Seeding Momentum through partnership with Victoria Cleantech Cluster
For over 2 years now, FB IDEAs has been working closely with the Victorian Cleantech Cluster to promote and support cleantech innovation in Fishermans Bend.
This dynamic partnership has supported a series of projects and events designed to accelerate clean technologies and nurture the people behind them. The result - a place where new technologies, industries, and ideas converge to create a more sustainable future.
From small beginnings
It all started back in September 2023, at our first event - ‘Going Circular in Fishermans Bend’. We invited Nigel Murphy and Andrew Wells from Earth Systems to talk about the biochar technology they have developed in Fishermans Bend called CharMarker CPP.
Nigel, is also the Chair of the Victorian Cleantech Cluster, so the event resulted in discussion with Daniel Lancefield, the Cluster Manager, we started to explore how we might work together in Fishermans Bend.
Collaboration Building
The collaboration began with FB IDEAs providing grant funding towards the Cleantech PowerOn Program, an incubator for emerging startups working at the intersection of technology, energy, and sustainability.
Delivered by the Victorian Cleantech Cluster but based at the FB IDEAs Hub, over 3 months the program brought together entrepreneurs tackling challenges from renewable energy integration to advanced materials and sustainable manufacturing. For many participants, the PowerON experience provided not just mentoring and technical guidance, but a community — one that thrives on curiosity, shared learning, and purpose-driven innovation.
That momentum carried through to the Victorian Cleantech Showcase, which FB IDEAs also provided grant funding towards. Held at The Timber Yard in Fishermans Bend it saw 200+ which gathered innovators, investors, and researchers from across the state to share breakthroughs and explore new opportunities for collaboration. The showcase reflected the growing strength of Victoria’s cleantech ecosystem — one that is rapidly finding its footing in the global sustainability landscape.
Turning collaboration into action, and impact
On the ground at Fishermans Bend, as a result of the PowerOn program and our collaboration with the Victorian Cleantech Cluster community, relationships and ideas have been turned into action.
For many months, a tangible outcome was on display in the lobby of the Hub at Six Fifty Sips cafe. Supported by FB IDEAs, Eliot Energy installed a prototype smart battery on one the cafe refrigerator to test and showcase how these innovative batteries allow operators to shift energy usage in their existing refrigerators to times when there is an excess of green energy available. By doing so, it allows them to utilise green energy, reducing their carbon footprint and their energy costs. A second battery was also recently installed at CBCo Brewing. The collaboration has also expanded to include PCO Engineering, fellow PowerOn Incubator participant and Hub Member, whose expertise in battery technologies has provided invaluable inputs to the project development.
Meanwhile, also based at the FB IDEAs Hub, Savion Aerospace has been developing a proof of concept for their innovative “infra-aircraft” business model. By fitting a drone with an RFC (regenerative fuel cell) the team will experiment and demonstrate that an aviation device can produce hydrogen and then generate electricity when it is parked, showing the potential to unlock an additional revenue stream which would support the transition to zero-emissions aircraft.
Also a PowerOn participant, ESI Global have been conducting a Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer Study, in partnership with building owners Urban Logistics Co, to explore the feasibility of reducing HVAC Costs by integrating new technology solutions, such as retrofitted triple-glazed windows, to improve heat transfer within the built environment in Fishermans Bend.
Just down Lorimer Street, another project supported by FB IDEAs is pushing the boundaries of sustainable construction, showing how additive manufacturing could transform the way we design and build in the decades ahead. Led by Organica Engineering, the HivePod Demonstration will showcase cutting-edge, low-carbon building technologies—namely 3D concrete printing, up-cycling of demolition waste - can be used to reduce carbon emissions in the built environment and construction sectors.
Fostering Connections
Beyond the prototypes and pilots, the partnership continues to foster community through events and sharing networking opportunities. This week we co-hosted the Cleantech Networking Event, which brought together the Victorian Cleantech Community to connect, share insights, and explore pathways to commercialisation.
The atmosphere was one of possibility — a recognition that the challenges of decarbonisation are shared, but so too are the opportunities and to embrace the future we must work together and create partnerships to support experimentation and practical applications.
Nigel Murphy recently said: “FB IDEAs is the glue that brings together innovators and innovation in the Fishermans Bend Precinct. The Victorian Cleantech Cluster and Earth Systems have been hugely impressed with the quality and volume of activities that FB IDEAs have initiated, and we have been delighted to partner with them along this journey”.
For us, partnerships are the glue, and we are grateful to the many partnerships we have created within FIshermans Bend over the last 2 years.
Together with the Victorian Cleantech Cluster and the network of cleantech innovators we have supported in Fishermans Bend - we are collectively helping to shape Fishermans Bend into a living testbed for clean innovation — a place where ideas move from experiment to enterprise, and where collaboration across sectors drives the transition to a regenerative, low-carbon future.
