Deadline: 14 April 2020
The Boosting Female Founders Initiative Round 1 provides female founders of startup businesses with funding to launch and scale their businesses into domestic and global markets. It will help female entrepreneurs overcome the disadvantages they face in getting access to finance and support, to grow their startups. Targeted support will be on a co-contribution basis.
The Boosting Female Founders Initiative (the program) will run over three years from 2020-21 to 2022-23. The program is part of the Women’s Economic Security Package, which helps to support more Australian women into work and supports Australia’s international obligations under the Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). The program will provide targeted support on a co-contribution basis to female founders of startup businesses (startups) to launch and scale their businesses into domestic and global markets.
Objectives
The objectives of the program are to:
- Stimulate private sector investments into innovative startups led by women
- Help female entrepreneurs overcome the disadvantages they face in getting access to finance and support to grow their startups
- Efemale founders to scale-up, expand into domestic and global markets, and become self-sufficient
- Boost the economy through increasing the diversity of startup founders.
Outcomes
The intended outcomes of the program are:
- Increased number of startups founded by women
- New products and services are brought to market by startups founded by women
- Increased financial investment in startups founded by women
- Women improve their earning potential through entrepreneurship
- Increased job creation and economic growth.
Eligible Activities
To be eligible your project must:
- Support and grow your female founded startup
- Support your female founded startup to launch and scale into domestic and global markets
- Have at least $50,000 in eligible project expenditure
Funding and Project Period Information
The Australian Government has announced a total of $18 million. For this round, $6 million is available.
- The grants will be available on a co-contribution basis, in two tiers as follows:
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- Tier one – $25,000 to $100,000 ($140,000 if you meet additional requirements)
- Tier two – $100,001 to $400,000 ($480,000 if you meet additional requirements)
- The maximum project period is up to:
- 12 months (tier one)
- 24 months (tier two).
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible you must:
- be a female founded (majority owned and led by women) startup
- have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
- be registered for the Goods and Services Tax (GST)
- be one of the following entities:
- an entity incorporated in Australia
- an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust
- an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation registered under the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act 2006 (Cth)
- a partnership
- a sole trader.
Who is not eligible?
You are not eligible to apply if you are:
- any organisation not included in eligibility criteria
- income tax exempt
- an unincorporated association
- a trust (however, an incorporated trustee may apply on behalf of a trust)
- a Commonwealth, State, Territory or local government body (including government business enterprises)
For more information, visit https://www.business.gov.au/Grants-and-Programs/Boosting-Female-Founders
