A Sunshine Coast start-up, focussed on supporting business innovation, has reached a major funding milestone.
Strategic capital firm Advanced, founded by former Coolum State High and Sunshine Coast Grammar student Alex Knight, has raised $25m to invest in forward-thinking companies across Australia.
Mr Knight said Advanced operated across the region and helped startups and innovative companies unlock fast, flexible capital through R&D finance, a loan secured against a company’s future R&D Tax Incentive refund.
He said the company was built to remove the capital bottlenecks that startups, technology and manufacturing companies often experienced.
“With every R&D tax advance we make, we’re also advancing causes that matter – supporting local and national impact initiatives.
“We know what it’s like to have big plans and not enough runway. That’s why we handle approvals within 48 hours and funding as fast as 24 hours after signing.”
Mr Knight said the company has already provided more than 50 finance loans to companies and was deeply connected to the community.
“We’re looking to employ locally and take on UniSC students seeking work experience.”
He said the company’s ambitions were national in scale with a goal to generate a cumulative $1 billion in economic impact in Australia over the next five years.
Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli said Mr Knight would appear at this week’s Sunshine Coast entrepreneur festival FWD>>>FEST to help local innovators better understand their funding options and how to use capital strategically to scale.
“Advanced is a fantastic example of the kind of innovative business our region is capable of producing,” Mayor Natoli said.
“They are helping to create local jobs and accelerate our local innovation ecosystem by setting up the conditions for more startups and innovative companies to flourish.
“Council is focused on building an environment that allows businesses like Advanced to thrive and grow right here on the Sunshine Coast.”
