This program provides competitive grants to small and medium-sized enterprises to develop and commercialise innovative solutions to well-defined problems for NSW Government agencies.
Key information
- Status: Closed
- Grant amount: Up to $1,100,000
- Application opened: 23 November 2022
- Application closed: 14 March 2023, 9:59 am
Program objective
The SBIR program supports innovative technologies or services that both solve NSW Government challenges, and which could be commercialised and sold to other end-users.
The primary objective of the SBIR program is to leverage the capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises’ (SMEs) NSW-based Research and Development (R&D) to address the needs of the NSW Government with the aim to procure these solutions.
Secondary objectives are to:
- Increase the commercialisation of NSW Government-funded R&D, selling to NSW Government and potentially other end-users,
- Support the technology and innovation sector in NSW, with the NSW Government being a proactive customer for innovation,
- Grow the number of innovative products, services and jobs in NSW.
This program is administered by Investment NSW and Office of the Chief Scientist and Engineer.
This program is funded by Investment NSW.
Eligibility
Who can apply
To be eligible for the SBIR program an applicant must meet the following requirements:
- Have an Australian Business Number (ABN);
- Be one of the following entities:
- A small or medium-sized enterprise with under 200 full-time equivalent employees, or
- An individual or partnership, provided you agree to form a company incorporated in
- Australia to enter into a grant agreement, or
- A NSW public research organisation applying through its appropriate technology transfer office, provided you agree to form a company incorporated in Australia to enter into a grant agreement.
- Meet one of the following criteria
- Be headquartered in NSW, or
- Conduct the majority of business research and development and production operations in NSW
- Hold the Intellectual Property or the rights to commercialise the proposed solution.
- If successful, undertake to conduct SBIR program-related research and development work in NSW.
The NSW Government reserves the right to exclude applicants where they do not meet the intention of the above eligibility criteria. For example, where the applicant is a shell corporation or local subsidiary of a multinational corporation.
What your application needs to include
Application Checklist
Applications for Phase 1: Feasibility study must include:
- a brief overview of the solution, and how it addresses one of the challenge statements
- details on your solutions technical readiness and its level of innovation compared with solutions available on the market
- a short description of the project’s expected benefits, including how you will facilitate commercialisation
- details of how the proposal will be implemented, the requirements for successful implementation and identified risks and their mitigants and/or controls
- details of why this project merits public funding
- details of the project governance structure (such as, project board, advisory boards,stakeholders, etc.)
- details of the market structure (such as supply chain logistics, end customers, distribution stream)
- demonstrated capability and capacity to deliver the project
- a project budget and evidence of sufficient financial resources to undertake the project and commercialise the solution
- evidence of your intention to incorporate a business if you are successful in receiving funding
- a short video presentation, describing the solution, the end users and markets, and plan for commercialisation
Important information when submitting
Applicants must:
- submit the online application form through SmartyGrants, ensuring all questions are answered or indicated not applicable
- clearly identify in their application (including attachments) any information that the applicant requests be treated as confidential
Applications can include co-funding
After the application is submitted
The SBIR assessment process will be administered by the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer (OCSE), a group within Investment NSW.
The OCSE will review each application for completeness and eligibility. Complete and eligible applications for each challenge will be assessed by the Agency Assessment Panel responsible for each challenge. The applications and the Agency Assessment Panel scores and recommendations will be submitted to the SBIR Expert Panel.
The SBIR Expert Panel members will review the applications, recommendations and scores, and then meet to discuss the applications. The SBIR Expert Panel will agree on which applications to recommend for funding within the available budget as set out in the 2022 NSW Small Business Innovation & Research Program, Phase 1: Feasibility Study, Guidelines for Applicants.
The Agency Assessment Panels and the SBIR Expert Panel may request additional information from applicants during the assessment process. These requests will be managed by the OCSE who will communicate with the relevant applicants directly to seek their response.
The OCSE will conduct credit checks on any applicants recommended for funding and provide this information to the SBIR Expert Panel. The SBIR Expert Panel will publish a final assessment report detailing its recommendations.
The OCSE will consult with the NSW Government agencies to confirm their endorsement of the SBIR Expert Panel’s recommended applications for their challenge.
Successful applications will be decided by the Executive sponsor of the NSW SBIR Program, the CEO of Investment NSW, based on the recommendations of the independent SBIR Expert Panel and the endorsements of the respective agencies.
Support and contact
Email: sbir@chiefscientist.nsw.gov.au
Program evaluation
Responsibility for administering the SBIR program rests with the OCSE, a division of Investment NSW.
The SBIR program will be subject to continuous evaluation. The OCSE may also undertake additional evaluations, surveys and interviews or solicit formal and informal feedback from stakeholders at any time. All SBIR grantees are under an obligation to provide feedback and reporting data in accordance with the reporting requirements and record keeping obligations in the Funding Deeds.