A company that makes rowing boats in Geelong is one of seven companies set to benefit from $11 million in grants as part of a fund set up in the wake of manufacturing job losses.

The $29.5 million Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund (GRIIF) was set up in 2013, in the wake of new of job losses at Ford, and includes contributions from Ford, Alcoa, and the federal and Victorian governments.

The latest round of funding will create 145 jobs in manufacturing, cosmetics and wholesale meat supply in the Geelong region.

Jeff Lawrence from Sykes Racing said his company would set up an advanced engineering lab in suburban Geelong that will create faster rowing boats.

"We believe we'll be able to create up to 11 new jobs - a lot of engineering staff and obviously some production staff for that to occur - and we believe we're going to have some great opportunities, as well as some upskilling of existing people that will come as a result of that," he said.

The company's director of innovation, Matt Dingle, said there were plenty of ways to improve the design and construction of racing boats.

"They look like long, skinny boats and it doesn't look like there'd be a lot of variation, but there is," he said.

"There's quite a lot of scope, a few per cent here and a few per cent there - that translates to a length in a race, so it's pretty significant."

Other recipients of this round of the GRIIF include 40 new jobs in a meat wholesale supply company in Corio, 30 new jobs making air radiators at Lara, and 20 jobs in food technology at Irrewarra.

The Victorian Government promised an extra $7.5 million for the GRIIF during the 2014 election campaign.

Victoria's Industry Minister Lily D'Ambrosio said that money would be rolled out, and she would have more to say about it before Christmas.