The Innovations Connections Grants provides small and medium sized businesses with access to up to $50K in grants and expert technology advice to address technology and knowledge gaps.  Grants must be applied to projects that collaborate with the research sector (Publicly Funded Research Organisations (PFRO))  in developing new ideas with commercial potential.

Deadline date:

OPEN

What grants or funding is available?

Support includes up to $50,000 in matched funding to work on collaborative projects with an expert Innovation Facilitator, who works alongside your business to:

• find solutions to your IT needs
• identify new technology, knowledge and expertise
• provide pathways to engage and collaborate with the research sector, including direct access to a researcher through a matched-funding grant.

The grant will reimburse you 50% of the total project costs. You can only claim the grant once you complete the project and pay all project costs.

What are the eligibility criteria?

Your business must:

• be solvent
• have an annual turnover or operating expenditure in the current or one of the two previous financial years:
  • between $1.5 million and $100 million or
  • between $750,000 and $100 million for applicants from remote Australia or Northern Australia.
• be operating in Australia and have filed Business Activity Statements showing ongoing trading in at least three successive years.
• not have received an Innovation Connections Facilitation before.
• not be named by the Workplace Gender Equality Agency as an organisation that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act 2012 (Cth).
• satisfy one of the following:
  • be operating in one or more growth sectors:
    • advanced manufacturing
    • food and agribusiness
    • medical technologies and pharmaceuticals
    • mining equipment, technology and services
    • oil, gas and energy resources, or
  • provide enabling technologies and services to one or more of the growth sectors, or
  • show commitment to, and have the skills, capability, intellectual property or expertise to operate in, one of the growth sectors in the future.

What projects that will be funded?

Projects must be in collaboration with a Publicly Funded Research Organisation (PFRO) in order to receive grant funding. The project should develop a new idea with commercial potential.

Your Innovation Facilitator will suggest which of the three grants available will suit your business needs:

• placing a researcher in the business (up to a maximum of $50,000)
• placing a researcher from the business into a PFRO (up to a maximum of $50,000)
• employing a graduate or post-graduate in the business (up to a maximum of $30,000).

Your business must be:

• a for-profit company incorporated and operating in Australia
• non tax-exempt
• registered for GST
• a company with trading activities that are the majority of its overall activities.

You cannot apply if you are:

• an individual
• a partnership
• a trust (however, an incorporated trustee that meets the trading activity requirements above may apply on behalf of a trust)
• a Commonwealth, State or Local Government agency or body (including government business enterprises)
• listed on the current Workplace Gender Equality Agency list of non-compliant organisations.

More information about the eligibility criteria is available in the  Customer information guide (PDF; 565.88 KB).

What are the merit criteria?

To be eligible, you must meet the following criteria:

• have received an Innovation Facilitation Report
• apply within 12 months of receiving the report
• be able to fund the total project costs, as the grant is paid after completion of the project
• not use in-kind contributions or funds from other government grants or programmes to cover the project costs
• not have received a grant in the last five years.

How do I apply?

You can lodge your application for an Innovations Connections Facilitation  and Innovation Connections Grant and at any time through the AusIndustry website.

Want to get the best possible result?

Working with Treadstone means you get the maximum grant with minimum risk and effort. We provide expert advice and take care of your application.  Our expertise include R&D Tax Incentive registration and tax schedules, Export Grants, Capital expenditure and infrastructure grants.

To ensure you have the best chance of getting grant funding contact us or call 03 9008 5937.