University of Sydney professor Thomas Maschmeyer has not needed any of the new government help on offer for universities to commercialise inventions, raising $21 million in the last two months to spin out two technologies, one of which could form the basis for the largest biodiesel project in the world.

In April, UK energy investor Armstrong Energy paid $11 million for a commercial prototype of a house whose walls will contain batteries invented by Maschmeyer. The University of Sydney (USyd) spun out the intellectual property in return for equity in a startup named Gelion. The business is developing batteries made with nano-structured gels which claim better performance than lithium ion batteries in their charging and discharging speed, as well as being smaller, safer, more durable and cheaper.