Program overview

Who is it for?

Queensland small to medium businesses with high-growth potential to undertake commercialisation projects.

What are the grant/program objectives?

The Ignite Ideas Fund supports the development of awesome and innovative products, processes or services to help make Queensland a major centre for Australian innovation and startups.

What does it involve?

Supporting businesses with an innovative product or service that is at the viable product stage to go to the next level by tapping into new markets and helping to attract investment.

What are the grant/program goals?

  • strengthen key industries in Queensland
  • diversify the Queensland economy
  • compete in domestic and global markets
  • engage and/or benefit regional Queensland
  • create new jobs, now and into the future

What will recipients get?

Two tiers of funding are available.

Tier 1: Up to $100,000 (excluding GST) for projects of up to 12 months duration.

Tier 2: Greater than $100,000 and up to $200,000 (excluding GST) for projects of up to 24 months duration.

Successful applicants will be eligible for additional business development support through the Ignite+ program. This program will provide support across sales and marketing, customer acquisition, competitor analysis, intellectual property/legal support, financial structure, connections to mentors and sponsors, and access and introductions to business and investment networks.

How do you apply?

The program is currently open to Expression of Interest applications and closes at 10am, 26 May 2025.

Apply now

Note that the program has a two-stage application process.

  • First stage: complete an Expression of Interest application. All applicants will get an email telling them the outcome of their Expression of Interest.
  • Second stage: selected applicants will be invited to complete a Full Application.

There is a limit of one application per applicant per funding round.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible for funding, at the time of application and for the duration of the funded project, you must:

  • be a business headquartered in Queensland
  • have no more than 50 full-time-equivalent employees
  • not be a subsidiary of a group of companies that has more than 50 full-time-equivalent employees
  • not have received funding for the proposed project activity from either the state, federal or local government
  • be registered for GST (at time of full application submission).

If applying for tier 1, the applicant organisation and/or related parties must:

  • not have received an Ignite Ideas Fund grant previously
  • make a cash contribution to the project that is at least equal to 20% of the value of funding sought.

If applying for tier 2, the applicant organisation and/or related parties must:

  • not have received an Ignite Ideas Fund tier 2 grant previously
  • not be applying for a product or service that has previously received Ignite Ideas funding
  • make a cash contribution to the project that is at least equal to the amount of funding sought.

If the applicant organisation has previously received an Ignite Ideas tier 1 grant for a different project, this must have been completed successfully before submission of a new tier 2 application.

Organisations and their related parties are limited to one application per funding round.

Contact

If you have questions about this program, contact us by calling 13 QGOV (13 74 68)

Supporting resources

Additional support

Previous recipients

Case studies