Client: eleXsys
Project title: Onshoring the EleXsys Clean Energy Management System Australian Manufacturing Operations
Category: Manufacturing
The client
EleXsys is an inventor and manufacturer best known for its game-changing renewable energy solution. The company’s AI-enhanced grid technology offers a cost-effective way for commercial and industrial organisations to feed solar energy back into the grid without the need to invest heavily in infrastructure upgrades.
Offering multiple cross-sector applications and high scalability, the award-winning solution is attracting major partnerships, including with Swedish giant IKEA.
The challenge
During the development of its Energy Management System, eleXsys partnered with a manufacturer in China to undertake prototyping and trial production runs. However, the quality and consistency of the outputs delivered were not sufficient to meet the stringent international standards that eleXsys had identified as pivotal to enabling global adoption of its solution.
A manufacturing output that worked reliably in the field was the core of eleXsys’ strategy, so the company sought a pathway to manufacturing within Australia. Government grants could play a facilitating role in realising this vision.
The company’s first attempt to win a grant was a DIY application to the Modern Manufacturing Fund (MMF) — which later evolved into the Modern Manufacturing Initiative (MMI) — however, this was unsuccessful. EleXsys decided to try again and was eager to find ways to improve its chances of success.
Being reluctant to commit resources to another DIY application, eleXsys contacted a selection of top government grants consultants and chose to engage GrantHelper.
Our solutions
First, we carefully analysed eleXsys’ unsuccessful DIY application to establish a baseline and identify areas for improvement. This groundwork informed the next stage which was to start building out a comprehensive MMI grant application.
Following our standard procedures, we created a custom submission planner that accounted for all grant application requirements and the timeframes permitted for completion. Next, we oversaw the prioritisation and assignment of the resulting list of tasks and activities.
Grants specialist Steve Dowling worked closely with the eleXsys leadership team including its founder and chief engineer to extract the salient subject matter expertise and weave it into the application. This was fortified by the necessary documents and figures to form a supportable case for investment.
Over the course of four weeks, we collated letters of support, a project plan, company financials and a comprehensive budget, while simultaneously crafting and refining the responses so they were as clear and compelling as possible. We also articulated the relevant benefits of the project as well as our client’s capability and capacity to deliver.
With eleXsys being Brisbane-based and GrantHelper being in Melbourne, we used video conferencing via Zoom for meetings, and all tasks were seamlessly handled without the need for in-person contact.
We helped ensure no critical details were overlooked and nothing was misunderstood or misjudged as being too low or high priority, because on a complex grant like this, all the details matter.
Outcomes
With the specialist expertise GrantHelper brought to the table, eleXsys gained a fresh perspective on its project in addition to a lower-risk and repeatable approach to grant strategy.
During the creation of the application, which was far larger and more intricate than eleXsys’ previous grant attempts, it became clear that our support was crucial. Had the team elected to handle this project in-house, the resulting blind spots and oversights would have made success improbable.
Ultimately, our submission was identified as a standout among hundreds of applicants — of which less than 10% were successful — and our client was awarded a $3.5 million grant.
What made this grant project a success?
From the outset, the eleXsys team bought into our processes and had faith in our expertise and ability to help secure a favourable outcome.
Carving out time from their busy weekly schedules for regular meetings, eleXsys management took a proactive role in expediting the collation and review of documents; this gave us time to rigorously test the quality of the submission and conduct a holistic review.
The eleXsys team showed strong accountability throughout the process and worked quickly to gather information, ensure timely follow ups and the provision of updates.
Is your organisation eligible for a Manufacturing grant?
GrantHelper can assist with your organisation’s next grant application, no matter what stage of the funding journey you’re at.
