Innovation Seed Fund 2023-24
The 2023-24 Innovation Seed Fund provided the opportunity for Western Australian innovators to develop their novel health and medical solutions to prime WA’s commercialisation pipeline, create high-level health sector jobs and bring innovations that improve the health and wellbeing of the community to realisation.
Funding was provided on a competitive basis to innovators with early-stage proposals for novel processes, products and/or services that demonstrate potential to be commercialised and that may have a major impact on the health and wellbeing of the WA community.
The Innovation Seed Fund was open to innovators based in Western Australia.
Successful innovators were awarded funding of $250,000 to $500,000 to undertake key de-risking activities that advanced the innovation to a maturity level where it would be positioned to attract investment through traditional funding sources to commence, or progress, the commercialisation process. Funded activities were required to be completed within a two-year period.
Program Status: Closed for Applications
The Innovation Seed Fund Guidelines and Conditions and Application Form can be accessed below for reference:
Information on other FHRI Fund programs can be accessed by subscribing to updates or checking the FHRI Fund current opportunities.
Useful links:
I am not an Australian citizen or permanent resident. Am I eligible to apply?
Possibly. In addition to Australian citizens and permanent residents, you are eligible to apply to this program as the activity lead (e.g. the coordinating principal investigator, innovation lead or potential Fellow) if you are a New Zealand citizen or have an appropriate work visa in place.
In addition, it is a requirement that the activity lead is based in WA for a minimum of 80 per cent of the period of the activity.
Does the Responsible Entity need to be an established start-up?
No. The Innovation Seed Fund guidelines and conditions require that
- the responsible entity has an active Australian Business Number
- the responsible entity has a physical and operational presence in WA
- the funding does not constitute the entire financial base of the responsible entity.
This provides for companies, incorporated entities, government entities, partnerships, sole traders, trusts, etc. to be a responsible entity, as long as they meet these requirements.
What is meant by the eligibility criterion, "The grant funding must not constitute the entire financial base of the Responsible Entity"?
The Responsible entity must have capacity to pay potential cost contingencies not covered by the grant. This would not be possible if the Seed Fund grant is the only financial resource that is available.
When will successful applicants be notified?
The assessment for the Innovation Seed Fund 2023-24 will be a two-stage process (shortlisting and then panel review) and then this is followed by approval processes,
Applicants will be notified of outcomes once these processes are complete.
For successful applicants, when do you expect contracts to be completed so activities can commence?
A funding agreement will be provided to the responsible entity shortly after notification of selection outcomes. Once the signed agreement is received by Office of Medical Research and Innovation (OMRI) from the responsible entity, the agreement can generally be executed within a week.
Can OMRI provide advice with regards to a specific innovation, including the suitability of an innovation for the Innovation Seed Fund?
During the time that the program is open for applications, OMRI is only able to provide general advice on the program and its guidelines and conditions.
The purpose (section 2) and program description (section 3) in the guidelines and conditions may assist to determine the suitability of an innovation for the Seed Fund.
Where can I find the list of successful applicants to previous rounds of the Innovation Seed Fund?
The list of the successful applicants can be found in the News and events section of the Future Health Research and Innovation Fund website. Links to news articles can be found on the funding outcomes page.
Last updated: 31 October 2023