Grants up to $500,000 to help innovative early-stage South Australian businesses commercialise scalable products and services, accelerate market entry, attract investment and create local jobs.
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What is the Seed-Start Grant (SSG)?
The Seed-Start Grant Program provides funding to innovative, early-stage South Australian businesses with high-growth potential to commercialise products or services that are unique or offer a sustainable competitive advantage in national and international markets.
Funded through Stream 2 of the South Australian Government’s Research and Innovation Fund (RIF), Seed-Start co-funds clearly defined projects that are on the critical path to business success and have the potential to deliver a significant turning point in business growth.
Projects should contribute to outcomes such as increased revenue, export income, local employment, private investment and broader economic or public benefits for South Australia.
A high-growth potential business is defined as a business with a scalable business model that addresses a significant customer problem and market opportunity through products or services demonstrating a sustainable competitive advantage for a global market.
Seed-Start Grant level of support
The Seed-Start Grant Program offers two funding options: Seed Grants and Start Grants.
Funding amount
Seed Grant
- Minimum grant: $50,000 excluding GST.
- Maximum grant: $100,000 excluding GST.
- Funding period: Up to two years.
- Royalty payments: No.
Start Grant
- Minimum grant: More than $100,000 excluding GST.
- Maximum grant: $500,000 excluding GST.
- Funding period: Up to three years.
- Royalty payments: Yes.
Co-contribution requirements
A cash co-contribution is required.
Seed Grant
- Funding is provided on a 2:1 matched funding basis.
- The South Australian Government contributes $2 for every $1 contributed by the applicant.
Start Grant
- Funding is provided on a 1:1 matched funding basis.
- The South Australian Government contributes $1 for every $1 contributed by the applicant.
The applicant’s matched funding must be a cash contribution towards eligible project costs. In-kind or non-cash contributions cannot be counted towards the matched funding requirement.
Applicants may need to contribute more than the minimum matching requirement where the total project cost exceeds the combined grant and minimum applicant contribution.
For example, an applicant requesting a $500,000 Start Grant for a $1.1 million project would need to contribute $600,000 rather than $500,000.
At the Expression of Interest (EOI) stage, applicants should provide evidence that the required matched funding is available or highly likely to be available when the project commences. Access to the matched funding must be clearly demonstrated at Full Application stage.
Evidence may include:
- A signed letter or statement from a financial institution.
- An executed financier or investor agreement, which may be conditional on receiving the Seed-Start grant.
- An executed shareholder agreement.
Commonwealth or South Australian Government grants cannot be used as matched funding.
Matched funding that provides evidence of market validation, such as private investment or cash at bank generated from previous revenue, will be assessed more favourably.
Seed-Start Grant important dates
- Expressions of Interest are open on an ongoing basis unless otherwise stated.
- Applicants must first submit an online EOI.
- The Department advises that EOI applications will generally be reviewed within 10 business days.
- Successful EOI applicants are invited to submit a Full Application.
- A completed Draft Full Application is due within 30 days of invitation.
- A completed Final Full Application is due within 60 days of invitation.
- Independent Assessment Panels convene approximately every eight weeks.
- Failure to submit the Draft or Final Full Application by the required deadline may cause the invitation to lapse, requiring the applicant to restart with a new EOI.
Seed-Start Grant objectives
The Seed-Start Grant Program aims to support innovative early-stage South Australian businesses with high-growth potential to commercialise products or services with a sustainable competitive advantage in national and international markets.
The program aims to benefit South Australia by:
- Encouraging the establishment and growth of innovative young, high-growth potential businesses in South Australia.
- Building South Australian capability, capacity and productivity.
- Creating more jobs in South Australia, particularly skilled occupations.
- Progressing more young South Australian businesses towards raising significant private investment for growth.
- Delivering economic and/or public benefits for South Australia.
Grant funding is intended to co-fund a clearly defined project with a specified start and end date that is on the critical path to business success and represents a turning point in the growth of the business.
Expected benefits may include:
- Revenue growth.
- Export income.
- Local employment.
- Private investment.
- Other significant benefits to South Australia.
Projects eligible for Seed-Start Grant support
Seed Grant projects
Seed Grant funding supports an early-stage, high-growth potential business to undertake a defined project that:
- Overcomes initial challenges associated with getting a product or service into national and international markets.
- Can be completed within a maximum two-year timeframe.
- Results in a product or service that is unique or provides a sustainable competitive advantage.
Start Grant projects
Start Grant funding supports an early-stage, high-growth potential business to undertake a defined project that:
- Accelerates the development and commercialisation of a product or service.
- Supports commercialisation into national and international markets.
- Can be completed within a maximum three-year timeframe.
- Results in a product or service that is unique or provides a sustainable competitive advantage.
Eligible expenditure
Eligible expenditure for both grant funding and matched funding can include activities or items that are critical to delivering the proposed project, including:
- Salaries and consumables directly attributable to, or critical for, delivery of the project.
- Specialist professional services.
- Accessing or protecting intellectual property rights.
- Product development.
- Scholarships.
- Study tours.
- Market research and testing.
- Engagement with major customers and investors.
- Reasonable economy travel for product or service testing.
- Reasonable economy travel for market development.
- Travel associated with capital raising and other partnership or investment opportunities.
- Data procurement.
- Activities required to obtain regulatory approval.
Ineligible expenditure
Funding is not intended to support business-as-usual activities.
Ineligible expenditure includes, but is not limited to:
- Rent and other property fees.
- Salaries for business founders, project managers or administrative staff unless demonstrated as essential to project execution because of unique technical skills or knowledge.
- Routine sales costs.
- Routine advertising costs.
- Routine business development costs.
- Recruitment fees.
- Procurement fees.
- Basic office supplies and equipment.
- Grant application costs.
- Administration costs.
- Accounting costs.
- Infrastructure levies.
- Payments to directors.
- Other expenditure determined by the South Australian Government to constitute usual business operational costs.
In exceptional circumstances, a proportion of a founder, project manager or administrative staff member’s salary may be considered where the relevant project activities require unique technical skills or knowledge.
Other Seed-Start Grant important details that you will need to know
Organisations eligible for Seed-Start support
To be eligible, an applicant must:
- Be a company incorporated in Australia.
- Hold an active Australian Business Number (ABN).
- Be a non-tax-exempt business.
- Be registered for Goods and Services Tax (GST).
- Have average annual net sales revenue of less than $2 million over the three financial years before lodging the application.
- Include the net sales revenue of any Related Bodies Corporate when calculating the revenue threshold.
- Be based, or willing to be based, in South Australia before the project commences.
For the purposes of the program, being based in South Australia means:
- The business is registered in South Australia; and
- The majority of the business’s workforce is based in South Australia and/or the business’s founders are South Australian residents.
Businesses outside South Australia may be considered in special circumstances. If successful, the South Australian Government may impose a contractual requirement for the applicant to relocate and maintain the relevant enterprise, in whole or in part, in South Australia.
Seed-Start assessment criteria
Seed-Start uses a two-stage application process.
At the EOI stage, applicants provide concise information allowing the Department to undertake a high-level assessment of eligibility and determine whether the applicant meets the definition of a high-growth potential business.
At Full Application stage, applicants must provide substantially more detailed information addressing the complete assessment criteria and evidence validating their claims.
Full Applications undergo due diligence and evaluation by an Independent Assessment Panel.
There are no specific percentage weightings applied to individual assessment criteria. All components must, however, be adequately addressed.
Importantly, an applicant may not be recommended for funding if the Independent Assessment Panel scores any individual assessment criterion 3 out of 10 or below.
1. Eligibility – Yes/No
Applicants are assessed on whether:
- The applicant is an Australian-incorporated company with an active ABN.
- The applicant is a non-tax-exempt business.
- The applicant is registered for GST.
- Average annual net sales revenue is below $2 million over the previous three financial years.
- The applicant is based in South Australia or willing to be based in South Australia before project commencement and over the long term.
- The applicant has not previously received a South Australian Government grant for the same proposed project.
- Required matched funding is committed and available, or will be available or immediately accessible, when the Full Application is submitted.
2. The Funding – score out of 10
Applicants should demonstrate:
- Value for money for the South Australian Government.
- That the source of matched funding and/or previous funding from sources such as investment or other grants validates market potential.
- A strong justification for why sufficient funding for the entire project cannot be accessed from alternative sources.
- Financial and commercial information supporting the applicant’s capacity to execute the project.
- Alignment between the project and Seed-Start program objectives.
- Potential benefits to South Australia.
- Alignment with relevant objectives and missions identified in the SA Economic Statement.
3. The Problem and Solution – score out of 10
Applicants should demonstrate:
- A clearly defined customer problem.
- Evidence of an unmet market need.
- A clearly described product or service.
- A clear relationship between the proposed solution and identified customer problem.
- Appropriate validation of the product or service’s technical feasibility.
- Appropriate validation of its functional feasibility.
- Sufficient evidence to justify investment in the proposed project.
4. The Market – score out of 10
Applicants should demonstrate:
- A market opportunity of sufficient scale to justify investment.
- Strong understanding of key customers and end users.
- Strong understanding of key competitors.
- Clear differentiation of the proposed solution.
- A sustainable competitive advantage in national and international markets.
- A scalable and viable business model.
- Validation of market demand for the product or service.
- Evidence that market demand supports the potential for continued growth.
- A viable go-to-market strategy capable of driving high growth.
- A robust strategy for protecting and/or leveraging intellectual property to support high growth, where applicable.
5. The Project – score out of 10
Applicants should demonstrate:
- Clear and logical project objectives.
- Feasible project objectives and activities.
- Clearly identified deliverables.
- Realistic and well-supported project costings.
- Clearly identified expected outcomes.
- A strong understanding of key project risks.
- Robust risk mitigation strategies.
- A compelling case for why the project needs to occur now.
- Evidence that the project is on the critical path to accelerating business growth.
- Potential to create outcomes such as new revenue, private investment and employment.
- Clear understanding of future development activities required after the proposed project.
- Clear understanding of additional funding required for subsequent commercialisation.
- A credible strategy for accessing future funding.
6. The Project Team – score out of 10
Applicants should demonstrate:
- Access to the expertise required to deliver the project and drive company growth.
- Relevant experience within the project team.
- Access to appropriate networks.
- Team dedication and vision to support business growth.
- Understanding of the business expertise required.
- Understanding of the commercialisation expertise required.
- Understanding of relevant market expertise.
- Understanding of technical expertise required for project delivery.
- An effective plan to obtain any expertise or capability that is not already available within the team.
The Department retains discretion not to fund an application even where eligibility requirements and assessment criteria have been addressed.
How do I get the Seed-Start Grant?
Seed-Start is a competitive program. Applicants should demonstrate:
- A strong business case explaining why grant funding is needed at this point in the company’s development.
- Evidence that the required cash matched funding is available or can be accessed when required.
- A clearly defined customer problem supported by evidence.
- A significant and clearly defined market opportunity supported by evidence.
- A technically and commercially viable solution addressing the identified problem.
- Evidence that the product or service is unique or provides a significant sustainable competitive advantage.
- Potential to compete in national and international markets.
- A feasible and clearly defined project plan.
- Activities that are genuinely on the critical path to business success.
- A clear path to market.
- A robust understanding of technical risks.
- A robust understanding of commercial risks.
- A robust understanding of financial risks.
- Credible strategies for mitigating identified risks.
- Appropriate financial information, including a balance sheet, profit and loss statement and cash-flow modelling.
- Evidence supporting the assumptions used in financial modelling.
- Access to the commercial capabilities required to deliver the project.
- Access to the technical capabilities required to deliver the project.
- Strong evidence validating market demand.
- Strong evidence supporting the solution’s sustainable competitive advantage.
- A scalable and viable business model.
- A credible strategy for generating high growth.
- Clear economic and/or public benefits for South Australia.
Applicants should ensure these matters are thoroughly evidenced rather than relying on unsupported claims. Common reasons applications do not progress to the Assessment Panel include:
- Incomplete business financials.
- Failure to demonstrate committed and available cash matched funding.
- Insufficient validation of the market opportunity.
- Insufficient validation of the product or service’s sustainable competitive advantage.
- Failure to satisfy eligibility requirements concerning corporate structure and shareholder arrangements.
Information to prepare for the Seed-Start application
Applicants invited to submit a Full Application should prepare:
- ASIC Current Company Extract.
- Historical financial statements for the previous three financial years, where relevant to the age of the company.
- Balance Sheet.
- Profit and Loss Statement.
- Historical financials prepared by an independent accounting firm.
- Management accounts for the current financial year.
- Cost quotes supporting proposed project expenditure.
- Intellectual Property agreements, where applicable.
- Evidence demonstrating access to required cash matched funding.
- Any additional documentation requested by the Department to substantiate key claims made in the application.
Applicants requesting more than $100,000 excluding GST will also be subject to a financial review by the South Australian Government Financing Authority (SAFA).
Applying for the Seed-Start Grant
Applications are submitted online through the South Australian Department of State Development.
Register your interest with GrantHelper to explore your alignment with this grant and how we can assist you to increase your chances of success.
Seed-Start Grant resources
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