Apply now for Ignite Spark Program (Australia)

In particular, the program aims to support innovation driven enterprises to progress prototypes to advanced staged products and/or services that have been tested, validated, customer endorsed and are ready to be commercialised.

An innovation driven enterprise is a business that emphasises innovative solutions as a key driver of growth, competitive advantage, and value creation. Such enterprises focus on developing and commercialising new products and/or services to achieve their strategic objectives.

The objectives of the program are to:

• strengthen key industries in Queensland
• diversify the Queensland economy
• compete in domestic and global markets
• engage and/or benefit regional Queensland
• create new jobs, now and into the future.

Funding Information

• Funding of $50 000 to $75 000 (excluding GST) is available for projects with a duration of up to twelve 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 applicants headquartered in a Queensland region* a 10 per cent matched funding contribution is required.

Projects

• For the purpose of this program, the project must relate to developing an innovative product and/or service in the following context:
  • 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 and/or service that is scalable to meet industry/market demand
  • demonstrate that the product and/or service is ready to be validated in an industrially or operationally relevant environment
  • demonstrate that the product and/or service is not currently in market.

Eligibility Criteria

• To be eligible for funding, applicant organisations must, at the time of application:
  • be a business headquartered in Queensland
  • 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
  • not have received funding for the proposed project activity from either the state, federal or local government
  • be registered for GST (at time of Full Application submission).
• To be eligible for funding, at the time of application, projects must:
  • have an existing functional prototype for a product and/or service that is scalable to meet industry/market demand
  • demonstrate that the product and/or service is ready to be validated in an industrially or operationally relevant environment
  • demonstrate that the product and/or service is not currently in market.
• Organisations and their related parties are limited to one application per funding round.

For more information, visit Queensland Government.