Incubator Support

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Incubator Support – Provides new and existing incubators with funding to help start-ups develop the capabilities to succeed in international markets.

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Application detail:

You can submit an application for Incubator Support at any time.

What do you get?

From $13,000 to $250,000 of funding for up to 2 years. Funding covers eligible project value of up to 65% in regional areas or up to 50% in major cities.

Who is this for?

Australian incubators supporting start-ups, including those with first-generation migrant and refugee founders, to help them achieve commercial success in international markets.

Overview

Incubator Support – New and Existing Incubators gives incubators the help they need to assist start-ups, through:

delivering high quality services to start-ups to improve their chances of commercial success in international markets
partnering with first-generation migrant and refugee support organisations to assist migrant and refugee founders to establish their business both nationally and internationally
assisting start-ups with a regional focus to expand and scale their business

We also assist successful applicants to access public data through the DataStart program and will promote start-ups through case studies on the data.gov.au portal.

Incubator Support Initiative is one of 4 elements that form the Entrepreneurs’ Programme.

Funding is also available under the other Incubator Support component.

Incubator Support – Expert in Residence

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Eligibility

What are the eligibility criteria?

To get a New and Existing Incubators grant, you must be either:

operating an existing incubator
establishing a new incubator

Your incubator must foster and facilitate the development of innovative start-ups focused on international trade.

You must have an Australian business number (ABN) and 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)
a local government agency or body

You must provide:

an Approval letter from your board or chief executive officer
an Accountant’s declaration for grants over $50,000 to show you can fund your share of the project costs

Your project must:

include eligible activities and expenditure
have an eligible project value of at least $26,000 for projects in major cities
have an eligible project value of at least $20,000 for projects in regional areas

Read the Grant opportunity guidelines for more information on the eligibility criteria.

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Not eligible

Are you in a regional area?

We consider your project to be regional if you can attribute at least 80% of your eligible project value to activities in a regional area.

You can use the mapping tool to work out the regional location of your project. For this initiative, we consider Inner Regional, Outer Regional, Remote and Very Remote locations as regional areas.

What is an eligible activity?

Examples of eligible activities include:

expanding mentor networks to those with national or international expertise
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
helping start-ups to access new international trade resources, such as purchase of technical equipment
helping start-ups to access new international trade knowledge, such as customer acquisition or business development methods
helping start-ups to access new international networks, such as investors or customers peer firms

This is not an exhaustive list of eligible activities.

The program delegate decides if an activity is eligible.

What do we define as an incubator?

An incubator is an organisation that supports innovative start-up businesses focused on international trade. It provides services such as:

seed funding
co-location
mentoring
professional services
access to networks

Applying

The New and Existing Incubators grant is highly competitive.

We encourage you to read the grant opportunity guidelines, sample EOI, sample application form and sample grant agreement before you apply.

How do you apply?

To apply, you must submit your EOI and application through the online portal.

You will need to set up an account when you first log into the portal. The portal allows you to apply for and manage a grant or service in a secure online environment.

After you submit your EOI and it is considered eligible you will be sent a notification email on how to apply. A RIF will be assigned to give feedback and assist you in drafting your application.

Apply now for Incubator Support – New and Existing Incubators

Complete the online application form if you:

read the grant opportunity guidelines
meet the eligibility criteria

Apply now

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How do we assess your application?

We assess your application against the eligibility criteria and then against the assessment criteria. Only eligible applications will proceed to the assessment stage.

If your application is eligible, we’ll refer it to an Innovation and Science Australia committee. The committee will assess your application against the merit criteria and compare it to other eligible applications before recommending which projects to fund.

What are the assessment criteria?

We will assess your application against the following assessment criteria:

Assessment criterion 1: Management and business capability (50 points).
Assessment criterion 2: Benefit to your incubator, start-ups and the broader innovation ecosystem (40 points).
Assessment criterion 3: Impact of the grant funding on your project (10 points).
Assessment criterion 4: How your project will support first-generation migrant and refugee founders to expand internationally (additional 10 points).

What happens next?

You will receive a written offer if your application is successful.

From there, you will enter into a grant agreement with us. The grant agreement will specify the reporting requirements, payment schedule and milestones necessary to receive payments. A sample grant agreement is available to view.

If your application is unsuccessful, we will notify you in writing. You will be able to discuss the outcome with us.

Need help?

Contact us for help with your application or to find out more.
Contact Us
13 28 46
Monday – Friday, 8am – 8pm across Australia

Grant recipients

View list of applicants that have been offered funding under Incubator Support – New and Existing Incubators

Grant recipients

Customer stories

We’re proud of the funding we’ve provided to support Australian businesses. Learn about some of our previous customers and how the Entrepreneurs' Programme has helped them.

Slingshot – building successful regional accelerator programs

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TILT Industrial Design – building a better business

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Entrepreneurs’ Programme

The Incubator Support Initiative is part of the Entrepreneurs’ Programme. It aims to help businesses to:

improve their growth capabilities and networks
engage with researchers
foster innovation
encourage commercialisation of novel products, processes or services

Transform your business with access to expert advice that money can’t buy, and financial support through access to grants.

Entrepreneurs' Programme

Key documents

Funding for incubators to assist start-ups to succeed in international markets

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