Expressions of Interest open Wednesday, 1 May 2024
Earlier this week, the Queensland Government released the details for round six of its Business Growth Fund. The Business Growth Fund (BGF) targets high-growth businesses who can accelerate growth, drive Queensland’s economy and employ more Queenslanders.
Business Growth Fund
The Business Growth Fund (BGF) targets high-growth businesses who can accelerate growth, drive Queensland’s economy and employ more Queenslanders. It provides funding for small and medium-sized high-growth businesses to buy highly specialised equipment, enabling them to unlock growth potential, increase production, expand their workforce, and maximise economic returns to move them to the next stage of growth.
Funded businesses are expected to:
- increase confidence for growth, transitioning from small to medium-sized
- increase productivity, turnover, profit and/or employment by 20%
- improve confidence to automate, scale up, increase market share, diversify and/or exploit exporting opportunities.
The program is administered by the Department of Employment, Small Business and Training (DESBT).
Available Funding
The Business Growth Fund offers funding ranging from $50 000 to $75 000 (excluding GST). Funding is paid in three milestone payments:
- Milestone 1 – 20% on approval of your application
- Milestone 2 – 40% on completion and assessment of your compliant 3-month report
- Milestone 3 – 40% on acquittal and assessment at project completion.
Successful applications must co-contribute at least 40% of project costs.
The Queensland Government will not fund projects with a total cost of less than $83 333 (excluding GST) or payments that are made before the approval date.
Eligible and Ineligible Activities
The grant funding must be used to purchase highly specialised equipment to facilitate business growth. The equipment must have a direct link to increasing employment opportunities and maximising economic returns.
Specialised equipment is considered an independent or additional piece of complex machinery that will have a direct impact on the operations of the business to increase, automate or enhance productivity. It presents a significant investment to the business. The impact of the equipment unique to the growth of the business and local economy will be taken into consideration.
Examples of eligible highly specialised equipment include (but are not limited to):
- production equipment to meet otherwise unachievable growth demand
- advanced manufacturing or digital equipment and systems
- advanced logistics systems and equipment.
The Queensland Government will not fund:
- activities bought using crypto-currencies, cash, barter, or service in-kind
- bain maries, dishwashers, fridges, ovens or stainless steel tables
- dental chairs
- fleet vehicles, other motor vehicles, trailers or forklifts
- franchise fees
- general business operating costs (e.g. bookkeeping/accounting, tax returns, marketing/advertising activities)
- GST registration and fees
- goods, services, or fees from related parties (includes companies with common shareholdings or directors, employees or immediate family)
- memberships and joining fees
- non-specialised office equipment (e.g. desks, chairs, personal computers (PCs), laptops, monitors)
- purchase of stock
- real estate/property, hire, lease, or rental fees
- salaries
- services or standard digital technology not considered specialist to the extent required (as determined by assessment panel)
- travel
- delivery fees, credit card surcharges and international transaction fees
Eligibilitity Criteria
You must be an established, financially sound, small to medium-sized Queensland business with the potential for high-growth within the next 2 years.
High-growth is defined as an annual annualised 20% increase in turnover, and/or employment in the last 2 years.
To be eligible for this grant, your business must have:
- a minimum of 5 and maximum of 49 employees (by headcount) at the time of applying for the grant
- an active Australian Business Number (ABN) and be registered for GST
- a registered location of Queensland headquarters
- a minimum trading history of 5 years at the time of applying for the grant
- a minimum turnover of $500,000 for the last financial year (2022-23)
- competitive opportunities in domestic or international markets
- experienced 2 years of high-growth and have clearly defined high-growth and employment opportunities in Queensland
- not been approved for funding under an earlier round of the Business Growth Fund
- not be insolvent or have owners/directors that are an undischarged bankrupt.
Your business must also maintain this eligibility for the duration of the grant funded activity.
Application Process
This grant program is competitively assessed in 3 stages, meaning not all applications will be funded:
- Stage 1: Expression of interest (EOI)
- Stage 2: Full application
- Stage 3: Pitch.
Stage 1 will:
- open for EOI applications at 9am, Wednesday 1 May 2024
- close for EOI applications at 5pm, Tuesday 14 May 2024.
Next Steps
To check to see if you are eligible for Round 6 of the Business Growth Fund, a detailed eligibility checker is available here.
If you are eligible for the Business Growth Fund, we recommend you read more about the Fund and Round 6 on the Business Queensland website here.
If you have any questions about the Business Growth Fund, or would like any assistance in the application process, please do not hesitate to contact the JTW Accountants team.
