Deadline: 20-Apr-22
Applications are now open for the Innovation Booster Grant (IBG), an initiative of the WA Government’s New Industries Fund, which assists WA-based startups and small businesses to commercialise their innovative ideas or projects, and to expand to create jobs.
About the Grant
- The Innovation Booster Grant is designed to provide your startup or small business with the financial boost it needs to access professional skills, services or knowledge, enabling you to advance your innovative idea, project or commercial activity in Western Australia.
- The WA Government recognises that startups and small businesses have great ideas, but that taking these ideas and turning them into new and sustainable business opportunities with real commercial outcomes can be difficult.
- The program is designed to assist innovators to overcome some of the barriers on the path to commercialisation. It aims to catalyse new relationships between innovators, research providers and specialist commercialisation support services, or to move tentative collaborations into a productive relationship.
Objectives: Under the New Industries Fund, the Innovation Booster Grant objectives are to:
- Stimulate the WA startup and small business sectors by supporting innovative projects and initiatives
- Decrease the commercialization gap
- Activate industry-government-research collaborations
- Increase research and development (R&D) investment into WA
- Promote job creation and economic diversification in WA
Purpose
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The purpose of the Innovation Booster Grant is to:
- help develop new or enhanced commercially-ready products or services establish a minimum viable product (MVP), prototype(s), processes or systems that might attract additional investment and/or customers; and/or
- Address a particular technical problem that cannot be solved by the applicant, or for which the solution is not readily available.
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The grant assists in:
- developing or enhancing products or services that are commercially ready, or to reach a commercial ready stage;
- developing prototypes, processes or systems that might attract additional investment and/or customers; and/or
- addressing a technical problem that the business cannot solve themselves, or for which the solution is not readily available.
Funding Information
- The grant allows for funding up to $20,000 to eligible startups and small businesses that are based in WA. Recipients will need to provide a net cash co-contribution at a rate of at least 20:80 applicant-to-state government funding.
Eligible Expenditure Categories
Funding applications must fall under one of the Innovation Booster Grant eligible expenditure categories:
- Research and Development
- Product Development
- Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property
- Commercialization Support Services.
Eligibility Criteria
- Businesses across all sectors are eligible subject to them being a Western Australian based startup or Small business.
- Only startups and small businesses with up to 50 employees can apply.
- Only businesses registered, operating and developing their innovation in Western Australia are Eligible (including sole-traders, private sector firms, partnerships and non-profit entities) and an ABN or ACN can apply.
Ineligible Funding
Funding cannot be spent on general business/operational/business planning activities that are usual requirements of a business. These activities include:
- training courses;
- salaries of existing staff;
- hardware and software purchases (for standard business purposes);
- business and strategic planning;
- design and production of marketing or promotional materials or events (unless it can be demonstrated that this expenditure is focused on the commercialization pathway);
- standard website development;
- Maintenance and upkeep of facilities; andany other general business / operational / business planning activities that are usual requirements of a business.
For more information, visit https://www.wa.gov.au/organisation/department-of-jobs-tourism-science-and-innovation/new-industries-fund-innovation-booster-grant