Adrian Spencer commenced a Freshwater Ecology degree at La Trobe University, Wodonga in 1993 and has gone on to pursue a diversified career across microalgae, geoscience, taxation, finance and nutraceuticals.
In 2015, Adrian founded Sampano Pty Ltd – an organisation dedicated to building the Australian value chain for the local Nutraceutical Industry. Sampano have produced the Australian Roadmap for the local nutraceutical industry, with support from the Victoria Government. Leading on from this work, Adrian became the inaugural recipient of Agrifutures Australian Researcher of the Year for his work on microalgae, with support from CSIRO and industry partners Swisse and Marinova.
Sampano have supported many Australian primary producers to diversify and commercialise waste products, into valuable bioactives for the Nutraceutical industry. Sampano is part of the End Food Waste CRC and the Marine Bioproducts CRC.
Adrian is also the cofounder of GrantGuru, the world’s largest aggregator of grants and funding, working across Australia, New Zealand, USA, Canada and Europe. From this work, Adrian was the recipient of the national iAwards, Award of Merit for innovation and received the national HACCI Award for Innovation. GrantGuru have secured over $1 Billion in funding for innovative companies.