{"id":54010,"date":"2023-10-20T16:26:06","date_gmt":"2023-10-20T16:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/startupsmart.test\/2023\/10\/20\/six-tips-for-applying-for-a-startup-grant-startupsmart\/"},"modified":"2023-10-20T16:26:06","modified_gmt":"2023-10-20T16:26:06","slug":"six-tips-for-applying-for-a-startup-grant-startupsmart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/uncategorized\/six-tips-for-applying-for-a-startup-grant-startupsmart\/","title":{"rendered":"Six tips for applying for a startup grant – StartupSmart"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Startups and innovation are all the rage at the moment in all levels of politics, and that means there\u2019s a lot of money on offer.<\/p>\n

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There\u2019s also likely to be a lot more going with the imminent announcement of the government\u2019s flagship innovation statement in December.<\/p>\n

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But early-stage companies need to know where to look and how to actually apply.<\/p>\n

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Working out what grants a startup is eligible for, and jumping through all the hoops involved in the process is a common pain point for founders and often leads them to forgo the opportunities entirely.<\/p>\n

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The federal government recently handed out another $8.5 million in commercialisation grants<\/a>, with eye-tracking software xLabs and IoT animal control startup Agersens sharing in the spoils.<\/p>\n

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XLabs nabbed more than $350,000 while Agersens picked up a quarter of a million, and we asked the founders about the tricks of the trade for successfully getting a government startup grant.<\/p>\n

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1. It\u2019s like building an MVP<\/b><\/p>\n


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It\u2019s important that you take time to rework the application and build on it from feedback given by a wide range of people, xLabs co-founder Joe Hanna says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cDon\u2019t rush \u2013 the process will take time but getting it right is important,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI found it useful to iterate through my application, refining it constantly until I was really happy with it and the supporting evidence before I submitted it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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2. You need something unique<\/b><\/p>\n


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Hanna says the most crucial part of gaining the attention of the grant judges is that you are offering something entirely unique and innovative to the market.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe product must be novel for the desired market,\u201d Hanna says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf there are other startups like yours in the market then you simply won\u2019t get through the first hurdle.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt is important to note that the product, service or process must be new and not simply an enhancement to an existing product.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe criteria often catches out many startups who are looking to add innovative or novel features to an existing product.\u201d<\/p>\n

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3. You can\u2019t pay someone else to do it<\/b><\/p>\n


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Although there is ample external assistance on offer for applying for these grants, Hanna says an intimate knowledge of the business that only a founder can have is what makes or breaks an application.<\/p>\n

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\u201cStartups should not be looking for external assistance because so much of the application is based on how well you know your market, customers and opportunity,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAny founder should really know that themselves. The success of the application comes down to how well you know your business, which is too important to leave to anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n

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That doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t seek advice though, with many grant processes involving a consultant or advisor, Agersens managing director Ian Reilly says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOne of the key things is you really need to work closely with the case manager and listen to their advice and work with them,\u201d Reilly says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cLeverage your advisor,\u201d Hanna adds.<\/p>\n

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4. You need to have traction<\/b><\/p>\n


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\u201cWhen documenting the value proposition it is important to ensure that you can demonstrate the value ideally through willing trial customers or early adopters,\u201d Hanna says.<\/p>\n

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This means startups might need to wait a bit so they can properly prove that they are offering something new.<\/p>\n

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\u201cOne of the biggest mistakes is timing,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cStartups often apply too early \u2013 before they have completed and tested the innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n

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For Reilly, it\u2019s about securing the right balance of traction when to apply for a grant.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s a struggle between both having a business that\u2019s advanced enough to be in a position to get a grant, with ticking all the boxes of market validation and tech validation, without being too advanced that you don\u2019t need the funding,\u201d Reilly says<\/p>\n

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5. Don\u2019t ask for too much<\/b><\/p>\n


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With huge amounts of capital on offer for startups, Reilly says it\u2019s important to only seek as much as you immediately need to ensure a better chance of success.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAsking for a lot means you have to have a far better case to compete and that makes it so much harder,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe weren\u2019t asking for a lot \u2013 it was the lowest grant given. We would have liked a million dollars but we\u2019ve asked for a smaller amount.\u201d<\/p>\n

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6. Treat the process like an investment round<\/b><\/p>\n


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Applying for a grant is just another competition for a startup. Reilly says to treat it like a competitive investment round.<\/p>\n

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\u201cA competitive grant is just another pitch to another set of investors with their own criteria,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIf you view it that way you\u2019ll be in a much better position.\u201d<\/p>\n

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One of the main difficulties is that there\u2019s no way of knowing who you\u2019re competing with though, and they could be entirely different companies.<\/p>\n

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\u201cEven if you meet all the criteria you still have to compete against someone else and there\u2019s no way to know what that is,\u201d Reilly says.<\/p>\n

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\u201cYou may be competing against a completely different business with a completely different business model in a completely different market.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s best to meet the criteria and cover all the bases in the best possible way.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Most of all, Reilly says it\u2019s important a startup is ready to put the time and effort in to be rewarded in the long run.<\/p>\n

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\u201cIt took a long time, a lot of effort and they do make you jump through a lot of hoops,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

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Do you know more on this story or have a tip of your own? Raising capital or launching a startup? Let us know. Follow StartupSmart on <\/i>Facebook<\/i><\/a>, <\/i>Twitter<\/i><\/a>, and <\/i>LinkedIn<\/i><\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Startups and innovation are all the rage at the moment in all levels of politics, and that means there\u2019s a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":58221,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,8,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54010"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54010"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54010\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58221"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54010"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54010"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.startupsmart.com.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54010"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}