The Medical Devices Fund provides grants to drive the commercialisation of highly innovative new devices and technologies in NSW, addressing gaps in the product life cycle between early-stage research and mature investment opportunities.
Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: From $500,000 to $5,000,000
- Application opened: 7 April 2025
- Application closed: 13 May 2025, 5:00 pm
Program objective
The Medical Devices Fund aims to:
- Support individuals, companies, public and private hospitals, medical research institutes, universities, other public sector research organisations, and the medical devices industry, to take local innovation to market
- Increase the uptake of NSW medical devices that are cost effective and contribute to improved patient outcomes.
Preliminary applications for this grant open: 7 April 2025
Preliminary applications close: 13 May 2025, 5:00pm AEST
Full applications for this grant are by invitation only.
Program Guidelines 2025 (PDF 247.86KB) and otherapplication documents are included below.
*See Eligibility section ‘who can apply’ below for Addendum added on 5 May 2025 - information on how to satisfy eligibility criteria for an organisation “headquartered in NSW’’
This program is funded and administered by NSW Health.
Eligibility
All applications will undergo eligibility checks and applications that do not meet all the eligibility criteria will not be considered.
Who can apply
- Applicants with a medical device/technology that satisfies the definition of a medical device at the time of submitting the application
- A financially viable company or commercial enterprise that is headquartered in NSW, has an Australian Business Number (ABN), has an annual turnover less than $25 million, and is a legal entity
*Addendum added on 5 May 2025 - information on how to satisfy eligibility criteria for an organisation “headquartered in NSW’’: If applicants plan to relocate their company or commercial enterprise headquarters to NSW during the Fund application process, the application must be clear on how and when this will happen and what the connection will be in NSW. No Funding Agreement will be entered into until relocation to NSW is complete.
- An individual based in NSW who agrees to form such an entity so that the NSW Government can enter into legally binding funding agreements
- A NSW public research organisation applying through its appropriate technology transfer office, or the CEO or equivalent of the research organisation
- Applicants who hold the intellectual property or rights to commercialise the medical device/ technology
- Applicants with projects in the medical device product life cycle from a minimum of Technology Readiness Level 3
- Applicants undertaking the majority of project activities in NSW
- Applicants that can demonstrate why sufficient funding for the entire project cannot be accessed from alternative sources and that the project would not proceed at the proposed scale in NSW without government support
Who can’t apply
- People who do not meet the eligibility criteria listed above
Types of projects funded under this grant
The program funds project activities used for any purpose that meets the objectives of the program, subject to the exclusions below.
Examples of activities that can be funded include:
- device development, including proof-of-concept, prototyping, and piloting studies
- manufacturing samples for product trials
- clinical assessment
- locating other national and international trials and research relevant to the product under development
- business planning, including conducting market and product assessments
- intellectual property management
- commercialisation
- capital raising
What can’t you apply for
The program will not support activities that do not meet the objectives of the program.
Exclusions include but are not limited to acquisition of land and buildings, capital works and general infrastructure costs, any costs directly related to research, PhD stipends, fees for visas, relocation, costs of dependents, insurance, and mobile phones, fees for international students or liabilities for students, donations and gifts, and fine or penalty payments.
Most recent recipients
What your application needs to include
For full details of what your Preliminary Application needs to include, download:
*See Eligibility section ‘who can apply’ above for Addendum added on 5 May 2025 - information on how to satisfy eligibility criteria for an organisation “headquartered in NSW’’
Applicants must submit a Preliminary Application electronically to MOH-OHMRGrants@health.nsw.gov.au by 5:00 PM AEST 13 May 2025.
Two information sessions on the Medical Devices Fund Round 13 will be held during April 2025. Details on how to register are available on the OHMR | Medical Devices Fund website. The sessions will provide an overview of the program and the application process, including what a successful application looks like.
What your applications needs to include
You must provide a completed Preliminary application form and the following attachments:
- 3-minute pitch video demonstrating the problem the device solves and for which patients, its impact on the health system, the market dynamics, proposed business model, and how the requested funding will assist with commercialisation
- Completed Business Canvas Model
- Evidence of technical feasibility
- Evidence of clinical feasibility
- Evidence of intellectual property/licensing status
- Financial statements for FY2023/24 and FY2024/25
- Balance Sheet and Profit and Loss statements for FY2024/25.
You must ensure you address all eligibility criteria as specified in the Program Guidelines.
All applications for funding that meet the eligibility criteria will be assessed against the following assessment criteria at both Preliminary and Full Application stage:
- Impact on health outcomes
- Economic, social and/or environmental impact for NSW
- Impact on clinical practice
- Innovation
- Commercialisation pathway
- Funding need
- Team expertise and capability
More detail about each of the assessment criteria is available in the program guidelines.
The application must be completed in its entirety to be eligible for consideration. Any confidential information should be clearly marked.
If your Preliminary Application is shortlisted to proceed, you will be invited to apply for a Full Application.
After the application is submitted
Successful applications will be decided by: NSW Health
- Eligibility check: Following the closing date for applications, the Medical Devices Fund Subgroup will determine if each application has satisfied the eligibility criteria.
- Review of Preliminary Application: The Subgroup will provide initial screening and advice to the Medical Devices fund Expert Panel regarding the eligibility and quality of the applications against the agreed criteria. The Expert Panel will take this advice into consideration when reviewing the applications and determine which applications will proceed to full application.
- Review of Full Application: Submissions of a full application are by invitation only. Following full application assessment, applicants may be required to present the proposal or be interviewed, by invitation only.
- Funding recommendation: The Expert Panel will agree on the ranking of eligible full applications that proceeded to interview and will put forward a recommendation on the suitability of each proposal for funding to NSW Health.
- Decision and notification: NSW Health will determine grant recipients and amounts. All applicants will be informed as to whether they have been awarded funding.
- Funding agreements: NSW Health will contact applicants of successful projects to execute a funding agreement. The funding agreement will specify obligations that relate primarily to the recipient’s accountability for the grant, including using the grant for activities occurring in NSW, the return of unspent grant funds, reporting on the use of the grant and commercialisation progress for the duration of the term, and repayment of grant funds on economic success.
Support and contact
For any enquiries about the Medical Devices Fund, please contact the Office for Health and Medical Research.
Email: MOH-OHMRGrants@health.nsw.gov.au