The Palaszczuk Government will inject $10 million over three years into startups and small businesses with innovative ideas to accelerate the development of new products and services with high growth potential.
Minister for Innovation, Science and the Digital Economy and Minister for Small Business Leeanne Enoch today launched the Advance Queensland Ignite Ideas fund to help Queensland businesses bring new products and services to the market and create jobs.
“Many Queensland businesses have great ideas but need a financial boost or expert help to get them to market,” she said.
“The Palaszczuk Government’s Ignite Ideas fund – another Advance Queensland innovation and jobs initiative – is about helping businesses get products to market faster, boosting business growth and creating jobs for Queenslanders.”
Advance Queensland Ignite Ideas funding targets startups and small to medium-sized enterprises with an early prototype boasting enough features to support testing and further development on the path to market readiness.
Ms Enoch said that from today, eligible businesses will be able to apply for funding support up to $250,000.
“We know that many startups and small businesses can struggle with developing early stage ideas because of a lack of funding support and dedicated development focus,” she said.
“We want to ignite innovation in key industries, such as agriculture, spatial technology and app development, where Queensland has a competitive advantage, and help our business visionaries get their prototypes noticed.”
Advance Queensland Expert Panel member and startup entrepreneur Luke Anear underlined the importance of venture capital funding initiatives from government such as Ignite Ideas.
“The government has an important role to play augmenting the funding support to Queensland’s growing innovation ecosystem,” he said.
“I speak from experience when I say innovation funding and support from government can help businesses bridge the gulf between having an early prototype and achieving sales growth and profitability.”
Luke’s business, SafetyCulture, received Australian Government funding and experienced rapid growth from 2012 after launching its flagship iAuditor app for conducting safety inspections.
Following the successful grant applicants SafetyCulture grew from two employees to 67 and now has offices in with offices in Townsville, Sydney, Kansas, San Francisco and other locations. The iAuditor app is used around 40,000 times per day in more than 50 countries.
Information on how to apply for Ignite Ideas funding can be found on the Advance Queensland website
