Federal funding for female founders
The Boosting Female Founders Initiative - Round 2 helps female entrepreneurs overcome the disadvantages faced in getting access to finance and support to grow their startups.
The program will provide targeted support on a co-contribution basis to female founders of startup businesses (startups) to scale into domestic and global markets. The program will also provide expert mentoring and advice to meritorious applicants. The Australian Government has announced a total of $52.2 million in grant funding for this program. For Round 2, an estimated $11.6 million in grant funding is available.
The objectives of the program are to:
- stimulate private sector investments into innovative startups led by women
- help women entrepreneurs overcome the disadvantages faced in getting access to finance and support to grow their startups
- enable female founders to scale-up, expand into domestic and global markets, and become self-sufficient
- boost the economy through increasing the diversity of startup founders.
The grants will be available on a co-contribution basis. All eligible applicants can apply for a grant between $25,000 and $400,000. If you meet additional eligibility criteria as detailed in the grant opportunity guidelines, you can apply for a grant of between $25,000 and $480,000.
The grant amount will be up to 50% of eligible project costs - unless you can meet additional requirements (see the grant opportunity guidelines for further information).
You are responsible for the remaining eligible project expenditure plus any ineligible expenditure. Contributions to your project must be cash. You are encouraged to seek contributions from private investors and industry partners.
The grant opportunity will be delivered through a two-stage competitive selection process due to the expected high demand for this program. You will first apply via an Expression of Interest (EOI). If successful, you will be invited to submit a Stage Two grant application.
