina. Hale School’s CoolaBee uses evaporative cooling and fans to protect beehives from excessive heat.
Centre for Entrepreneurial Research and Innovation (CERI) scholarships went to CAD Spectral Technologies, developing a camera to screen for coronary artery disease through an eye scan, and ChemCentre, turning underused sandalwood seeds into therapeutic and skincare products.
Emerging Innovation runner-up WaveX develops wave-energy platforms combining ocean power with solar and batteries for coastal infrastructure. Growth runner-up Hyperion Systems builds TitanCell, a shipping-container factory using robotic 3D printing to manufacture large items, including boat hulls.
The WA Innovators of the Year is backed by the WA government’s New Industries and Innovation Fund, which helps startups, entrepreneurs, and SMEs.
All finalists take part in an accelerator program featuring professional development opportunities, including workshops on intellectual property, media, pitching, and wellbeing.
