Open Call for Ignite Spark Funding Program (Australia)

The Ignite Spark Program supports Queensland based innovative driven enterprises that seeking to advance the development of new and innovative products or services to become ready for market and contribute to:

• Creating a pipeline of new and innovative products and services for market entry
• Strengthening key industries in Queensland
• Diversifying the Queensland economy
• Engaging and benefiting regional Queensland
• Creating new jobs, now and into the future.

Aims

• The Ignite Spark Program aims to support Queensland based innovation driven enterprises with highgrowth potential to progress innovative products or services from the functional prototype stage through testing, validation, and customer endorsement towards the minimum viable product stage, advanced stage and commercialisation.

Focus Areas

• Applications relating to the following focus areas are welcomed and would be highly regarded:
  • Tourism industry development through:
    • Ecotourism
    • sustainable aviation
    • housing solutions for staff in regional tourism locations.
  • Waste technologies addressing the:
    • breakdown/recycling of material at end-of-life
    • reduction of litter and its harm in the environment
    • reduction of pollution from manufacturing facilities.
  • Protecting the Great Barrier Reef, including:
    • management practices that reduce runoff.
  • Safeguarding private protected areas through increased landholder knowledge of:
    • the condition and value of the biodiversity on properties
    • fire management.

Funding Information

• Funding of $50,000 (minimum) to $75,000 (maximum) (excluding GST) is available for projects with a duration of up to 12 months with a matched funding contribution from the applicant organisation as outlined below:
  • Tier 1
    • For applicants headquartered in South East Queensland, a 20 per cent matched funding contribution is required.
  • Tier 2
    • For Indigenous businesses and/or regional businesses, a 10 per cent matched funding contribution is required.

Eligible Costs

• The Ignite Spark Program funding and the applicant organisation contribution may be used for the following eligible project costs:
  • salary expenditure (including salary-related on-costs) for employees (including founders, existing and new employees) directly contributing to the delivery of the project (capped at 20 per cent of the total project cost)
  • minor market driven modifications (including modifications driven by results of validation testing)
  • industry compliance testing (including product accreditation from universities/technical institutes)
  • product validation including design for manufacturing assembly and design for manufacturing at scale
  • small scale production of prototype for showcasing and demonstration purposes
  • third party technical services supporting testing and validation including engaging third party experts to support design review for manufacturability, building product cost models and risk assessment activities
  • third party services providing advice, strategy and planning relating to intellectual property protection or intellectual property protection costs
  • equipment not exceeding $9,000 per item (capped at 10 per cent of the total project cost)
  • consumables required specifically for project activities
  • travel necessary to undertake project activity – economy airfares and reasonable accommodation costs only will be considered (capped at 10 per cent of the total project cost)
  • overseas testing and validation costs if there is no adequately equipped laboratory or facility existing in Australia to undertake the testing
  • reasonable freight or transport costs required to support testing or validation.

Eligible Projects

• For the purpose of this program, the project must relate to developing an innovative product or service in one, or more, of the following contexts:
  • innovative solutions to existing problems
  • new to world innovation
  • innovation diffusion (a unique application of a technology that is significantly different to any previous innovation in the market)
  • innovation in the Indigenous context (identified by the applicant as innovative to cultural and community practices).
• To be eligible for funding, at the time of application, projects must:
  • have an existing functional prototype for a product or service that is scalable to meet industry/market demand
  • demonstrate that the product or service is ready to be validated in an industrially or operationally relevant environment
  • demonstrate that the product or service is not currently in market.

Target Audiences

• The Ignite Spark Program is targeted at small to medium sized innovation driven enterprises that are seeking to progress highly innovative products or services.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible for funding, the applicant organisations must, at the time of application and for the duration of the project:
  • be a business headquartered in Queensland
  • have an ABN
  • be registered for GST (at time of Full Application submission)
  • have no more than 50 full-time equivalent employees
  • not be a subsidiary of a group of companies that has more than 50 full-time equivalent employees in total
  • not have received funding for the proposed project activity from either the state, federal or local government
• If applying for Tier 1, the applicant organisation must:
  • commit a cash contribution to the project that is at least equal to 20 per cent of the value of funding sought.
• If applying for Tier 2, the applicant organisation must:
  • commit a cash contribution to the project that is at least equal to 10 per cent of the value of funding sought.
• Matched funding can be sourced internally from the applicant organisation or from investors but cannot include any other Queensland Government grant funding. In-kind and non-cash contributions are not eligible as matched funding contributions.
• Organisations and their related entities are limited to one application per funding round.

For more information, visit Advance Queensland.