As Round 4 of the Export Market Development Grant (EMDG) closes today, I thought I would share my views on where the program did not work this round, and some ideas to improve it for next time.

Firstly, some history

The EMDG has undergone some charges.  Originally it was a program that a business applied in arrears after it had spent the money.  Once all applications assessed the available budget was allocated across all applicants in what I considered was a reasonably fair basis considering how much you spent.  A business spending $300,000 would get more back than a business spending $60,000.

The main criticism here was that no one knew how much they would get back so it was very hard to plan.

To be fair the government listened and the EMDG application process was then changed to a process where you applied in advance for a particular tier.  Each tier had a maximum annual grant.  Once all applicants were accessed, the available funds were then allocated by tier, which pretty much each applicant getting the same amount.  In this case a business spending $300,000 got the same as a business spending $60,000.  And if they were in Tier 1 this was $15,000.

The criticism of this was that it was not worth the effort.  I personally know of one business that spend over $300,000 marketing in the UK to launch their product.  They sat down and worked out that the advantages of running their UK and European business through a UK subsidiary far outweighed their EMDG moneys.  End result income was removed from Australia which may someday come back as a dividend.

Now let’s look at Round 4 changes

To be fair they realized that amounts like $15,000 for Tier 1 and $24,600 for Tier 2 did not really work.

So, they decided in round 4 to try and increase the amounts that would be paid out.  They did this by working on a first come first served basis.  Allowing those successful applicants to get paid more.  In theory not a problem as many grant programs work like this.

But here is where they made a fatal flow in the process in my view.

Tier 1 was for new exporters.  But, if you had just 1 export sale to anywhere in the world in the past 18 months you were not eligible for Tier 1.

Tier 3 was for current exporters expanding to selected new markets.  But if you had 1 export sale in the past 18 months to the selected new market you were not eligible for Tier 3 for that market.

For example, I know of one business with over $1.4m in exports from the US (their main market), but had managed to snag 1 invoice of $11k from Singapore and 1 of $32k to the UK.  This made them ineligible for Tier 3 in respect of the UK or Singapore, the next markets they were planning to expand to.  They had to apply under Tier 2, but they were too late.

This meant, anything else was left to Tier 2.

Guess what – most businesses (like the example above) fell into Tier 2.  And the demand for this tier was so high that applications for Tier 2 were closed within 3.5 hours of opening on 12 November 2024.  That’s right $62m in grants gone in 3.5 hours.

But in respect of the other Tiers, these are only closing today and it looks like some of these will be undersubscribed (i.e. not all the budget for that tier has been applied for).

And they are now talking about putting some of the moneys from the undersubscribed tiers back to Tier 2 applicants (but not to new Tier 2 applicants who missed out)

Recommendations

Firstly, the definitions of Tier 1 and Tier 3 need to allow for the examples of where a business has had some, but limited success in their export markets.  One export sale should not disqualify you from a Tier.

Secondly, Austrade should take a leaf out of the Qld Governments Business Basics Grants Program.  This had the same issue of closing within hours of opening and many businesses missing out simply because for whatever reason they could not apply that quickly.  So now they have a ballot process.  All accessed applications within a time frame of a week or 2, enter into a ballot to pick the successful applicant.

Let’s see if they make any changes for the next round of the Export Market Development Grant .

Contact Wayne on wayne@arealcfo.com.au or 0412 227 052.

Click on the below buttons to access free Resources developed by Wayne Wanders, A Real CFO to help your business scale and grow profitably

Want a confidential discussion on your business situation, help with your grant application or to learn more about my Outsourced CFO Services, simply email me at wayne@aRealCFO.com.au or call me on 0412 227 052

I was interested to see in the latest Startup Muster 2024 Report that 37% of the startups stated that they were aligned with the “Enabling Capabilities” priority area of the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF).

This is nearly double the next priority area.  And this scares me.

Why, because I believe the term “enabling technologies” has been misunderstood by many. 

From what I can see, many simply focus on the words like artificial intelligence (AI) technologies; advanced information or communication technologies; quantum technologies; autonomous systems; robotics technologies etc. 

They think that as they are building an AI solution for example, they therefore fall into the “enabling technologies” priority area of the NRF and its sister fund, the Industry Growth Program (IGF). 

This was me for a while, till I dug deeper into the eligibility requirements and personally spoke to people in AusIndustry about “enabling technologies”.

What I clarified was that the NRF and IGF are both focused on “manufacturing technologies and products that support the advancement of Australia’s industrial capability”. In simple terms advanced manufacturing.

What that means for example, that if your AI solution is focused on a service industry rather than manufacturing, then it your AI solution probably does not meet the eligibility rules of the NRF or the IGF.

An example of this is the most recent investment by the NRF in Quantum Brilliance.  This $13m investment was done under the “enabling capabilities” priority area.  But the money will be used to help build a quantum diamond facility.

My Recommendation

My recommendation for all those startups that think they may be covered under the “Enabling Capabilities” priority area of the NRF (and IGF) is this.  Why not right now apply under the IGF to get access to a free advisor.  If your application gets accepted then there is a chance you will be eligible for funding under the IGF and NRF.

If it does not get accepted, in the absence of pivoting, you need to plan your way forward without any access to funds under the IGF or NRF as they now stand.

Contact Wayne on wayne@arealcfo.com.au or 0412 227 052.

Click on the below buttons to access free Resources developed by Wayne Wanders, A Real CFO to help your business scale and grow profitably

Want a confidential discussion on your business situation, help with your grant application or to learn more about my Outsourced CFO Services, simply email me at wayne@aRealCFO.com.au or call me on 0412 227 052

The Tech Ready Women Investment Ready Program is a program to equip women with the skills, network and confidence to raise capital.

What the Tech Ready Women Female Founder Startup Program covers

This 5-month program is focuses on:

• learning practical knowledge and tools to prepare for and navigate the capital-raising process
• warm introductions to investors
• guidance from mentors that invest or successfully raised capital;
• due diligence support
• improving your confidence

The learning modules cover:

• Startup and Capital Funding Strategy
• Setting Up to Raise Capital
• Market and Unique Value Proposition
• Business Model and Financial Forecasting
• Startup and Team Performance
• The Capital Raise

After that, the program provides Q&A, Monthly Group Check-In, and Monthly 1:1 Advisory.

Eligibility

This program is for female founders with innovative businesses that have:

• A scalable solution that solves a problem for one or multiple customer groups;
• Some traction as noted by first users and/or customers; and
• A company structure, or in the process of undertaking company registration.

Cost of the Program

There are 40 part scholarships available which reduce the cost from of $6,295 inc GST to $795.30 inc GST

20 of these are in Qld and the other 20 for the rest of Australia

Learn More

Applications are now open for the National Cohort and they close on 10 January 2025.

In respect of the QLD cohort, you can register your interest whilst waiting for applications to open

There is a webinar and Q&A about the Tech Ready Women Investment Ready Program on 12 December 2024

Click here to learn more

Contact Wayne on wayne@arealcfo.com.au or 0412 227 052.

Click on the below buttons to access free Resources developed by Wayne Wanders, A Real CFO to help your business scale and grow profitably

Want a confidential discussion on your business situation, help with your grant application or to learn more about my Outsourced CFO Services, simply email me at wayne@aRealCFO.com.au or call me on 0412 227 052

The ACT Disability Inclusion Grants provides up to $20,000 in financial support to organisations and small businesses for increased opportunities for people with disability to participate in mainstream community or social groups.

For example, in the prior round one company was able to get $4,257 in funding to run workshops for eligible Canberra based community organisations to enhance knowledge and the skills required to welcome people with disability and developing a Disability Action Inclusion Plans.

Small Business Eligibility

Small businesses can apply if they operate in the ACT and have fewer than 20 persons (including non-employing business)

Project eligibility

Eligible projects must: 

• Provide an activity, project, or initiative that will be located in the ACT
• Identify how the program will benefit ACT residents with disability
• Have not received funding from another source to deliver the same or similar project

Note the priority areas for the 2025 program are

• Reduce or remove physical, attitudinal, and/or communication barriers to access and inclusion
• Enable greater participation in community life for people with disability
• Include people with disability in the planning and implementation
• Result in meaningful improvements with a broad reach benefiting many people with disability in the ACT community

Learn More

To learn more about the ACT Disability Inclusion Grants click here

Note applications for the 2025 round close 18 February 2025

Contact Wayne on wayne@arealcfo.com.au or 0412 227 052.

Click on the below buttons to access free Resources developed by Wayne Wanders, A Real CFO to help your business scale and grow profitably

Want a confidential discussion on your business situation, help with your grant application or to learn more about my Outsourced CFO Services, simply email me at wayne@aRealCFO.com.au or call me on 0412 227 052

Are you a QLD based business with ideas and groundbreaking technology across sport, major events, broadcasting or entertainment?  Then maybe you can help the National Rugby League (NRL) solve some of their pressing challenges and get funding of $25,000 as part of the NRL Magic Round Innovation Partnership.

Your idea or technology needs to focus on NRL’s priority innovation areas of:

• Strengthen the appeal and engagement for new audiences
• Better engage Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) fans
• Enhance the in-stadium experience
• Better enable volunteers and administrators to improve the participation experience
• Boost the accessibility and appeal of stats to drive user engagement
• Elevate the quality of the fan experience for those watching at home
• Advance performance excellence and promote long-term career health for NRL/NRLW athletes.

What the NRL Magic Round Innovation Partnership can deliver to your business

• Funding of $25,000 (ex GST)
• Gain exposure and experience piloting your technology with the NRL
• Opportunity to showcase technology at the 2025 NRL Magic Round Tech Showcase
• Professional guidance from Australian Sports Technology Network (and a one-year membership to their services).

Eligibility

Your business needs to:

• Be an established Queensland-based business (ABN registered in QLD)) with a full-time equivalent (FTE) employee count below 200
• must have a product — being developed in Queensland — which is at, or beyond, the minimum viable product (MVP) stage

Note businesses within and outside of sport technology are encouraged to apply to pivot and tailor solutions to sport and major events.

Learn More

To learn more about the NRL Magic Round Innovation Partnership click here.

Note applications close 9 January 2025

Contact Wayne on wayne@arealcfo.com.au or 0412 227 052.

Click on the below buttons to access free Resources developed by Wayne Wanders, A Real CFO to help your business scale and grow profitably

Want a confidential discussion on your business situation, help with your grant application or to learn more about my Outsourced CFO Services, simply email me at wayne@aRealCFO.com.au or call me on 0412 227 052

2 years after it was first announced, the National Reconstruction Fund makes its first investment.

This was  $40 million investment Russell Mineral Equipment’s (RME) domestic manufacturing capabilities in developing precision technology for the mining and resources industry.

Let’s hope the next investment does not take 2 years.

Click here if you want to learn more about the National Reconstruction Fund

Contact Wayne on wayne@arealcfo.com.au or 0412 227 052.

Click on the below buttons to access free Resources developed by Wayne Wanders, A Real CFO to help your business scale and grow profitably

Want a confidential discussion on your business situation, help with your grant application or to learn more about my Outsourced CFO Services, simply email me at wayne@aRealCFO.com.au or call me on 0412 227 052

How would you like your business to be featured in a national advertising campaign alongside the Matildas for free.  Well the Commonwealth Bank are offering the opportunity for 50 businesses in their CommBank Matildas on Loan Competition.

Each winner will get a Commonwealth Bank branded, directed and produced advertisement with at least three CommBank Matildas team members, for their business promoted across Australia sometime between January to March 2025. Plus, the business will get the associated marketing collateral to share on their own platforms for up to 12 months.

Entry is open to Australian businesses who:

• hold an active Commonwealth Bank of Australia Business Transaction Account
• have an ABN and operate their business in Australia
• in the case of sole traders, are an Australian resident aged 18 years or older

To enter all you need to do, is in 50 words or less describe, “why you would like the CommBank Matildas to help promote your business”

Click here to learn more and enter the CommBank Matildas on Loan Competition

Note entries close 1 December 2024

Contact Wayne on wayne@arealcfo.com.au or 0412 227 052.

Click on the below buttons to access free Resources developed by Wayne Wanders, A Real CFO to help your business scale and grow profitably

Want a confidential discussion on your business situation, help with your grant application or to learn more about my Outsourced CFO Services, simply email me at wayne@aRealCFO.com.au or call me on 0412 227 052

The Export Market Development Grant Round 4 (EMDG Round 4) provides funding for exporters with revenue below $20 million.  The EMDG Round 4 covers the 2025-26 and 2026-27 years (i.e. you are applying for 2 years of funding).

EMDG Round 4 Program itself

The EMDG Round 4 Program is an eligibility based program, which means if you are eligible, and apply before the round closes, and you incur appropriate expenses, you will receive a grant agreement to cover money you expect to spend in future periods.

Note each application is assessed in the order it is received and the grant round for that particular tier will close when funding has been fully allocated.

The table below shows how the EMDG Round 4 works for each tier.

The program is a matched funding program.  For example, if you are a Tier 1 exporter and applied under the EMDG Round 4 for the maximum $30,000 in grant funding, you will need to spend at least $60,000 in eligible expenses each year in order to receive the $30,000 in grant funding.

If you only spend $50,000, you will only receive $25,000 in grant funding.

And if you spend less than $40,000, you will not receive any grant funding at all, and will be asked to repay any grant funds advanced to you.

At the end of each year, you prepare a declaration showing how much you spent on eligible expenditure in that year which will be used to determine the final payment of your grant funds.

Business Eligibility for the EMDG Round 4

The key eligibility requirements is that the business:

• has an ABN (and this includes sole traders, partnerships and trusts),
• has revenue or turnover of more than the minimum required for each Tier as noted in the table above but less than $20 million, for the year ended 30 June 2024
• have (and show) the capacity to spend at least $20,000 per financial year of your own money on your proposed marketing and promotional activities (exclusive of the grant amount)
• have been conducting the business under the same ABN for at least two years
• have a high-quality plan to market for marketing or promoting eligible products in a foreign country
• is exporting eligible products of substantially Australian origin to overseas countries other than New Zealand.
• For Tier 1 you must not have previously exported eligible products and be ready to export
• For Tier 2 you must have established export revenue, commensurate with the size of your business and the value of your product or service; are expanding your marketing and promotional activities (i.e. you must be doing more than you have before as the grant is for new expanding activity); are undertaking marketing and promotional activities targeting existing markets that you are currently exporting to
• For Tier 3 grant, you must have established export revenue, commensurate with the size of your business and the value of your product or service; are expanding your marketing and promotional activities (i.e. you must be doing more than you have before as the grant is for new expanding activity); are undertaking a strategic shift. A strategic shift is a change in your business strategy including operational and/or supply chain readiness that supports changing your marketing or promotional activities to target a new export market. at the time you apply for a grant and at all times while you are a grantee, will be targeting one or more of the key markets (see below) and that the proposed marketing and promotional activities will be specifically for that market(s) only.
• Are up to date with tax lodgements

Note you can receive up to 8 years of grants so you can apply again.

What are Eligible Products under the EMDG Round 4

To be an eligible product, your product(s) must be of substantially Australian origin and can be goods, services, events, intellectual property, know-how and software.

Services include tourism services within Australia provided to foreign persons.  Non tourism services can include services provided in Australia as long as certain conditions are met and the services are not specifically excluded.

Events can include online events if held by an Australian person.

For software the work to develop the software needs to be substantially done in Australia.

Remember, getting a foreign person or business to spend money in Australia may qualify as an eligible product.

There are some specifically excluded services such as migration, unlawful services.

You must have a designated connection to the eligible product for your promotional activity expenses to be eligible.  For most businesses, the designated connection to a product will be that you own the product.   Other types of designated connection relationships may be appropriate depending on what the product is.

What Eligible Expenses can you get funding for

Eligible Expenses are those expenses incurred in respect of a promotional activities undertaken during the period of your grant agreement for the purpose of marketing eligible products in foreign countries and you have a designated connection to the eligible product (other than NZ), or training activities to develop skills in such marketing (Tier 1 only).

Eligible promotional activities include:

• Maintaining representative in foreign country.
• Short trips to foreign countries (maximum claim of 21 days per trip).
• Payments to consultants to research into the market in the foreign country for the eligible product; or undertake promotional activities to market the eligible product in the foreign country.
• Short trips in Australia in order to undertake activities that relate to marketing the eligible product to potential foreign buyers of the eligible product (maximum claim of 21 days per trip).
• Soliciting for business in a foreign country such as expenses to attend trade shows and events
• Seeking the granting, registration or extension of intellectual property rights of your eligible product in a foreign country. Such as payments to patent and trademark attorneys and to relevant government trademark and patent offices.
• Foreign Buyer Visits.
• Promotional and advertising material.

Excluded Expenses includes:

• Capital expenses
• Expenses to solicit sponsorship for an event
• Staff remuneration in respect of someone ordinarily employed in Australia by the business.
• Any sort of remuneration or remuneration-like expenses are not eligible expenses if they are made by reference to sales or other commercial transactions in relation to the eligible product such as salaries, retainers, fees, discounts, or credits.
• Grant writing expenses.

What are the Key Markets for Tier 3 Applicants

For Tier 3 applicants, your marketing and promotional activities must shift beyond your existing markets (economies), to additionally target one or more of the key markets (economies) listed below:

Bangladesh, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Canada, China, Fiji, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Laos, Malaysia, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor-Leste, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Vietnam

The EMDG Round 4 Process

The process for receiving a grant will be as follows:

• You apply for a grant before you spend money on promotional activities. Note this grant is not a competitive grant.  You don’t need to “beat” other applicants, you just need to meet all the eligibility rules and spend the money for eligible purposes and apply before funding is allocated.
• Each application is assessed in the order it is received and the grant round for that particular tier will close when funding has been fully allocated.
• Austrade offers a grant agreement to each eligible applicant.
• You enter into a grant agreement with Austrade. You then undertake your promotional activities as agreed in the grant agreement.
• You request milestone payments in accordance with your grant agreement. This will involve you providing proof that the money was spend on eligible expenses.
• Your grant agreement will set out when your milestone payments should be made and what you need to do in order to receive these payments.

How to Apply for the EMDG Round 4

Click here to go to learn more about the EMDG Round 4 Program

Click here to apply.

Want Some help

If you are a NSW based business, I may be able to help you apply for the EMDG round 4 for free under the NSW Govt’s Business Connect Program

Contact Wayne on wayne@arealcfo.com.au or 0412 227 052.

Click on the below buttons to access free Resources developed by Wayne Wanders, A Real CFO to help your business scale and grow profitably

Want a confidential discussion on your business situation, help with your grant application or to learn more about my Outsourced CFO Services, simply email me at wayne@aRealCFO.com.au or call me on 0412 227 052

Do you think you can improve early identification and warning systems for natural hazards such as floods and bushfires, then the NSW Natural Hazards Detection System Phase 1 Grant program may be for you.

Phase 1: is the Proof of Concept stage with the aim of testing the solution in a small-scale pilot to demonstrate its potential and feasibility to solve one of the challenges the NSW Govt is facing in improving early identification and warning systems for natural hazards such as floods and bushfires.

In Phase 1, successful applicants will be awarded up to $50,000 per challenge in unmatched funding (max funding pool $500,000) to develop their proof of concept solution in 6 months.

Successful Phase 1 applicants may be invited to apply for Phase 2 Pilot to deploy the solution (up to $350,000 in funding) and may end up having the NSW Govt as a customer.

What are the Challenges

The challenges are

• Water over Roads and Assets – cost-effective way to detect and monitor when water covers roads, water crossings and public spaces
• Flash Flooding Water Levels – provide timely alerts when water levels rise in smaller waterways and catchments prone to flash flooding
• Water Level from Imagery how can we leverage existing camera imagery to reliably measure water levels at key locations or when other sensors fail
• Rainfall/Soil Moisture Data – cost effectively provide high-quality, localised rainfall and soil moisture data in near real-time?
• Fire Ignition Detection – detect new fire ignitions across remote landscapes within 10 minutes of starting
• Fire Assessment and Monitoring – identify fires of concern based on their proximity to assets, infrastructure and people
• Local Fire Weather Monitoring – need for low-cost, portable weather stations that can measure temperature, relative humidity, wind speed & direction and precipitation
• Bushfire Fuel and Soil Moisture Monitoring – cost-effective methods to collect localised bushfire fuel and soil moisture information, minimising the necessity for personnel to enter the field.

Who is eligible to apply?

An eligible applicant must:

• Have ABN and if not currently incorporated as a company, agree to form a company to enter into a grant agreement
• Hold the intellectual property (IP) rights or possess the rights to commercialise the technology
• Demonstrate that the technology can be trialled in NSW during the testing periods

Learn More

Click here to learn more and apply

Note applications close 12 December 2024

Contact Wayne on wayne@arealcfo.com.au or 0412 227 052.

Click on the below buttons to access free Resources developed by Wayne Wanders, A Real CFO to help your business scale and grow profitably

Want a confidential discussion on your business situation, help with your grant application or to learn more about my Outsourced CFO Services, simply email me at wayne@aRealCFO.com.au or call me on 0412 227 052

If you think you can develop a solution to validate the authenticity of the information disseminated by the Australian Government, then the BRII – Cyber Security Strategy Challenge Grant may be for you. 

 The intended outcomes of the grant opportunity are to:

• Identify opportunities to improve cyber security in a generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) environment
• Identify opportunities to reduce the dissemination of misinformation
• Improve public sentiment in the authority of government advice and messaging
• Authenticate the legitimacy of the source of government information
• Identify when information is AI generated.

The grant runs as part of the Business Research and Innovation Initiative (BRII).  BRII aims to provide SMEs with grant funding to develop innovative solutions for government policy and service delivery challenges.

Funding Available

In stage 1 there are grants of between $50,000 and $100,000 for a feasibility study (maximum 3 months) for your proposed solution that validates the authenticity of the information disseminated by the Australian Government.  Note you don’t need to provide matched funding.

The purpose of a Feasibility study is to test the technical and commercial viability of your proposed solution.

If your feasibility study is successful, you may receive up to $1 million to develop your proof of concept.

Who is eligible to apply?

An eligible applicant must:

• have a combined annual turnover of less than $20 million for each of the 3 financial years prior to the lodgement of the application
• Have ABN and if not currently incorporated as a company, agree to form a company to enter into a grant agreement.

You can’t apply if you are:

• a Commonwealth, state or local government agency or body (including government business enterprises)
• an organisation, or your project partner is an organisation, included on the National Redress Scheme’s
• an employer of 100 or more employees that has not complied with the Workplace Gender Equality Act (2012).

Learn More

Click here to learn more and apply for the BRII – Cyber Security Strategy Challenge Grant

Note applications close 18 December 2024

Contact Wayne on wayne@arealcfo.com.au or 0412 227 052.

Click on the below buttons to access free Resources developed by Wayne Wanders, A Real CFO to help your business scale and grow profitably

Want a confidential discussion on your business situation, help with your grant application or to learn more about my Outsourced CFO Services, simply email me at wayne@aRealCFO.com.au or call me on 0412 227 052