Innovation happens by design.
The Innovation Mission is the executive advisory practice of Will Schmitt — working at the intersection of government, industry, and capital to build the strategies, ecosystems, and investment environments that drive real innovation results.
The environments that make innovation possible — the policies, funding structures, investment frameworks, and partnerships — have to be deliberately designed. Will brings twenty years of experience doing exactly that, helping governments make smarter bets on innovation investment, helping institutions design ecosystems that attract and deploy capital effectively, and helping organisations understand how to position themselves at the frontier of where public and private resources meet. The Innovation Mission exists to apply that experience where it matters most.
Will’s Areas of Practice
Governance and Executive Advisory
Supporting boards, investment committees, and senior leadership teams on what well-designed innovation looks like, how to evaluate it, and how to govern the deployment of public and private capital over time.
Innovation Strategy and Investment
Helping governments, companies and universities design the investment frameworks, funding architectures, and policy settings that direct capital toward innovation that matters — from fund design national blueprints and mission-oriented investment programs to precinct strategy and open innovation.
Ecosystem design and development
Building the connective tissue that makes innovation ecosystems work — the intermediaries, capital pathways, international linkages, and public-private partnerships that turn proximity into collaboration and collaboration into investable outcomes.
Client List
Advance Queensland
CSIRO
Monash University
AgriFutures Australia
Charles Sturt University
NSW Department of Primary Industries & Regional Development (DPIRD)
Meat & Livestock Australia
FREO2 Foundation
Australian National University
Resonance Global
Rocket Seeder
Palladium
Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade
Hort Innovation