Innovation Booster Grant to support Startups and Businesses (Australia)

The Innovation Booster Grant (IBG) is a competitive Western Australian government grant, funded through the $25.8 million New Industries Fund which sits under the Department of Jobs, Tourism, Science and Innovation (JTSI). Prior to 2022, it was known as the ‘Innovation Vouchers Program’.

The WA Government recognises that innovative startups and small businesses have great ideas, but taking these ideas and turning them into new and sustainable business opportunities with real commercial outcomes can be difficult.

The program is designed to assist innovators to overcome some of the barriers on the path to commercialisation. It aims to build new relationships between innovators, research providers and specialist commercialisation support services, or to move tentative collaborations into a productive relationship.

Purpose

• The purpose of the IBG is to assist WA-based founders and teams that are:
  • Developing or enhancing products or services that are commercially ready, or to reach a commercial ready stage;
  • Building a minimum viable product (MVP), one that could then be tested with trial or paying customers;
  • Developing prototypes, processes or systems that might attract additional investment and/or customers;
  • Buying-in specialist consultancy services to assist with IP, marketing or commercialisation support; and/or
  • Addressing a specific technical problem that the business cannot solve themselves, or for which the solution is not readily available.
  • Creating jobs, developing new industries and assisting in the diversification of the WA economy, as per the Diversify WA framework.

Funding Information

• A maximum of $40,000 grant per application is available. Recipients are required to provide a net cash co-contribution of at least 20:80 applicants to WA government funding.
  • For example, a project of $50,000 (total cost excluding GST) would involve the recipient providing at least $10,000 themselves to supplement the (maximum) $40,000 grant.
• Applications can be made online at any time during the year through the publicised links. A panel of evaluators will meet at various times during the financial year, with the latest recipients being announced in due course.
• For eligible, chosen recipients, funds will be made available for up to 12 months after the awarding of the grant, with 75% of the funding available immediately.
• The remaining (25%) funds can be claimed at the end of the project, once all project work has been completed and a final acquittal report has been provided to, and approved by, JTSI.

Funding Categories 

• The items for which you are requesting funding falls into one or more of the following four categories:
  • Research and Development
    • technical development
    • compliance testing
    • proof of concept
    • product testing and validation
    • laboratory verification
    • certification
  • Product Development
    • engineering design work
    • prototype development
    • innovation design
    • building an MVP (minimum viable product)
  • Technology Transfer and Intellectual Property 
    • protection of intellectual property
    • legal advice
    • licensing
  • Commercialisation Support Services 
    • innovation management and consulting
    • commercialisation strategies (including marketing strategies to support market entry)
    • commercialisation feasibility studies

Eligibility Criteria

• Your business is registered in Western Australia and possesses a current Australian Business Number (ABN) and/or Australian Company Number (ACN).
• You are developing an innovative project in Western Australia, with a total budget less than $100,000
• Your business will continue to be based in Western Australia in the next three years.
• You are a WA-based startup or small business that employs between one and 20 people.
  • Includes sole traders, private sector firms, partnerships and non-profit entities.
• Your business is solvent.
• Your business is willing, and has the financial capacity, to contribute at least 20% of the requested project funding costs.
  • If the funding request is the maximum $40,000, then your cash contribution must be $10,000 (or more). If the project is greater than $50,000, then you must commit in the application form to paying the difference over $40,000.
• Your business confirms that the IBG will NOT be spent on ‘business as usual’ operational expenses.
• Your business confirms that the requested eligible expenditure is for services to be provided in the future.
  • Claims cannot be made for work already commenced or completed.
• You have not previously received or likely to receive Western Australian government funding for the same project/initiative.
• You have not previously received an Innovation Booster Grant (previously called Innovation Vouchers Program) for the same project/initiative.
  • Applicants and the innovation are only eligible for one Innovation Booster Grant per project.

For more information, visit Government of Western Australia.