Blue sky mine

Name: David Noon

Business: GroundProbe

Industry:Mining and civil infrastructure

IP smart since: February 2001

The three-year plans of most start-up companies drown in a sea of red tape, cash flow woes and market competition.

Not so for GroundProbe, a Queensland company that supplies radar-based early warning systems to global mining and civil infrastructure industries. Since the start of formal operations four years ago, it has grown into a business with more than 108 staff and offices in four continents.

Chief operating officer, David Noon, admits it has been a quick rise for GroundProbe, which had its origins as a spin-off from University of Queensland research projects. “We had a three-year business plan drawn … and when we look back at that, our revenue has actually exceeded our geographical spread and our number of employees,” Noon says. “That’s remarkable because typically, three-year business plans are a bit optimistic.”

The key to GroundProbe’s success is its invention – Slope Stability Radar – which allows mines to detect significant wall failures in advance of likely collapses. In short, it saves lives – and mining companies in Australia, Asia, Africa and the US have been quick to embrace the technology. The company’s Ground Penetrating Radar services are also being used around the world.

Securing patent protection
Given the importance of safety in mines, Noon and the company’s chief executive officer, Lyle Bruce, have been conscious from day one of protecting intellectual property rights.

Noon recalls that in the business’ formative days at the university, there was “a bit of a requirement” to promote research activities in myriad publications, “and to not destroy the commercial value we were creating, we made a conscious decision to patent before we would publish”.

“So we started our patents [application process] in 2001, three years before we were really commercial. Now, those patents are providing us with protection.”
While patents offer surety, Noon says they should be used as part of an overall business strategy.

“We’re not reliant on patents. Out strategy has been to get into the market quickly, to exceed our customers’ expectations and to continue to develop the market. Patents have been one part of our strategy.”

The expense of patents and the scope of GroundProbe’s international operations has also forced Noon and Bruce to be selective about the markets in which the company applies for patents. “We focus on the major countries – right now we are operating in eight countries and are about to enter a ninth,” Noon says. “We don’t have patents in all those countries, but in the major markets and areas where we and others may be looking to enter, we apply for patents in those jurisdictions.”

Industry recognition

Noon advises organisations to seek early and robust patent advice.

“Our goal isn’t to go to court and recover costs or loss of profits,” he says. “Our goal is to protect the investment we’ve made in this field and give us the opportunity to commercialise it and provide it to industry.”

As the GroundProbe story spreads, the awards have also been stacking up. In 2005, the business won an Emerging Exporter Award at the Australian Export Awards, and the same year ranked second in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 in the Asia-Pacific region. Noon and Bruce were named 2006 Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year in the category of technology, communications, e-commerce and life sciences, and they won a prestigious Innovation Hero award this year from the Warren Centre for Advanced Engineering.

Along the way, GroundProbe has received significant external backing. Early funding came from sources such as the Cooperative Research Centre for Sensor Signal and Information Processing and the Australian Coal Association Research Program. It also received financial support from the Queensland and federal governments, including development and exporting assistance from Austrade and AusIndustry.

Future expansion

Noon acknowledges that GroundProbe has been in the right market at the right time; the launch of operations in 2003 coincided with the start of an international mining boom that shows no signs of slowing.

“We’re a little bit careful to think that the cycle may not stay high at these record levels all the time. We want to make sure we can sustain our profitability and growth and diversify into other market opportunities, other geographical markets and with other products and services.”

To that end, GroundProbe is exploring the possibility of bringing in venture capital partners who can provide the financial resources for further expansion. Markets such as Latin America and China shape as realistic targets.

As an entrepreneur doing business in the big-ticket mining sector, Noon admits that to outsiders it may look as though he is in a high-risk game. The key, he says, is to be calculating.

“It’s funny when I hear people say that entrepreneurs take risks. The last thing that an entrepreneur wants to promote to the investors is that there is risk. There is risk, but it’s managing that risk where the entrepreneur is the master.”

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