Croc Pitch winner snapping to fight corrosion in oil and gas pipeline network

Combating corrosion is an idea which has earned a Territory start-up a $150,000 investment, with hopes of reinforcing the Territory’s oil and gas industry.

Croc Pitch winners Sam Pattemore and Joel Benesha at Darwin Innovation Hub. Picture GLENN CAMPBELL

COMBATING corrosion is an idea which has earned a Territory start-up a $150,000 investment, with hopes of reinforcing the Territory’s oil and gas industry.

The Darwin Innovation Hub’s Croc Pitch program winner and Corrosion Instruments founder Sam Pattemore said his idea would help monitor corrosion in the oil and gas industry’s extensive pipeline networks.

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“We pitched a smart test post which is for monitoring of prosthetic protection on the oil and gas pipelines and other assets, basically we’re bringing “internet of things” to the oil and gas industry,” he said.

“Prosthetic protection is used for slowing or stopping corrosion of pipelines but the way they monitor and survey systems is they same way they’ve done it for 60 years. It’s very outdated and hugely resource intensive, we’re looking to automate that.”

Corrosion Instruments software developer Joel Benesha said the grant would allow the team to reach project milestones quicker and would allow the small business to hire an extra employee, greatly helping the capacity of the company.

“(It will allow us) to get more resources and the more resources we have, the easier it is to implement the project,” he said.

The Territory’s version of Shark Tank, Croc Pitch allows NT based entrepreneurs to pitch their business concepts for a $100,000 investment from Paspalis and an additional $50,000 in business innovation funding from the NT Government.

Mr Pattemore said programs like Croc Pitch gave Territorians the help they needed to turn their ideas into a reality.

“Croc Pitch and the other events run by Darwin Innovation Hub are really integral to incubating innovation in the NT and ensuring people can network and have access to resources and facilities that are needed to turn an idea into a marketable business,” he said.

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Darwin Innovation Hub chief executive officer Harley Paroulakis said he was pleased to be able to support Mr Pattemore’s idea.

“It’s a fantastic start-up, internet of things for the oil and gas industry, congratulations on winning Croc Pitch,” he said.