Funding for QLD small to medium enterprises to solve corporate challenges

Overview

This program aims to create commercial opportunities for innovative Queensland businesses by connecting them to corporates and provide a risk-managed process to explore and co-fund solutions to corporate challenges.

The benefits of this program for Queensland businesses include:

• access to Advance QLD funding to trial technologies with corporates
• create connections with corporates and potential commercial contracts
• opportunity to pivot products or services to a new sector
• retain intellectual property
• building credibility by having large corporate customers.

The program uses a staged process, designed to manage risk while providing a straightforward pathway for trialling Queensland-developed solutions:

• Identify – Advance Queensland works with corporates to nominate challenges and define their scope and parameters.
• Release – a challenge statement is released to market.
• Engage – applications are assessed, and shortlisted applicants (SME/scaleup) may be invited to present their proposed solutions with the evaluation panel.
• Select – an applicant (SME/scaleup) with feasible solutions is selected and final parameters and negotiations are finalised before entering the project stage.
• Fund – the successful applicant (SME/scaleup) will receive funding from Advance Queensland and the corporate to develop and pilot their proposed solution.

Check if you can apply

To be eligible, applicants must:

• have an ABN (Australian business number) registered in Queensland
• be registered for GST (goods and services tax)
• be an established Queensland based startup or small to medium enterprise (SME) with a full-time equivalent employee (FTE) count below 200
• have a minimal viable product being developed in Queensland
• not have had previous commercial contracts from the participating corporate.