When Toowoomba manufacturer Marco Plastics faced a familiar problem in early 2025—truck routes optimisation across Queensland's inland routes—they turned to an unexpected solution: a local AI company operating from a converted warehouse on Margaret Street.
LoopAI, founded in 2023 by former logistics consultants, has quietly become one of the region's most promising tech exports. The company now serves 47 regional manufacturers and agricultural businesses across Queensland and northern New South Wales, with a client list spanning operations worth more than $280 million annually.
"What makes LoopAI different," explains the firm's business development manager in a recent briefing, "is understanding Toowoomba's specific challenges. We're not a Sydney or Melbourne firm imposing generic solutions."
The innovation centres on predictive inventory management and dynamic route optimisation using machine learning. Rather than relying on static supply chain models, LoopAI's platform learns from real-time data—fuel costs, traffic patterns, seasonal demand swings—to suggest operational changes that typically reduce transportation expenses by 25 to 30 percent.
For businesses already operating on thin margins, that translates to millions in annual savings. A mid-sized concrete supplier using the platform reported reducing fleet idle time by 18 hours weekly within six months of implementation.
The company is headquartered in Toowoomba's Newtown precinct, employing 24 staff, with plans to expand to 40 by year's end. They've already attracted interest from distribution hubs as far as Melbourne and Brisbane, yet remain deliberately regional-focused.
"Toowoomba punches above its weight in manufacturing," the briefing notes. "We're betting on that continuing. The city's position as a logistics gateway—two hours from Brisbane, three from the Gold Coast—makes it ideal for companies managing supply chains across eastern Australia."
The firm secured $1.2 million in seed funding last quarter from regional investors and a Melbourne-based venture capital group, suggesting confidence in the model's scalability.
For Toowoomba's broader tech sector, LoopAI represents a significant signal: artificial intelligence adoption isn't just reshaping white-collar work in capital cities. Regional manufacturers—the backbone of local employment—are quietly integrating these tools, creating new competitive advantages and, crucially, demanding locally-based expertise to implement them.
As global supply chains remain volatile and labour costs climb, that demand will likely only intensify. Toowoomba's next chapter in tech may well be written not in startups building consumer apps, but in unglamorous—yet extraordinarily profitable—industrial automation.
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