Funding for incubators to gain expertise to help start-ups

Incubator Support – Expert in Residence supports incubators to increase their capabilities and improve the chance of commercial success for start-ups in international markets by organising and providing access to top quality research, managerial and technical talent through incoming and outgoing secondments of national or international experts.

The experts you nominate must have the skills and expertise to:

• work directly with your program’s start-ups to improve their chance of international commercial success
• increase the capabilities of your incubator

We also assist successful applicants to access public data through the DataStart program and will promote start-ups through case studies on the data.gov.au portal.

The initiative is one of 4 elements that form the Entrepreneurs’ Programme.

What are the eligibility criteria?

To be eligible for an Expert in Residence grant, you must be either:

• be an existing incubator or establishing a new incubator that can foster and facilitate the development of innovative start-ups focused on international trade

You must have an Australian business number (ABN) and be one of the following:

• an entity incorporated in Australia
• an incorporated trustee on behalf of a trust
• an incorporated not for profit organisation
• a publicly funded research organisation (PFRO)
• a local government agency or body

Your project must:

• include eligible activities and expenditure
• have an eligible project value of at least $10,000

Read the Grant opportunity guidelines for more information on the eligibility criteria.

You can only apply for one grant at a time. If you have an existing EIR project it must be completed, including submitting a satisfactory final report, before you can apply for another grant.

How do you apply?

You should read the grant opportunity guidelines before you apply. The guidelines provide detailed information on the grant opportunity, including granting activity objectives, eligibility and assessment criteria, the assessment processes, reporting and acquittal requirements, and review mechanisms.

To apply, you must submit your application through the online portal. You will need to set up an account when you first log in to the portal. The portal allows you to apply for and manage a grant or service in a secure online environment.

We’re proud of the funding we’ve provided to support Australian businesses. Learn about some of our previous customers and how the Entrepreneurs' Programme has helped them.

The Incubator Support Initiative is part of the Entrepreneurs’ Programme. It aims to help businesses to:

• improve their growth capabilities and networks
• engage with researchers
• foster innovation
• encourage commercialisation of novel products, processes or services