Archived Grant Opportunity View - GO870

Incubator Support is an element of the Entrepreneurs’ Programme. The $23 million initiative supports the Australian Government’s commitment to:

• assist Australian start-ups to develop the capabilities required to achieve commercial success in international markets and realise their economic potential faster than they otherwise would
• develop Australia’s innovation ecosystem including in Australian regions.

The initiative provides grant funding through two components, both of which require a funding contribution from applicants.

The other component is Expert in Residence.

The objective of the New and Existing Incubators component is to: 

• help develop new incubators in regional areas and/or sectors with high potential for success in international trade
• boost the effectiveness of high performing incubators, including funding support to expand their services and/or develop the innovation ecosystem
• encourage incubators to work with more data-driven start-ups that use public data as part of their business.

For a New and Existing Incubators project you can apply for a minimum grant amount of $26,000 and a maximum grant amount of $500,000, over a maximum period of 24 months.

The maximum grant percentage varies depending on your project location as defined in the regional locator tool.

We consider Inner Regional, Outer Regional, Remote and Very Remote locations as regional areas and all other locations as major cities.

• Incubators in major cities may receive a maximum grant of 50 per cent of the eligible project value.
• Incubators with projects located in regional areas may receive up to 65 per cent of the eligible project value.

If you apply for the greater percentage, you will need to demonstrate in your application that your project is located in a regional area, with at least 80 per cent of your eligible project value being attributed to activities in a regional area.

To be eligible for a New and Existing Incubators grant you must:

• be an existing incubator or establishing a new incubator that can foster and facilitate the development of innovative start-ups focused on international trade
• have an Australian Business Number (ABN)
• be one of the following:
• an entity incorporated in Australia
• an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust
• an incorporated not for profit organisation
• a publicly funded research organisation (PFRO) as defined in appendix A of the program guidelines
• a local government agency or body as defined in appendix A of the program guidelines. 

We define an incubator as a business support organisation that fosters innovative start-ups focused on international trade, through the provision of services such as seed funding, colocation, mentoring, professional services and access to networks. It can include accelerators and germinators.

To be eligible, your project must:

• include eligible activities and expenditure
• have an eligible project value of at least $52,000 for New and Existing Incubators projects in major cities
• have an eligible project value of at least $40,000 for New and Existing Incubators projects in regional areas

Eligible activities can include:

• expanding mentor networks to new mentors with national or international expertise
• providing or facilitating access for start-ups to new resources (such as purchase of technical equipment) to promote or facilitate international trade
• providing or facilitating access for start-ups to new knowledge (such as customer acquisition and/ or business development methods) to promote or facilitate international trade
• facilitating start-ups’ access to new international networks (e.g. investors, customers peer firms).

For more information on eligibility requirements you should refer to the program guidelines.

$23,000,000.00

From $26,000.00 to $500,000.00

To apply, go to https://www.business.gov.au/is-nei