Adiona appears on the EnergyLab panel Grants and Non-Dilutive Funding for Climate Tech Founders

For climate-focused startups and scaleups such as Adiona, securing non-dilutive funding is a difficult but necessary process. Technology that requires intensive research inherently takes a much longer timeline, which is not supported by commercially-driven investment that is waiting for a big return. Grant applications are time consuming and difficult to complete, however Adiona has been fortunate enough to have secured several government grants, non-dilutive funding through corporate partnerships, and alternative funding that has allowed us to continue developing FlexOps to a high standard, bridging academic research and industry involvement. Most recently, we were awarded a CRC-P grant, a program with a 10% success rate for industry-academic research projects.

On May 14, 2026, Adiona's co-founder and CEO Richard Savoie was invited to appear as a panellist at the EnergyLab panel Grants and Non-Dilutive Funding for Climate Tech Founders to share our journey with non-dilutive funding.

Appearing alongside Megan Fisher, CEO of EnergyLab, as moderator and fellow panellists Dr Bronwyn Darlington of Agscent, Jordan Gardner of EY, and Justin Koek from the Net Zero Industry and Innovation program, the event aimed to share the panellists' experience and advice when it comes to non-dilutive grants and alternative funding sources for startups.

Timing couldn't have been better as the Australian government released the federal budget just the night before. Naturally, the conversation started with a recap of relevant changes and the sources of funding available to climate-focused initiatives, totalling a grand $90 billion AUD.

Dr Darlington highlighted a point that resonated with our experience: Reasearch-focused climate startups face much longer timelines to factor in academic rigor and approvals. Partnerships that are purely commercial move much faster and are highly outcomes driven. Adiona has experienced this with our continued focus on partnering academic research with industry partners. Dr Darlington's final advice was to consider international industry groups, not just groups in your home market.

We were glad to share our experience of applying for grants and partnerships to further our decarbonisation technology. We're continuing bringing industry members together through our lunch 'n' learn event series, sign up to our newsletter to be notified of the next one!