Funding for female founders of startup businesses to scale their startups into domestic and global markets
Boosting Female Founders Initiative Round 2
What do you get?
Grants between $25,000 and $480,000 for female founded startups to expand into domestic and global markets.
Who is this for?
Female founded (majority owned and led by women) startups who wish to scale their business into domestic and global markets.
Overview
The program will provide targeted support on a co-contribution basis to female founders of startup businesses (startups) to scale into domestic and global markets. The program will also provide expert mentoring and advice to meritorious applicants. The Australian Government has announced a total of $52.2 million in grant funding for this program. For Round 2, an estimated $11.6 million in grant funding is available.
The objectives of the program are to:
- stimulate private sector investments into innovative startups led by women
- help women entrepreneurs overcome the disadvantages faced in getting access to finance and support to grow their startups
- enable female founders to scale-up, expand into domestic and global markets, and become self-sufficient
- boost the economy through increasing the diversity of startup founders.
The grants will be available on a co-contribution basis. All eligible applicants can apply for a grant between $25,000 and $400,000. If you meet additional eligibility criteria as detailed in the grant opportunity guidelines, you can apply for a grant of between $25,000 and $480,000.
The grant amount will be up to 50% of eligible project costs - unless you can meet additional requirements (see the grant opportunity guidelines for further information).
You are responsible for the remaining eligible project expenditure plus any ineligible expenditure. Contributions to your project must be cash. You are encouraged to seek contributions from private investors and industry partners.
The grant opportunity will be delivered through a two-stage competitive selection process due to the expected high demand for this program. You will first apply via an Expression of Interest (EOI). If successful, you will be invited to submit a Stage Two grant application.
Eligibility
To be eligible you must be a female founded (majority owned and led by women) startup as defined in the grant opportunity guidelines.
You must also have an Australian Business Number (ABN) and be one of the following entities:
- an entity incorporated in Australia
- a partnership
- a sole trader.
We can only accept applications where you:
- provide a signed declaration, on the template provided, that your startup is female founded (majority owned and led by women)
- certify that your startup will remain majority owned and led by women for the duration of the grant (this will be a requirement of the grant agreement)
- include all mandatory attachments.
Where you are applying for greater than 50% grant percentage (up to 70%), you must provide evidence to support that one or more of the following applies:
- your head office is located in a regional area
- your business is an Indigenous business or at least one of your founding team members is an Indigenous Australian
- at least one of your founding team members (owners and leaders) is a person with a disability
- at least one of your founding team members (owners and leaders) has migrated to Australia as a refugee or humanitarian entrant.
If you are successful in the EOI stage and are invited to apply for Stage Two, you must also provide:
- evidence to support your source of funding (e.g. letter from contributor/s confirming funding amount)
- a pitch deck (PDF or PowerPoint presentation max 10 slides) and/or link to a video pitch from your CEO (no longer than 5 mins) supporting your response to the assessment criteria
- business financial documents including your most current profit and loss, balance sheet and cash flow statements
- a business plan, including revenue model, customer acquisition and company/management structure, scope, implementation methodology, timeframes, budget, risks and how you will measure the success of the project
- a trust deed (where applicable).
You are not eligible to apply if you are:
- an unincorporated association
- a Commonwealth, State, Territory or local government body (including government business enterprises).
Applying
How do you apply?
The Boosting Female Founders Initiative is closed to applications.
An Independent Assessment Committee (the Committee) comprised of independent experts will assess EOI and stage two applications. The Committee may also seek additional advice from independent technical experts.
We review your EOI against eligibility criteria. We provide all eligible applications to the Committee. The Committee will assess your EOI against the EOI assessment criteria outlined in the grant opportunity guidelines and compare it to other eligible EOIs before recommending which projects should be invited to apply for a grant to the Program Delegate. The Program Delegate then makes a decision on which EOIs will proceed to Stage Two.
The Committee will assess grant applications against the Stage Two assessment criteria in the grant opportunity guidelines and compare it to other invited applications.
The amount of detail and supporting evidence you provide in your application should be relative to the project size, complexity and grant amount requested. You should define, quantify and provide evidence to support your answers. The sample application form displays character limits.
The program delegate will make the final decision.
The Boosting Female Founders Initiative program application process is comprised of two stages. The first stage is an expression of interest (EOI) and Stage Two is by invite only, and requires a more detailed application.
Expression of Interest stage
Assessment Criteria
1. How a grant will help you to scale-up, expand into domestic and global markets, and become self-sufficient (40 points)
Tell us:
- how grant funding will assist in removing barriers and help you to grow your startup
- what growth looks like for your business (e.g. in terms of revenue, employees, etc.)
- how ready your product or service is to take to market (expected Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 6 or above).
2. Your capacity, capability and resources to grow (30 points)
Tell us:
- about you and your team
- if you have received any investment from external sources (including how much and the funding source). If not, why not?
- if you receive any non-financial assistance (e.g. mentoring, access to networks, advice or other guidance, etc.) If not, why not?
3. The impact of grant funding (30 points)
Tell us:
- how much grant funding you require and how you propose to fund your contribution
- how the grant will help you to leverage additional partnerships or support from other organisations.
Grant Application Stage Two
If invited to submit an application under Stage Two, you must address the following assessment criteria in your grant application. These require more detail than provided in your EOI and you will be asked to provide evidence to support your answers.
Assessment Criteria
1. How grant funding will help you to overcome disadvantages to scale up, expand into domestic and global markets and become self-sufficient (40 points)
You should demonstrate this by identifying:
- how grant funding will be used to support and grow your startup
- how grant funding will enable your startup to develop, scale-up, and expand into domestic and global markets
- how grant funding will assist in removing challenges and barriers faced by you, as a woman, in growing your startup.
2. Your capacity, capability and resources to deliver the project (30 points)
You should demonstrate this by identifying:
- your and/or your team’s qualifications, experience or track record in startups and managing large or complex projects
- your business plan, including:
- your revenue model
- your addressable market and profile of your ideal customers
- your customer acquisition strategy
- your company’s organisational structure
- the rationale and scope of the project or activity for which you are requesting funding
- project timeframes and budget
- budget
- risks
- expected outcomes
- how you will measure the success of the project
- your plan to finance growth. What is your plan to seek additional or follow on investment, or to build a sustainable self-funding business?
3. The impact of grant funding (30 points)
You should demonstrate this by identifying:
- your need for funding, i.e. the extent that you need this grant to achieve your projected growth (you must have a genuine need for funding)
- how your project leverages additional partnerships or support from other organisations
- the benefits to Australia, your region and/or community from your project.
If your EOI application is successful, you will be invited to participate in Stage Two. If you are unsuccessful, we will notify you in writing and give you the chance to discuss the outcome with us.
If your Stage Two application is successful, you will receive a written offer. If you are unsuccessful, we will notify you in writing and give you the chance to discuss the outcome with us.
Successful applicants must enter into a grant agreement with the Commonwealth. The grant agreement will specify the reporting requirements, payment schedule and milestones necessary to receive payments.
We will make payments according to an agreed schedule set out in the grant agreement. Payments are subject to satisfactory reporting and progress on the project.
Information Session
Boosting Female Founders Initiative Round 2 Information Session
This information session was offered to provide an overview of Round 2 of the Boosting Female Founders Initiative, including eligibility requirements, key points from the assessment criteria and some general tips for presenting a strong application
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Customer stories
Grant recipients
Key documents
Contribution evidence letter (for all cash - co contributions one per contributor)
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