Visual search technology company See-Out Pty Ltd is the first start-up enterprise to receive funding from Australia's only investment fund exclusively for creative entrepreneurs.
QUT's Creative Enterprise Australia's (CEA) Creative Enterprise Fund, along with angel investors, has invested in the business to enable it to recruit development staff to enhance the features of its flagship product, See-Out Pty Ltd, a visual trademark search engine.
CEA CEO Anna Rooke said she was delighted that CEA was part of the syndicate which included Melbourne based Scale Angels, to help See-Out reach its commercial potential.
"The Creative Enterprise Fund was set up by CEA with $1.2 million to address the lack of investment opportunities for all creative businesses whether they be fashion, design, animation, digital media, film and television, music, or gaming and software development," Ms Rooke said.
"This marks the important next step for CEA as it expands its activities from a creative industries incubator into an investor in commercially viable creative enterprises.
"In Australia the creative industries employ more people than the mining sector and contribute $35 billion to our GDP and so this type of investment focused on creative enterprises is long overdue."
Ms Rooke said See-Out was one of five creative businesses showcased in the finals of the 2013 Creative3 RiverPitch to investors.
"Creative3 is another CEA initiative we have developed to meet industry needs. Now in its fifth year, Creative3 is held annually to help creative ventures connect with investors. Five start-up companies are selected to pitch their business to a range of investors at each event."
See-Out CEO Sandra Mau said See-Out's visual search engine was targeting designers, brand managers and IP professionals who were currently conducting more than 18 million trademark searches annually.
"See-Out continues to protect trademarks through out its lifetime via its new image monitoring service," Ms Mau.
"With the large number of logos and other brand images being generated daily, text search is not sufficient to secure a brand.
"This investment will enable See-Out through its CeeQTM product to grow its Australian image search tech innovation into a global standard."
The angel investors who were part of the syndicate were from Scale Angels - a female-focused angel investor network established in July 2013. Scale Angels first met Sandra Mau at the Creative3 RiverPitch event. See-Out Pty Ltd is a spin-out from NICTA and has also received support from Commercialisation Australia.
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Contact:
Anna Rooke, CEO 07 3337 7803 or 0438 991 263 or anna.rooke@creativeenterprise.qut.edu.au
Media: Niki Widdowson, 07 3138 2999 or n.widdowson@qut.edu.au.
