Boosting Female Founders Initiative – Round 1 grant recipients
This page shows which startups have received a Boosting Female Founders Initiative grant in Round 1, their level of funding and a brief description of the funded project.
Round 1 – 2020
Over 2,200 expressions of interest were received in Round 1. Applications were assessed by an Independent Assessment Committee made up of successful women entrepreneurs. A total of $12 million in grant funding was available for this round.
Successful grant recipients
Round 1 of the Boosting Female Founders Initiative provided 51 female-founded (at least 50% women owned and led) startup businesses with funding to scale into domestic and global markets.
| Applicant | Project Title | Project Description | Grant Amount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Akin Australia Pty Ltd | Scaling Home AI helpers for people living with isolation or disability | The project will focus on Home AI intelligent home managers, which are able to talk naturally across devices and help run the home. This project will assist families and people living with a disability by supporting social connection, activities and exercise to reduce the burden of running a home. | $300,000 |
| Arula Technologies Pty Ltd | Customised external breast prosthesis | Arula Technologies will establish a customised external breast prosthesis project to assist women who have undergone breast removal surgery, by creating 3D printed, customised and comfortable breast prostheses made specifically to fit women’s bodies and any mastectomy bra. | $80,000 |
| Aubot Pty Ltd | Jevaroo robot carer for persons with a disability and seniors | Aubot is developing Jevaroo, a telepresence robotic arm on a movable platform, to help empower people with a disability and save carers' travel time and costs. The project will complete the software for the control interface of the robotic arm, and launch Jevaroo on the global stage. | $50,000 |
| Beam Australia Operations Pty Ltd | Beam Flex - Flexible Job Design and Team Design Platform | The project will focus on the launch, commercialisation and extending the reach of the new ‘Beam Flex’ platform, taking the digital job and team design platform nationwide. | $100,000 |
| Bring Me Home Pty Ltd | Bring Me Home Box | The Bring Me Home Box project will focus on connecting customers with food wholesalers and manufacturers that have surplus food to sell, reducing food waste in the commercial sector, and helping businesses and consumers save money. | $271,785 |
| Catalyser Pty Ltd | Asia Pacific Expansion of Software as a Service for Corporate Social Responsibility | Catalyser’s cloud platform helps boost employee engagement in social impact activities and allows companies to manage all their disparate giving opportunities on the one platform. The project will focus on expanding current operations to three new international markets, resourcing local communities and assisting local charities. | $331,778 |
| Champion Life Education Pty Ltd | Champion Life technology platform upgrade | Champion Life Education is upgrading the Champion Life platform for schools, which helps improve young people’s mental and physical wellbeing and delivers tailored solutions to increase physical activity and health behaviours in a sustainable way. | $95,000 |
| Cleverbean Pty Ltd | Cleverbean 2.0 | Cleverbean will build on the existing Cleverbean literacy platform, providing targeted reading activities aligned to learning objectives, and create education resources aggregated from around the web, into a search engine for educators and parents. | $70,000 |
| Ecokit Pty Ltd | New generation construction system for high performance homes | Ecokit is developing standardised elements for fabrication techniques. This project will utilise Computer Numerically Controlled fabrication to develop a library of interconnecting elements, which in turn can be fabricated through automated manufacturing. | $140,000 |
| Edufolios Pty Ltd | Multi-Standard Product Expansion of Edufolios | Edufolios is building a software as a service (SAAS) education technology coded to accommodate Australian teachers and their standards. This project will add multiple standards and expand their capabilities into new domestic and international markets. | $75,000 |
| Episoft Pty Ltd | EpiSoft Oncology Management - Fuelling Growth by DIY Setup | Episoft’s development of a cloud-based oncology management platform is providing chemotherapy in new settings of care such as home-based infusions. The project will focus on enabling cancer treatment providers located anywhere in the world to trial the platform before purchase. | $357,650 |
| Eugene Labs Pty Ltd | Eugene’s expansion into at-home genetic tests for heart disease | Eugene Labs provides access to at-home clinical grade genetic heart disease screening to help people understand their genetic risk of heart disease and make preventative healthcare choices. The project will focus on expanding services to a wider heart disease market. | $350,000 |
| Fitmind Pty Ltd | Arete App Roll-out – Accelerated Member Acquisition | The project will focus on building an ongoing education and support program to empower coaches to identify and deal with mental health related issues in young athletes. | $100,000 |
| For The Makers Pty Ltd | Bellish Pattern Engine | The project will focus on creating a large database of knitting patterns with a Pattern Engine that will allow anyone to design a unique knitting pattern in minutes and instantly access personalised instructions. | $98,761 |
| Freight Exchange Pty. Ltd. | Launching a multi‑modal, global logistics automation Software as a Service in Hong Kong | The Freight Exchange platform uses autonomous, transparent and intelligent automation for connecting carriers and shippers and managing freight. The project will expand the platform for launch into the Hong Kong market. | $400,000 |
| Gutbiome Aust Pty Ltd | Reaching New Domestic and International Markets – Gutbiome Synbiotic Products | The project will focus on expanding sales of Gutbiome’s probiotic products to Australian consumers and the online probiotics market as well as focusing on new product development, laboratory production and consultant support. | $474,521 |
| Health Management Pty Ltd | Digital Medical Nutrition Therapy for Chronic Disease Management | The project will focus on development of a mobile platform 'Digital Dietician' to enhance the accessibility of medical nutrition therapy, providing access to quality care and promote chronic disease self-management regardless of where Australians live. | $140,000 |
| HiCom Accounting Pty Ltd | VietPay - Plan Manager for Vietnamese | The project will focus on developing a National Disability Insurance Scheme communication tool, 'Vietpay' to assist local disabled, and disadvantaged Vietnamese community members to manage their funds. | $270,000 |
| How Too Pty Ltd | HowToo AI-Enabled Learning Marketplace | How Too has developed an e-learning authoring tool, deployment and publishing platform. The project will evolve the platform into a novel AI-enabled learning marketplace, creating a marketplace that anyone with content can use to build and sell high quality learning. | $298,000 |
| Ida Sports Pty Ltd | Exporting an Australian-designed women's football boot to the US | Ida Sports has launched its Australian-designed, female-specific football boot domestically. The project will focus on consolidating the company’s presence in Australia and exporting the football boot to the United States. | $250,000 |
| Indigital Pty Ltd | Creating cultural pathways to digital futures | The project will focus on scaling Indigital’s Indigenous-designed digital skills training program, to assist school students connect with and learn from Indigenous elders. The program is helping Indigenous and non-Indigenous students establish future career pathways by addressing digital skills shortages. | $458,690 |
| K9 Weight Challenge Pty Ltd | WAGSTA pet health platform commercialisation | The project will focus on building upon a prototype web application to create and develop the WAGSTA API and enable integration of app features with web-based veterinary guided dog diet plans, resulting in the development of a global veterinary technical service. | $69,300 |
| Laila And Me | Freeze-dried pet food manufacturing using 100% Australian ingredients | The project will focus on developing a range of freeze-dried organic Australian premium pet food using 100% human-grade ingredients from local sustainable sources, while opening up wholesaling and distribution to larger overseas markets. | $98,000 |
| Leakster Pty Ltd. | Internet of Things technology trial minimising waste of water in Brisbane | Leakster will establish the Internet of Things technology trial minimising waste of water in Brisbane project, focusing on a new real-time, autonomous water pipeline monitoring technology to enable easier maintenance, saving time, money and water. | $99,400 |
| Looplearn Pty Ltd | Scale up of LoopLearn automated visitor management and attendance solutions | Looplearn is designing technology to help organisations with visitor management and attendance solutions so customers can know who is on their premises. The project will focus on scaling the solutions to more customers and market sectors via establishing distribution channels to service Australia and international markets. | $320,805 |
| Mantikor Tradie Mate Pty Ltd | Innovative manufacturing for the production of tactile statutory signage | Mantikor Tradie Mate is employing the use of an innovative patented print technology, which is faster, more effective, and more affordable with low overheads and labour needs. The project will focus on offering those in the sign and construction industries with a niche service specifically tailored to address concerns associated with the current standard level of sign project delivery. | $90,940 |
| Mentorloop Pty Ltd | Mentorloop Global Expansion 2021–22 | The project will focus on scaling Mentorloop’s mentoring software internationally, specifically focusing on building a UK-based satellite office, and an Australian‑based international expansion team. | $250,000 |
| Milkdrop Pty Ltd | Launch and scale breast pump cushion in the Australian market | Milkdrop is developing a super soft breast pump cushion designed to mimic a baby’s feeding, that fits on existing pumps to reduce pain and discomfort for women when breastfeeding. The project will focus on launching and scaling the product in the Australian market. | $61,208 |
| Moove & Groove | Build a scalable technology infrastructure to launch in new markets | The project will focus on building the next iteration of Moove & Groove's technology platform to provide immersive audio and visual experiences for residents in Aged Care, and developing sales infrastructure and capabilities to expand into the Australian and New Zealand markets. | $360,334 |
| Motherhood Pty Ltd | Huddle: Childminding App - Community Groups and Web App Development | Motherhood is helping families find flexible, compatible, and affordable childcare solutions through a marketplace mobile application. The project will focus on partnering with schools, daycare centres, and special needs groups to pilot this technology. | $50,000 |
| Navbit Pty Ltd | Australian and US market entry for surgical technology, Navbit Sprint | The Navbit Sprint is a user-friendly, disposable navigation technology which intra‑operatively assists orthopaedic surgeons to align components in hip replacement. This project will focus on launching the technology in Australia and the United States in order to lay the foundations to supply for domestic and export markets. | $400,000 |
| Neighbourlytics Pty Ltd | Launch Cities: scaling up a world first wellbeing analytics tool for cities | Neighbourlytics has developed a Software as a Service social analytics product for cities that provides decision makers with on-demand measurement of neighbourhood wellbeing analytics by harnessing digital data from local and international partners. The project will focus on fast-tracking global expansion. | $290,850 |
| Nip Of Courage Pty Ltd | The Emerging Australian Craft Spirits Industry | Nip Of Courage is a female owned and operated spirits distribution company. The project will focus on working exclusively with craft distilleries to increase market share and visibility in both domestic and international markets and launch a national logistics and warehousing solution for Australian distilleries. | $480,000 |
| Noosa Cold Brew Pty Ltd | Upscale production and packaging facilities for canning 'Noosa Nitro' | Noosa Cold Brew produces cold brew coffee which is free of added sugar and dairy, making it keto, paleo and vegan friendly. The project will focus on setting up a canning facility capable of producing 15 cans per minute of ‘Noosa Nitro’, an organic, cold brew coffee blend with an infusion of nitrogen. | $56,000 |
| Nourish Foods Pty Ltd | Whole Kids International Expansion | Nourish Foods produce Whole Kids, a range of certified organic, additive free and allergen friendly snack foods for children. The project will focus on expanding the Whole Kids range into global markets. | $383,858 |
| Ovira Pty Ltd | Innovative, wearable device to relieve period cramps goes global | The project will focus on Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation (TENS) technology, creating a small wearable device that can be used to relieve pain caused from menstruation and common uterus disorders. The project will focus on expanding the device into overseas markets. | $400,000 |
| Parent TV Pty Ltd | Expanding ParentTV globally through translation, innovation, and impact | ParentTV is developing a robust digital platform that equips parents, childcare centres, and schools to guide their children into adulthood. The project will focus on expanding the platform into multilingual, global markets. | $400,000 |
| PeopleBench Pty Ltd | PeopleBench: Accelerating Australian Growth | PeopleBench is a school workforce research and analytics company, helping to build better school workforces through their online benchmarking platform, Community of Practice and advisory services. The project will focus on expanding the Accelerating Australian Growth project across State, Independent, and Catholic schools Australia-wide, while increasing the current customer base. | $350,000 |
| Place Score Pty Ltd | Australian Liveability Census | Place Score is collecting community insights regarding neighbourhood liveability, providing essential, human-centric data to guide decisions for the future planning of our towns and cities. The project will focus on creating a nationally-consistent, online platform for measuring and tracking liveability from a community perspective. | $186,336 |
| Reejig Pty Ltd | Reejig Workforce Optimisation | The project will focus on developing skills infrastructure to strengthen the service offering to regional areas, resulting in a platform that supports an increase in the number of women in the workforce by removing gender bias from the recruiting process. | $94,000 |
| Share With Oscar Pty Ltd | Share with Oscar - National Expansion | Share with Oscar is executing a national expansion of the Share with Oscar program, a real time on-demand platform that unlocks access to vacant car spaces in cities. This project will focus on enabling the technology for market entry, and marketing activities for sustained market growth. | $321,750 |
| She's A Crowd Pty Ltd | She's A Crowd Scale-Up | The project will focus on building on the technological capabilities of using crowdsourced data collection as a means of assisting the prevention of gender-based violence, helping to make cities safer for everyone. The project involves data scraping, machine learning technology and insights‑delivery software. | $100,000 |
| Speaking In Colour Pty Ltd | Speaking in Colour digital Aboriginal education | Speaking in Colour is an Aboriginal education company providing cultural training for educators, business and corporations. The project will focus on developing a new suite of localised digital resources to provide authentic training and cultural immersion. | $227,418 |
| STLP Consulting Pty Ltd | Development of a new Software as a Service solution for information security and compliance | STLP Consulting’s Castlepoint software is a compliance, security and discovery management solution for electronic data. The project will focus on growing the customer base globally, with 100% remote implementation and significantly less reliance on consulting services. | $87,079 |
| Surepact Pty Ltd | 360 degree End-to-End Grant Management Probity | The project will focus on developing a grant management product which integrates with existing contract management and asset capability to apply, manage, and track grant funds and associated deliveries | $458,130 |
| Tekuma Pty Ltd | Tooling and manufacturing for control orb | The project will focus on building new tooling for Tekuma's patented six-degrees of freedom orb controller technology, a force-based joystick, called the Tekuma Orb, which allows users to intuitively control any drone, rover, robot or other device with one hand. | $150,000 |
| Flaunter Pty Ltd | Flaunter - global expansion | The Photo Diner Australia web-based application, Flaunter, enables fashion brands and agencies to send print-quality, high‑resolution images to journalists and bloggers covering events. The project will focus on expanding the app to target customers working in the marketing and public relations sectors. | $200,000 |
| Thefootnotes Pty Ltd | The Network Effect, By The Careers Department | The project will focus on a digital careers platform, The Network Effect, intended to develop customised work experience modules, building domestic and international school scalability, and leveraging the school network as a vehicle to reach the parent audience. | $240,000 |
| uPaged Pty Ltd | Accelerating uPaged for Australia’s largest healthcare organisations | uPaged is a mobile solution which delivers on-demand work to nurses. The project will focus on having a disruptive impact on the delivery of quality on-demand healthcare to the Australian healthcare system, as well as reaching overseas markets. | $398,155 |
| Verve Superannuation Pty Ltd | Scale Verve Academy & launch integrated Wealth Building Platform for women | The project will focus on digitising Verve Superannuation’s financial coaching, wellness toolkits, and other resources, including digitalising behavioural change coaching, and developing a wealth-building platform tailored for women. | $400,000 |
| Woolpack Australia Pty Ltd | Bringing Woolpack Sustainable Insulated Packaging to Tasmanian industry | Planet Protector Packaging, is the creator of woolpack insulated packaging (a sustainable alternative to expanded polystyrene). The project will focus on setting up a manufacturing centre regionally to service food and pharmaceutical markets. | $138,500 |
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