Supporting early-stage innovation is a major objective of the 2016 National Innovation and Science Agenda, which assigned CSIRO a central part as an 'Innovation catalyst'.
CSIRO's new role took shape in 2015 in the organisation's Strategy 2020, and recently was reiterated in a new Statement of Expectations the Government released in December last year.
By establishing the Innovation Fund, NISA has enhanced CSIRO's capacity as a facilitator of public research commercialisation. It also broadened the scope of CSIRO's ON accelerator to include projects across the publicly funded research sector.
Set up with $70 million from the Government, the fund is supported with a further $30 million from revenue CSIRO earns with its WLAN program.
The remainder of the fund's target value of $200 million will have to be generated through private sector investment, which will be the challenging job of veteran venture capitalist Bill Bartee as head of the initiative.
Mr Bartee is co-founder and partner of venture capital firm Blackbird Ventures. The firm made headlines in 2012 when it announced a $200 million start-up venture capital fund - until very recently the largest of its kind in Australia - backed by two superannuation funds.
The Innovation Fund complements another key initiative of CSIRO's Strategy 2020 - the ON sci-tech accelerator.
Established in July 2015, the accelerator has already been instrumental in getting early-stage innovations off the ground, such as CSIRO's ultra-low gluten Kebari barley, which is now used in the first commercially brewed barley-based gluten-free beer.
The successful applicants announced in December will take part in a 12 week course in which they will be guided by expert mentors, and will be exposed to the business and entrepreneurial skills required for a successful commercialisation process.
They will then also have the opportunity to secure further funds and partners in a 'pitch event' to industry.