City Beat: Brisbane firm makes major projects time and cost-efficient

A Brisbane tech start-up has landed a $750,000 grant for its solution which could save businesses up to $2 trillion globally.

All the latest news and gossip from Brisbane’s business movers and shakers... this is City Beat.

HIGH NOTE

A Brisbane tech start up is ending the year on a high note after landing a $740,000 grant from the Federal Government this month to accelerate commercialisation of its cutting-edge product around the world.

The Newstead-based company, Endeavour Programme, has developed an artificial intelligence program known as Octant AI which aims to slash cost and time overruns in major infrastructure projects.

Founder and boss David Porter said the program had the potential to establish Australia as a leader in innovative technology and benefit both taxpayers and end users.

David Porter

“We want to see other countries looking at Australia as the benchmark for AI in project delivery,’’ Porter said.

“The increasing complexity of projects combined with human limitations is at the root of the problem.

“Our AI platform addresses both of these issues in a new and disruptive way and allows project owners, deliverers and financiers to make more informed decisions sooner, minimising the likelihood of overruns.

“It’s a big challenge, but with up to $2 trillion in project overruns globally, there is a huge opportunity to benefit.’’

A recent study found that costs had blown out by $24 billion on six of the nine biggest transport projects around Australia.

An arm of construction giant BMD has already deployed Octant AI and expects to reap savings of up to 2.4 per cent in its annual $500 million annual turnover in urban development projects. Do the maths and that’s a $12 million difference.

The grant follows more than $2 million tipped into Endeavour by investors over the past two years.

SNAP TO IT

Santa arrived a tad early this year for Alligator Energy, which has just raised $1.6 million to help bankroll its efforts in uranium exploration.

The little resources minnow, improbably headquartered in Brisbane, announced Monday that it had “firm commitments’’ from both sophisticated and professional investors to stump up the dough.

The money will be targeted at further developing the Samphire uranium project in South Australia, which it snared in June in a $3.4 million shares-only deal.

Samphire, which substantially expands the company’s existing footprint in the Cooper Basin, is a 47 million-pound tenement near Whyalla that has sat dormant for about 13 years.

Alligator boss Greg Hall said the cash fill-up would allow for a “rapid commencement’’ of new work at the site.

“We believe this will greatly enhance the value of Samphire at a time of an improving uranium market and increased interest in uranium equities,’’ he said.

Indeed, market analysts have tipped a price spike for the commodity and, in a move that ramps up demand, the US alone is tipped to spend nearly $160 million a year to establish a strategic reserve.

But Alligator, which also has interests in Arnhem Land and northern Italy, continues to lose money, reporting nearly $1 million of red ink in the last financial year despite cost-cutting efforts.

Accumulated losses amount to more than $25 million and auditors have repeatedly warned about a “material uncertainty’’ hanging over the company’s ability to survive.

That strongly suggests we’ll see more capital raisings in the future.