Overview
The Boosting Female Founders Initiative is grant to help female founders of start-up* businesses to launch and scale their businesses into domestic and global markets. The assistance will be on a co-contribution basis. This program will also be responsible for providing professional mentoring and suggestions to meritorious applicants.
What do you get?
The Australian Government had declared total funding of $52.2 million under this program. For Round 2, a funding of $11.6 million is available.
Availability for grants – Round 2
Such grants will be available on a co-contribution basis. The amount of grant will be up to 50% of the total eligible project expenditure, and
- The Minimum grant is $25,000
- The Maximum grant is $400,000
Unless:
- The business that you possess is indigenous-owned
- Your head office is in the regional area
- At the minimum, one of your founding team member is a person with a certain disability
- At the minimum, one of your founding team members has been migrated to Australia being a refugee
If any of the above applies, the amount of grant will be till 70 percent of the total eligible project expenditure, and:
- Then, the maximum grant amount will be$480,000
Timeframe for the grant:
This program will run for five years, from 2020-21 to 2024-25. The applications for Round 2 funding will close on April 22nd, 2021, at 5:00 PM AEST.
Who is this for?
This grant is for female-founded start-ups that is majority-owned and led by women, who intend to scale their business into the platforms of global and domestic markets.
To be eligible:
- You must be a female-founded start-up defined as :
- A female-founded start-up is at least 51 percent women -owned (equity or shares) andthe CEO (or equivalent) is female or, atleast 51 per cent of the founding team orsenior managers (i.e., C-suite executive-level managers, such as Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Managing Director, ChiefTechnology Officer, Chief OperatingOfficer, and Chief Finance Officer) are women.
- Start-up is an early stage, innovative or disruptive business that is scalable and working on a new or novel product, service or has a different business model.
- You must have an Australian Business Number (ABN) and must be one of the following entities:
- A partnership
- A sole trader
- An entity incorporated in Australia
Additional criteria for eligibility
- There must be a provision of a signed declaration on the provided template mentioning that your start-up is founded by a female
- Give assurance certification that the start-up will remain owned by women for the duration of the grant
Conditions for Ineligibility
You are not eligible if:
- Your organization is not included in above mentioned eligible entities
- You are an incorporated association
- You are a Commonwealth, State, or local government body
Eligible activities
- Eligible activities can include, but are not limited to:
- developing software and apps
- launching and scaling products
- product development and marketing
- purchase of equipment to enable growth
- expansion to other markets
- access to independent management (for example C-suite, advisory board)
- access to relevant professional development
Other activities can also be considered.
Eligible Expenditures
To be eligible, expenditure must:
- Be incurred by you within the project period
- Be a direct cost of the project
- Be incurred by you to undertake required project audit activities
- Meet the eligible expenditure guidelines.
For more guidance on eligibility of expenditures. Contact us to discuss in detail or see the grant opportunity guidelines for further information).
Ineligible Expenditures
- Financial costs that include interest
- The research not assisting eligible activities
- The equipment or supplies that are being assisted through other sources
- Costs incurred on rent, utilities, and renovations
- Debt financing
- The costs involved in upgrading or purchasing software and ICT hardware
- Advertising, recruiting, and contract negotiations
- Staff training and development costs related to non-project.
- Cost of insurance
- Costs incurred on obtaining resources used on a project that includes interest on loans and jobs
- Maintenance costs
- Depreciation of plant and equipment
- Opportunity cost related to production losses because of allocating resources to the agreed grant project
- Overseas or travel costs which is more than 10% of the total project costs except where it is approved by the Program delegate
How is the grant is paid?
The grant agreement will state –
- The maximum grant amount will be paid
- The proportion of eligible expenditure covered by the grant
- The financial contribution provided by a body or a third party
The government will not exceed the maximum grant amount in any of the circumstances. You must bear the extra costs if any incurred. The authorities will make the payments as per the agreed schedule set in the grant agreement.
The grant will get paid over the financial years agreed in the grant agreement subjected to enough Program funding available.
Tax Obligations
If you are registered for the Good and Services Tax (GST), Government will add GST to your grant payment and give you a recipient-created tax invoice. You must notify the concerned body if your GST registration status alters during the project period. GST is not applicable to grant payments to government-related entities.
Grants are assessable income for taxation purposes, unless exempted by a taxation law.
Take our assistance
If you are unsure, about your eligibility for this grant, or need assistance in applying for this grant. Reliable Melbourne Accountants are here assist you in every aspect of taking this government incentive.
Feel free to contact our professionals.
(The information provided on this blog is taken from Australian Government’s Business Website, accessible at https://business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/boosting-female-founders)