NSW MVP Ventures Program 2025-2026 Round 1

This round of the NSW MVP Ventures Program 2025-2026 Round 1 provides matched funding of between $20,000 and $75,000 to support businesses to commercialise innovative products, while attracting and retaining commercialisation activities in NSW.

What are the Changes

The MVP Ventures Program has undergone some significant changes for the 2025-2026 year as compared to the previous year.  Here are what I consider the good, the bad and the ugly about these changes.

The Ugly – significantly reduced the number of eligible industries

Previously the NSW Government identified 11 priority industries that businesses needed to focus on for eligibility to the MVP Ventures Program.  Now under the NSW Industry Policy, they have significantly reduced this to just 3 “Policy Missions”.  These policy missions are:

• Housing
• Net zero and energy transition
• Local manufacturing.

As part of the application process, you need to clearly demonstrate that your product supports one or more of these NSW Industry Policy Missions.  If your product does not support these, and you tick the “other” box on the application form, then I expect your application will be rated low under the commercialisation focus.

And this is why I call this the ugly part.  There are many great businesses and product ideas that could use the support for the MVP Ventures Program but they are not in any of these 3 policy missions.  Especially around the adoption and implementation of AI.  Areas as diverse as legal, allied health, food and beverage, learning and education.

If this is you, and your product does not fit into one of these 3 policy missions, it seems pointless to apply.  And you might as well stop reading and move on and look at other ways forward.

If you think you may fit into these categories, read on to learn more.

The Bad – Evidence of your co-contribution

To submit an eligible application, you need to provide evidence that you have sufficient funds in your business bank account to meet your share of the project.  Letters of intent from investors, money in your personal bank account are no longer acceptable.

So, on one hand you need to have the money in your bank account and on the other hand demonstrate why the project would not proceed in NSW without government support.  Seem a bit oxymoronic and I expect this will make it hard for many to apply.

The Bad – Application process is more extensive and will take longer

Under the previous program your expression of interest (EOI), only had to address innovation criteria.  If your EOI was accepted then you completed the rest of the application which needed to address the commercialisation and delivery assessment criteria.

Now all assessment criteria will need to be addressed in your one and only application.  So, you will need to spend more time and effort for unsure results

The Bad – reduced eligible business size

To be eligible your business must have:

• revenue less than $400,000 in each of the previous 3 years (down on $1m previously)
• 10 or less Full-time equivalent staff, including any unpaid founders (down on 20 previously)

The Bad – letters of intent now required

To demonstrate genuine market interest and validate that the product addresses a real and identified need, you need at least one letter of intent.  This is a formal, non-binding document from potential customers (business end-users) or distribution partners that expresses a willingness to trial the product, provide feedback, and/or support its market adoption.

The Good – More money for selected applicants

There is more money available for

• women-owned and managed businesses
• Regionally Headquartered and operated businesses (outside of the metropolitan areas of Sydney, Newcastle, and Wollongong)
• For Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander majority owned and managed businesses

The Good – no longer first served first come

Under the previous round, applications were assessed as received.  This meant that more suited applications received later in the process were not even considered.  Wasting your time to even apply.

Now they have 3 rounds, with set opening and closing periods.  All eligible applications will be assessed.  So, there is no longer the need to rush and put your application in on the first day it opens.

But you can’t add any more information after you hit submit, so make sure you have included everything you need to say in your first and only application for that round.

Now let’s look at what the MVP Ventures Program 2025-2026 looks like

Available Funding

Funding for the 2025-2026 year is $3m in total spread across 4 rounds

There are now 2 streams of funding.

Stream 1 is similar to the 2024-25 round which has funding between $20,000 and $50,000 with a minimum co-contribution of 50%.

Stream 2 is targeted at majority Women-owned and managed businesses, regionally headquartered and operated businesses, Aboriginal and/or Torres Islander majority owned and managed businesses.  This stream has funding between $25,000 and $75,000 with a minimum co-contribution of 25%.

If we assume the average funding is $50,000, there is only 60 grants available of the 4 rounds.  If we assume the average funding is $30,000, there is 100 grants available.  So not a lot of opportunities.

Funding Rounds

Unlike last year when there was 1 application period, and first in best dressed, now there are 3 competitive funding rounds this year. They are:

1-28 September 2025

24 November to 21 December 2025

9 March to 5 April 2026

Eligibility for the MVP Ventures Program

To be eligible for Stream 1 of the MVP Ventures Program, your business must:

• Be a non-tax-exempt company with an ABN (insolvent companies, individuals, trusts, partnerships and unincorporated bodies can’t apply)
• be an entity with less than or equal to 10 FTE including founders.
• have an aggregated turnover of less than A$400,000 for each of the three financial years prior to the lodgement of your application.
• hold intellectual property (IP) or rights to commercialise.

Also you must demonstrate why the project would not proceed in NSW without government support.

To be eligible for Stream 1, businesses must provide the ASIC company extract that demonstrates the:

• Registered office and principal place of the business is located within NSW for at least 6 months prior to applying, or since commencement if the business has been operating for less than six months
• The majority of listed office holders must be based in NSW for at least 6 months prior to applying, or since commencement if the business has been operating for less than 6 months

In addition to the above, to be eligible for Stream 2 (higher grant amounts), your business must:

• For women-owned and managed businesses must provide evidence that the CEO (or equivalent) is a woman, and the majority of officeholders are women and have held these roles for at least 6 months prior to applying or since the business commenced operations if it has been operating for less than six months; and women beneficially own the majority of shares
• For Regionally Headquartered and operated businesses must provide evidence that the registered office and principal place of the business is located within Regional NSW for at least six months prior to applying, or since commencement if the business has been operating for less than six months; and the majority of officeholders must be based in Regional NSW for at least six months prior to applying, or since the business commenced operations if it has been operating for less than six months. And must also commit to deliver the project from Regional NSW.Under the Program regional NSW locations are defined as locations outside of the metropolitan areas of Sydney, Newcastle, and Wollongong.
• For Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander majority owned and managed businesses must provide current appropriate registration documents.

Eligible projects

To be eligible, your project must:

• be directly related to the pre-market development and commercialisation pathway of your product
• involve progressing your product along the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale between 3 and 9 (see below for what this means)
• demonstrate why the project would not proceed in NSW without government support
• undertake funded activities in NSW
• be completed within 12 months of funding, minimum project period is 3 months
• include only eligible expenditure (see below).

Eligible projects could include:

• prototyping and piloting studies
• demonstrating the commercial viability of an innovative product or process to a customer or investor
• completing the development of an innovative product
• demonstrating a product in an operational environment.

Eligible projects do not include:

• basic research or technical experiments
• developing a product or process for internal use only (i.e. not for sale)
• commercialising the next version or iteration of an existing product in the market

Eligible expenditure

Funding will only be provided to projects where at least 80% of the expenditure is incurred within NSW and directly supports the pre-market development and commercialisation pathway of a product.

Eligible Expenditure, includes the following:

• wages (no more than 50% of the total grant)
• consultant fees (no more than 50% of the total grant)
• project materials
• patent filing or regulatory compliance (limited to $7,500)
• domestic travel costs (limited to $2,000)

All suppliers must be engaged at arm’s-length and must not be related parties. The costs of materials and labour used directly on your project are considered Eligible Expenditure only if they are purchased from third parties.

Eligible project material costs include the purchase or hire of equipment, tools, and materials necessary for undertaking the project. This encompasses expenses such as laboratory and workshop hire fees, provided they are directly related to the project activities.

These costs must be:

• incurred and paid for during the project period
• specifically identifiable as being purchased or hired for the project’s activities; and
• reasonable in scale to demonstrate the project’s underlying concepts or establish its commercial viability

Single item equipment purchases, computing and smart devices including, but not limited to, computers, laptops, servers, tablets, iPads, mobile phones, smart watches, and fitness trackers are not eligible under the Program.

Co-Contribution Evidence

This year they are being very strict on what is needed to Co-Contribution evidence.  You need a business bank account with the necessary funds in it at the time of the application.  You can’t use personal bank statements, letters of intent from investors, or from a SMSF.

Application Process

The 2025-2026 application process now requires each business to address all the assessment criteria (see below for more on these).  Every applicant will have to provide much more information than they would have had to lodge their expression of interest for the 2024-25 funding round.

Each application will be firstly reviewed for eligibility (see below for the eligibility rules) and then each application will be assessed against the assessment criteria noted below.

The highest ranking of these will then go to an independent review panel for final submission for funding.

Note this whole process will be conducted based on what you submitted in your application.  There will be no request for any further clarification or additional information.  So, make sure your application covers everything.

Unsuccessful applicants will be notified in writing of the outcome of their application along with the reasons why your application.  You can submit a new application in the next round for the same (or similar) project, as long as you include new or more information to detail how you addressed the feedback.

Assessment Criteria

Your application under the MVP Ventures Program is reviewed against the following assessment criteria: innovation, commercialisation and deliverability.

Innovation – You must clearly demonstrate that your product:

• addresses a realistic and well-defined problem backed by industry research
  • is new, innovative or significantly different to what already exists, and
  • provides a solution that meets a market need

To demonstrate genuine market interest and validate that the product addresses a real and identified need, you need at least one letter of intent.  This is a formal, non-binding document from potential customers (business end-users) or distribution partners that expresses a willingness to trial the product, provide feedback, and/or support its market adoption.

Commercialisation – You must clearly demonstrate that your product:

• is commercially viable
• supports NSW Industry Policy Missions (see below comments on these), and
• will deliver economic, environmental and/or social benefits to NSW

Deliverability – You must clearly detail how you intend to deliver your project by outlining:

• the project outcomes, milestones, key activities, and risks
• the project team has the capacity, along with appropriate management, commercial, professional, and technical expertise to deliver the project.

NSW Industry Policy Missions

Under the commercialisation assessment criteria, you must clearly demonstrate that your product supports the NSW Industry Policy Missions which are part of the NSW Industry Policy.

Unlike the previous NSW MVP Ventures program which had 11 priority industries, they have significantly reduced this to just 3 Industry Policy MIssions.  These are – housing, net zero & energy transition, and local manufacturing.  Each of these are noted below.

Under housing they are focused on:

• Building materials – Industries that produce building materials for the housing industry
• Construction technologies – Industries which encompass a range of technologies and innovations that improve construction productivity and sustainability
• Construction and the build environment – Industries involved in the design, construction, renovation, and maintenance of buildings and infrastructure, and civil engineering projects

Under Net Zero and Energy Transition they are focused on:

• Clean energy – Industries which are involved in the production, storage and distribution of clean energy
• Critical minerals – Industries involved in the extraction, processing, manufacturing and distribution of critical minerals
• Green technologies – Industries which encompass a range of technologies and innovations that use digital systems and data to support decarbonisation efforts across the economy

Under Local Manufacturing they are focused on:

• Manufacturing materials – Green metal industries of emerging comparative advantage
• Advanced manufacturing technologies – Industries which encompass technologies that assist in manufacturing processes and improve productivity
• Transport and logistics – The movement, storage, and distribution of goods, people, and services across various networks

If your product does not support these, and you tick the “other” box on the application form, then I expect your application will be rated low under the commercialisation focus, and, it seems pointless to apply

Grant Payment Structure

Milestone 1 – 40% on signing the grant agreement

Milestone 2 – 30% can be claimed a minimum of 6 weeks after the Milestone 1

payment, or as otherwise agreed in writing. And is subject to:

• Satisfactory completion of a progress report, and
• Submission and approval of the Milestone 1 acquittal report and financial evidence

Milestone 3 – 30% can be claimed a minimum of 3 months after executing the Funding Agreement, or as otherwise agreed in writing.  And is subject to:

• Satisfactory completion report, and
• Submission and approval of the Milestone 2 acquittal and financial evidence of expenditure of up to 100% of the total project costs

Learn More

To learn more and apply click here

Note application opening and closing dates for the NSW MVP Ventures 2025-2026 program are:

• 1-28 September 2025
• 24 November to 21 December 2025
• 9 March to 5 April 2026

Technology Readiness Levels Index (TRL)

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

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