The Australian Wine Future Fund is a new A$50m (U$35.42m) initiative that aims to reform how innovation is financed across the grape and wine sector and strengthen long-term competitiveness and sustainability.
The new fund is designed to expand funding pathways, accelerate impactful solutions, and generate additional value across the value chain, while futureproofing the industry against mounting production, sustainability and competitiveness challenges.
“The Australian Wine Future Fund is working to futureproof investments that deliver tangible impact where it is most needed in response to challenges facing grape growers, winemakers and wine businesses,” said Wine Australia CEO Dr Martin Cole.
The fund comprises a Research and Innovation Fund and a Venture Investments Portfolio, both targeted over five years.
Research and Innovation Fund
The Research and Innovation component aims to raise A$35m (U$24.79m) over five years by partnering with universities, state governments, research institutes and private companies.
It will co-fund projects that improve vineyard performance, sustainability, efficiency, packaging and product innovation.
“Already this financial year, A$4.77 (U$3.37m) million of additional co-investment in research has been unlocked through the Research & Innovation Fund mechanism. This is enabling transformational research, commercialisation and capability‑building through extension and adoption that directly address the sector’s challenges and opportunities,” said Cole.
Among the initiatives supported are improvements to Sustainable Winegrowing Australia, delivered in collaboration with Australian Grape & Wine and the Australian Wine Research Institute.
The fund has also backed ten additional research projects with partners including Agriculture Victoria, La Trobe University, amaea Limited, Best’s Wines, Agri Automation, Farmers2Founders and the Australian Wine Research Institute.
Venture Investments Portfolio
Under the Venture Investments Portfolio, Wine Australia will invest A$2.5m (U$1.77m)of non-levy funds alongside Tenacious Ventures’ existing funds and other investors towards a combined target of A$15m (U$10.62m) over five years.
It will invest in early-stage tech companies that could transform how grapes are grown and wine is made.
That includes technologies such as robotics, sensors, AI systems, biotech and advanced production tools.
“We’re delighted to partner with Tenacious Ventures on a key part of the Australian Wine Future Fund, to encourage the wider innovation ecosystem to develop solutions that deliver greater value for the sector,” Cole said.
Tenacious Ventures is Australia’s leading agri-food investment and insights platform. Their portfolio supports companies including Azaneo, Jupiter Ionics, SwarmFarm Robotics, Cecil and Agovor.
Wine Australia will maintain autonomy of investments to ensure they align with industry priorities and impact objectives.
More investment needed
This fund is a response to the 2024 One Grape & Wine Sector Plan, which identified an urgent need to unlock additional investment for innovation at a time when sector levies are flat, limiting research funding.
At the same time, the industry faces serious challenges such as climate change, sustainability pressures, smoke taint risk, packaging emissions, production costs and global competitiveness.
Cole explained that the fund leverages recent legislative changes that increased the level of Commonwealth Government matching available for research and development.
“The grape and wine levy system for research and innovation is tied to the size of our sector’s production. It rises and falls with the size of the crush each year. The changes to the available Commonwealth Government matching enables Wine Australia to actively seek non-levy funding opportunities.