Now in its 19th year, the Western Australia's Innovators of the Year Awards 2025 program showcases and supports local innovative and entrepreneurial individuals, businesses and creative minds.
The Rio Tinto Emerging Innovation category recognises Western Australian innovators who have developed an outstanding innovative product, technology, process or service that is pre-revenue.
The innovations must demonstrate that they offer economic, social and/or environmental benefit to Western Australia.
The winner of this award category will be awarded a cash prize of $60,000 and also receive the benefits of a PhD student, through the support of Biodesign Australia. The runner-up will receive a cash prize of $15,000.
This year, there are 6 finalists for the Rio Tinto Emerging Innovation category.
Acculaser
Acculaser precision guided drilling for smarter faster underground operations
Acculaser is an Australian mining technology company pioneering high precision laser guidance navigation systems for underground development drilling. Designed to bridge the gap between engineering mine design and real-world execution, Acculaser enables drillers to achieve unmatched accuracy, efficiency and safety at the drill face.
Born from direct, hands-on experience in demanding underground environments, the system replaces manual, error-prone alignment methods with real-time laser navigation and positional control. By optimising the drilling cycle and increasing design compliance, Acculaser enhances the entire mine value chain, from faster development to earlier ore access.
Backed by an experienced advisory board and strategic partners, Acculaser delivers precision, productivity and more sustainable mining practices.
Anni
Anni connects individuals with verified health and wellbeing professionals—anytime, anywhere—via fast, affordable micro-consults®
Anni was born from the belief that health and wellbeing advice should be accessible to everyone, no matter where they live.
Female-founded in Western Australia with a focus on women’s health, Anni uses AI to identify the root cause of a health concern and match users with a curated series of qualified professionals - skipping long wait times and the traditional referral process.
Our Advice as a Service® model combines AI precision with trusted human expertise to deliver fast, affordable, and personalised care. By removing barriers of geography, misinformation, and cost, Anni is redefining how timely, credible, health and wellbeing support is accessed.
Ekion
Next-generation metal mining using electrokinetic in situ recovery
Ekion is addressing the mining industry's crisis of depleting high-grade ore deposits and the immense environmental damage caused by conventional surface mining methods.
We develop and deploy a groundbreaking electrokinetic technology that uses electric fields to economically extract critical metals directly from complex ore bodies with a minimal environmental footprint.
Our in-situ solution leaves the host rock in place, eliminating the industry's single largest liability - tailings - while unlocking the value of vast, currently inaccessible mineral deposits. We are building a new, more efficient, and sustainable type of mining company to provide the essential metals required for the global energy transition.
Electric Power Conversions Australia
Off-highway mining truck electrification technology
Electric Power Conversions Australia (EPCA) is an Aboriginal-owned company electrifying existing mining haul trucks and is the first in Australia to successfully retrofit a 100-tonne mining truck to battery-electric, delivering results no other company has achieved.
Our innovation supports mining companies’ decarbonisation strategies, helping them meet Australian regulations to reduce carbon emissions while significantly lowering operating and maintenance costs. Electrifying haulage operations is one of the most effective ways to meet these targets, with each retrofitted truck removing emissions by around 1,447 tonnes per year.
Indigivision
Aboriginal-led, technology enabled model that empowers Traditional Owners to lead land use planning, heritage protection, and sustainable development on their terms
Aboriginal owned business combining traditional knowledge with advanced drone technology to deliver aerial photography, videography, photogrammetry, LiDAR modelling, thermal inspections, and cultural heritage survey services.
Led by a culturally grounded strategically aligned team of Aboriginal professionals with deep ancestral ties, technical expertise, and visionary leadership, Indigivision supports heritage protection and land management across Western Australia.
Guided by the Healthy Country Framework’s pillars - Cultural Authority, Innovation and Technology, Sustainable Development, and Caring for Country - our culturally informed, low-impact data collection enables sustainable land management, infrastructure planning, environmental monitoring, and heritage protection in respectful collaboration with communities.
ProGenis Pharmaceuticals
PGP-011 as an Effective RNA Therapeutic for Treating Insulin Resistance
ProGenis Pharmaceuticals is a Perth-based biotechnology company focused on developing next-generation RNA therapeutics for acquired and genetic diseases and co-founded by Professor Rakesh N. Veedu (Murdoch University) and Professor Marvin Caruthers (University of Colorado; co-founder of Amgen and Applied Biosystems). Leveraging proprietary ‘thiomorpholino’ RNA drug platform, ProGenis efficiently addresses key limitations of existing RNA therapies including safety and efficacy.
PGP-011 is ProGenis’s lead breakthrough RNA treatment for Insulin Resistance in type 2 diabetes. Together with experienced research, clinical and advisory Team, and collaborators, ProGenis is advancing the development of innovative RNA drug molecules into life-saving therapies for people globally.
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