What assistance is available?
Commercialisation Australia is a merit based, competitive assistance program that helps talented researchers, individuals and innovative companies commercialise their intellectual property into a new product, process or service.
The following assistance components are available:
- Skills and Knowledge - up to $50,000 to access specialist advice and services;
- Experienced Executives - funding of up to $200,000 over two years (up to $100,000 per year) to engage an experienced Chief Executive Officer or other executives;
- Proof of Concept - grants between $50,000 and $250,000 to assist with testing the commercial viability of a new product, process or service; and
- Early Stage Commercialisation - repayable grants from $250,000 to $2 million to undertake activities focusing on enabling a new product, process or service to be developed to the stage where it can be taken to market
All successful applicants are assigned a Case Manager and will have access to Volunteer Business Mentors.
A single application form encompasses all of the above components.
It is recommended that Applicants apply for the assistance component that best suits their current business needs. As businesses mature, they may apply for other components as required.
Applicants may apply for more than one of these components and should set this out clearly in their application form.
Please note that it is not possible to apply for both Proof of Concept and Early Stage Commercialisation components at the same time. Applications that include both components will not be considered by the Commercialisation Australia Board.
Applications are assessed on a continuous basis.
If you want to apply for Commercialisation Australia assistance, as a first step, please read the Customer Information Guide and complete the Stage 1 Application Form.
Who can apply?
Commercialisation Australia is a flexible program designed to suit the needs of each participant. Commercialisation Australia assistance can be accessed by companies, researchers and individuals.
At the time of application you must be one of the following:
- A non tax-exempt company incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001;
- A researcher applying through a university or Publicly Funded Research Agency (PFRA) commercialisation office;
- An individual or researcher applying through an eligible partner entity; or
- An individual or researcher who agrees to form a non tax-exempt company incorporated under the Corporations Act 2001 if your application to Commercialisation Australia is successful.
Researchers and Individuals applying through a commercialisation office or eligible partner entity, may apply for Skills and Knowledge and Proof of Concept assistance only.
How do I apply?
To apply for Commercialisation Australia assistance, applicants need to:
- Read the Customer Information Guide
- Complete a Stage 1 Application Form - Applicants must fill out and submit a Commercialisation Australia Stage 1 Application Form to help determine the eligibility and merit of their application. Once submitted, Commercialisation Australia will contact the applicant to discuss whether their project
- Complete a Stage 2 Application Form - Applicants must complete a Stage 2 Application Form, which can be applied by Commercialisation Australia after feedback has been provided on the Stage 1 Application.
Download a PDF version of the Applying for Commercialisation Australia Factsheet [73 Kb]
Download an RTF version of the Applying for Commercialisation Australia Factsheet [9 Mb]
How are applications assessed?
Commercialisation Australia Stage 2 Applications are assessed in a two-step process:
- Commercialisation Australia reviews the Stage 1 Application and assesses whether the applicant and the proposal meet the basic eligibility criteria;
- The Commercialisation Australia Board assesses the merits of the Stage 2 Application against the merit criteria.
Applications are assessed on a continuous basis against the merit criteria.
More information on eligibility, merit criteria and the application process is located in the Customer Information Guide.