Hosted by the Darwin Innovation Hub as part of Spark Festival and October Business Month, Croc Pitch 2021 was an incredible day for entrepreneurs, start-ups, small to medium enterprises and investors.
For the first time, Croc Pitch welcomed pitches from around the world each pitching for a chance to secure up to $1 million in investment funding from the Paspalis Innovation Investment Fund. The catch - the pitch must have a benefit back into the Northern Territory.
The Croc Pitch judges received 58 applications from within the Territory, across Australia and around south-east Asia with 17 semi-finalists selected to pitch at the event. The pitches were all excellent, and was a tough job for the judges to select a winner. Ultimately Amphibian Aerospace, a Victoria company with plans to manufacture and produce a modified amphibian aircraft in Darwin, received the $1 million investment offer.
Second place went to Darwin local Charley Feros from LifeH2o, an advanced manufacturing company that employs cutting edge, innovative design for the manufacture of military grade, fit for purpose water purification and desalination equipment. They were awarded a venture capital investment of $300,000 from the Paspalis Innovation Investment Fund.
In addition to these pitches from experienced business operators, among the semi-finalists were four students from Darwin Middle School pitching for the 'Future Oceans Project' an environmental innovation that would remove the increasing amount of plastic in our oceans. The project looked at ways to collect and harvest micro-plastics particles, thereby cleaning the oceans and re-using the waste product into bricks that could be used in a variety of industrial settings.
The team, while not eligible to receive investment, pitched to the judges and audience on the same level as their more experienced peers with a professionalism and capability beyond their youth. In addition to gaining valuable real world experience, these students show the great potential of the Territory's next generation of entrepreneurial innovators.