A message from Jens Goennemann

This month marks ten years since I became Managing Director of the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC). It is the longest I have stayed in any role, by two years and counting.

Anything AMGC has achieved over this time has been a team effort. I am proud to share stewardship of AMGC with our Chairman, Paul Cooper, and, in every other respect, with Paul and the entire AMGC team.

Ten years is both a long time and short time in manufacturing. Genuine industrial uplift of any economy demands stability. Any initiative or policy aimed at strengthening a nation’s industrial base must be judged over the long term perhaps decades rather than years. A standout example remains the Fraunhofer Society for the Advancement of Applied Research in the country of my birth, which has allowed Germany to pursue its world-leading work in lockstep with industry since 1949.

In recent years, we have seen a clear uptick in global appreciation of the value created through the ability to manufacture complex physical goods. A nation’s capacity to make things is a critical pillar of sovereignty in defence, space, transport, and increasingly in the energy transition.

That context makes recent news involving two AMGC-backed companies particularly pleasing.

Gilmore Space Technologies began its rocket program in 2015 and conducted its first test launch last year. The company is now well on its way to delivering payloads including its own satellites to orbit using vehicles designed and built in-house. Back in 2020, AMGC supported Gilmour Space through a co-funded project to develop specialised composite storage tanks for rocket propellants. Last month, the company became Australia’s first space unicorn following a $217 million Series E capital raise. Co-founder Adam Gilmour says the company has the resources to make five serious attempts at reaching orbit. I am still reflecting on Adam’s offer to dust off my old parachute and give it a go.

We also recently welcomed news of another AMGC project alumnus, critical minerals processor Alpha HPA Limited, which raised $225 million in equity funding. AMGC was an early supporter of Alpha’s high-potential technology, backing a project to advance its pilot plant for a proprietary solvent extraction process. With new funding, Alpha plans to scale production into a world-leading 10,000 tonnes per annum of high-purity alumina, a key input for modern electronics, including battery energy storage and cooling systems for artificial-intelligence data centres.

There is another connection between these two announcements. Both companies attracted $75 million investments each from the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) as part of their respective equity rounds.

At AMGC, our aim has always been to deploy scarce resources where they can make the greatest difference by backing companies we believe are capable of going all the way. Today’s prospects need guidance, industry and research linkages, and support in getting onto a pathway that leads to scale and substantial capital growth. AMGC’s flex is to find such companies. The evidence is there.

I am tremendously grateful for what the AMGC team has achieved over the past decade. One of our contributions has been providing a conveyor belt toward capital and scale for Australia’s most promising SMEs, helping ensure their work truly counts.

It has been a privilege to spend ten years doing this and to help encourage a different conversation about manufacturing: not as a sector, but as an appreciated capability that helps to make our lucky country smarter.

Thank you to everyone across this community for sticking with it.