CUREator+ Program

The milestone directed activities will be aimed at positioning the SMEs for partnering, commercialisation or to raise follow on investment capital.

The program is looking to ensure that selected SMEs mature to deliver translational focused outcomes, be appealing to investors and partners, and ready for follow on investment.

• Any Australian small to medium size enterprise (SME) defined as an Australian based for-profit company with less than 200 employees, or life science researcher(s) at an Australian university or research institute is eligible to apply for CUREator+ funding.
• Applicants must acknowledge that the project will need to be incorporated as a for-profit Australian registered business prior to award (Q2 2024) to receive funding.
• The company or research team owns or has an exclusive right to Intellectual Property Rights relevant to the project proposal (exclusive rights to background intellectual property).
• Applicants must provide a letter of support from the Board (established company) or business development manager/tech transfer office for researcher applicants at Australian-based institutes and universities (New Company) where applicable.
• Be willing to provide a duly executed Commitment Deed Poll with the Commonwealth on execution of the CUREator+ grant.
• Be willing to adhere to the grant requirements regarding the Commonwealth’s Commercialisation terms and conditions. Details of the Commonwealth’s Commitment Deed Poll and Commercialisation Terms will be shared with shortlisted applicants at the Full Application stage

The following are not eligible to apply:

• not-for-profit organisations (NFPs)
• university TTO’s/IP holding companies
• companies registered outside Australia
• Australian companies with 200 or more employees

Eligible expenditure includes:

• Direct labour costs of employees directly employed on the core elements of the project
• Eligible salary expenditure includes an employee’s total remuneration package as stated on their Pay As You Go (PAYG) Annual Payment Summary submitted to the ATO.
• The maximum full-time equivalent salary for an employee
• Eligible salary costs such as employer paid superannuation, payroll tax, workers compensation insurance, and leave entitlements
• Equipment costs which must not exceed 5% of the total grant amount
• Any overseas expenditure must first be approved by CUREator+ for it to be considered an eligible expense
• Eligible contract expenditure (cost of any agreed project activities that you contract others to do)

Other eligible expenditure:

• financial auditing of project expenditure
• costs you incur in order to obtain ethics and regulatory approvals during the project period.
• However, associated fees paid to the Commonwealth, state, territory and local governments are not eligible
• insurances which are specifically required to cover the grant activity
• accessing expertise that supports the protection of IP
• other specific uses of funds may also be determined eligible, subject to approval by CUREator+

The following are not eligible expenditure:

• patent (filing) costs
• institutional overheads and administrative costs
• activities, equipment or supplies that are already being supported through other sources or where other Commonwealth, state or territory governments have primary responsibility
• retrospective project costs or reimbursement of activities that commenced prior to the execution of a grant agreement
• costs incurred prior to us notifying you that the cost is eligible
• any in-kind contributions
• maintenance or upgrades on buildings or structures
• financing costs, including interest or debt financing
• costs related to obtaining resources used on the project, including interest on loans, job advertising and recruiting, and contract negotiations
• non-project related staff training and development costs
• costs related to preparing the grant application, preparing any project reports (except costs of independent audit reports we require) and preparing any project variation requests
• conference attendance, and associated travel
• health insurance, travel insurance, foreign currency, airport and related travel taxes, passports and visas
• entertainment and hospitality costs
• personal subscriptions (e.g. personal journal subscriptions), or personal membership of professional organisations and groups, or airline club memberships
• communications costs (mobiles, telephone calls)

See the guidelines for full details of expenditure eligible for BMTI support.

Consideration will be given to:

1. Uniqueness

• the program will select novel, outstanding, maturing projects that address a significant unmet need and are competitively differentiated from existing standards of care and emerging products.

2. Extent to which the product/solution delivers value

• through improved diagnosis, prevention, treatment, mitigation and/or management of chronic and acute conditions for the benefit of the patient.

3. Clinical and commercial differentiation, IP position, market opportunity, maturity and development stage

• with the aim that CUREator+ funding will progress the opportunity to a clear de-risking value inflection point.

4. Innovative science

• what does the science/evidence-based data behind the project enable?

5. Highly differentiated

• how is this approach distinguished from existing solutions?

6. Clear achievable project plan

• a credible plan towards generating clinical and commercial outcomes including partnerships, commercial licensing, revenue, as appropriate.

7. Strong team

• diverse team with ability to deliver on the project

You should read and understand the guidelines.

You need to ensure you are eligible for the funding. Applicants that do not meet all the eligibility criteria outlined above will not be considered.

Your proposal should:

• demonstrate innovative science
• be highly differentiated
• demonstrate Biomedtech and/or digital health applications
• have a clear achievable plan
• demonstrate a lead asset(s)/product/technology, which has demonstrated Proof of Concept/Proof of Principle
• focus on conducting critical path activities towards achieving preclinical, clinical and/or commercial evidence to significantly improve the project’s ability to commercialise, raise growth capital and/or execute on a market entry or growth strategy
• be conducted in Australia where possible (overseas expenses for project delivery needs to be justified and approved)
• demonstrate that sufficient resources have been allocated to complete the project plan including operational, financial runway, and time commitments from key personnel and appropriate headcount

Note: Projects that demonstrate the capacity to provide matching capital (and in-kind support) will be highly regarded.

Provide the following documents with your application:

• a confidential online EOI
• EOIs should articulate the following:
  1. opportunity (research, its significance to human health/disease)
  2. the problem/target market
  3. the competitive advantage
  4. technology
  5. stage of development
  6. intellectual property position and/or opportunity
  7. business case
  8. proposed plan
  9. proposed budget

The full application will expand on the information provided in the EOI to provide a full outline of the project. Details and template documents will be provided via the application platform upon the opening of the full application period.

See the guidelines for full details of information requirements.

Applications are submitted online using the cureatorplus grant platform.

Register your interest here with GrantHelper to explore your alignment with this grant and how we can assist you to increase your chances of success.