A Lake Macquarie startup has been awarded the Dantia Innovation Grant, a pilot initiative designed to drive early-stage innovation and entrepreneurship.
Launched in 2025, the grant provides $30,000 in early-stage funding, alongside access to Dantia’s business networks and support to assist promising concepts to progress toward commercialisation.
The program focused on proposals aligned with Lake Macquarie’s priority and emerging growth areas, including health and wellbeing, medtech, advanced manufacturing, assistive and advanced technologies, and innovation-led industries that contribute to economic diversification and long-term resilience.
The response attracted a strong and competitive field of applications, revealing the depth of local entrepreneurial capability and reinforcing the importance of supporting early-stage innovation with the potential to deliver economic and community benefits.
In December, Dantia announced The Movement Belt as the grant recipient. Founded by Johnty Dürheim, The Movement Belt is an assistive wearable technology designed to improve mobility and reduce the risk of falls.
Often described as “a physio in your pocket”, the device supports walking gait and movement without hands-on physiotherapy. Currently in prototype stage, the battery-powered belt is worn around the waist and can be customised to individual needs using audio cues, tactile cues, or a combination of both.
The innovation has been developed through strong local collaboration, including support from the I2N Innovation Network, technician Matthew Hudson, and now Dantia.
While the successful project sits within the medtech sector, the applications received reflected a broad cross-section of industries. Submissions spanned technology, advanced manufacturing, health, and lifestyle innovation, demonstrating the diversity of ideas, skills and enterprise already operating across Lake Macquarie and reinforcing the region’s growing capacity to support innovation-led economic growth.
Learn more about the Movement Belt here.
