NSW MVP Ventures Program Round 2

Note MVP Ventures Program Round 2 is now officially closed

The NSW MVP Ventures Program Round 2 provides matched funding of between $25,000 and $50,000 to support businesses to drive the commercialisation of highly innovative and new products in NSW and attract and retain commercialisation activities in NSW.

Eligible applications will be considered based on a noncompetitive process and will be assessed in the order in which they are received.  Note maximum funding for Round 2 is $3 million which implies the maximum of 120 applicants will receive $25,000 funding per year (expect actual number to be lower).

Eligibility for the MVP Ventures Program Round 2

To be eligible, your business must:

• Be a non-tax exempt company with an ABN (insolvent companies, individuals, trusts, partnerships and unincorporated bodies can’t apply)
• Be headquartered in NSW
• be an entity with less than or equal to 20 FTE.
• have an aggregated turnover of less than A$1 million for each of the three financial years prior to the lodgement of your application.
• hold intellectual property (IP) or rights to commercialise.

Eligible projects  

To be eligible, your project must:

• be related to the pre-market development and commercialisation pathway of your product
• be progressing your product, process, or service along the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) scale between 3 and 9 (see below for what this means)
• undertake funded activities in NSW
• be aligned with one of the priority industries listed below
• be able to complete your project within 12 months of funding
• demonstrate why sufficient funding for the entire project cannot be accessed from alternative sources and that the project would not proceed in NSW without government support
• demonstrate matched funding of 50% has been secured for the project
• include only Eligible Expenditure.

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 or process
• demonstrating a product or process 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 or process where updates and changes are minor.

The Priority Industries

Under the NSW Industry Development Framework, the priority industries are:

• Agriculture and agrifood
• Resources
• Defence and aerospace
• Clean energy and waste
• Medical and life sciences
• Digital systems and software
• International education
• Visitor economy
• Advanced manufacturing
• Biotechnologies
• Digital technologies

Eligible expenditure

To be eligible, expenditure must be non-recurring and directly related to the development and commercialisation of your product or process, including:

• Wages (limited to $50,000)
• consultant fees
• direct prototyping materials
• equipment
• other direct costs including patent filing costs for new IP (limited to $15,000) and travel costs (limited to $4,000).

Note the limits above refer to the total project expenditure and not the grant you may receive.   In other words the maximum grant for wages would be $25,000.  Also payments to associated entities normally not allowed.

Assessment process

Your application under the MVP Ventures Program is reviewed against eligibility and assessment criteria which include innovation, commercialisation and deliverability.

Innovation – You must clearly demonstrate that your product is new, unique or significantly different to any other previous product in the market or industry where the product is intended to be sold/traded, or involves significant enhancements or developments of current products that will enable the business to scale and transform

Commercialisation -demonstrate that your product:

• responds to a well-defined problem or opportunity.
• evidence of commercial viability, including:
• the size of the potential market
• the value created by the product
• the product’s competitive advantage.

Deliverability – detail how you intend to deliver your product or process by outlining:

• the project outcomes, key activities, milestones, project costs and risks.
• the expected progress of your product from the current TRL (project commencement) to the proposed TRL at the project completion date.
• a project team with the capacity and appropriate management, commercial, professional, and technical expertise to deliver the project.

Assessment process

The application process now has 2 steps.

Initially you lodge an expression of interest (EOI).  If your EOI application is successful, you will then be invited to submit a detailed application.

Eligible applications will be considered based on a noncompetitive process and will be assessed in the order in which they are received.

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 for the same (or similar) project, as long as you include new or more information to detail how you addressed the feedback.

Learn More

To learn more and apply click here

Note applications for an EOI under MVP Ventures program Round 2 open 1 July 2024 and close the earlier of funding exhausted or 5pm AEDT, Friday 28 February 2025

Technology Readiness Levels Index (TRL)

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