Cheat sheet: Everything you need to know about the Boosting Female Founders Fund

The Boosting Female Founders grant initiative is intended to stimulate investment into women-led, innovative tech businesses.

Announced as part of the 2018 Women’s Economic Security Statement and piloted for 2020, the scheme had an initial $18 million to deploy over three years.

The 2020 federal budget pledged a further $35.9 million over five years.

It’s intended to break down some of the barriers women founders face when seeking capital, and in turn help them scale, expand into new markets and become profitable and self-sufficient.

The grants are allocated for specific projects, and will cover up to 50% of eligible costs. Startups must either self-fund the remainder or source the additional capital from outside investors.

The next round of funding is expected to open early next year.

So, if you are considering applying, here are some of the key things you need to know:

Who’s eligible?

This grant is for women-led startups. According to the grant specifications, that means a business that is at least 51% owned and led by women, as per the Australian Business Register, ASIC and/organisational records.

This takes into account sole trader registrations, partnership agreements, equity, and beneficiaries, as well as shares and officeholders or trustees.

Businesses must also have an Australian Business Number.

Who’s not?

This is where things get a bit tricky. The scheme has received some criticism for actually excluding a large number of businesses that would consider themselves women-led.

The 51% requirement means a business that is co-founded by a woman and a man, with a 50/50 equity split, would not be eligible.

Because equity is also taken into account, if a business has secured any previous funding from male investors, any womens’ shareholding is at risk of decreasing below the threshold.

The reality is that the majority of angel investors in Australia are male, and most VC firms are led by men. So, there is every possibility that a business with all women co-founders that has gone through several rounds of funding would not meet the 51% ownership criteria.

Perhaps more concerningly, one women-led startup reported their application was unsuccessful because their business was structured as a family trust.

That meant the assessors allocated 50% of each founder’s equity to her husband.

Predictably, the women co-founders were not impressed. As it stands, the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources has said it will take their feedback on board, and encouraged them to apply again next year.

Detailed criteria for the next round of funding has not yet been released, and while the Department told SmartCompany it has ‘streamlined’ the process, it did not disclose whether it has addressed this particular issue.

Grant applications will be assessed against three criteria:

What is the government looking for?

How the grant funding will help you develop or scale your business, or expand into new markets. This includes showing how the grant funding will assist in removing barriers to growth for you as a woman founder.
Your own capacity, capability and resources to deliver the project — that is, whether you and your team have the experience or qualifications required. This will also take things like the business plan, revenue model, risks and budget into account, as well as your growth plans after the project.
The overall impact of the grant funding, including the extent to which you need funds to complete the project, how the project leverages additional partnerships, and the benefit to the community or region, or to Australia as a whole.

Projects will also be assessed with consideration of value for money, and in comparison with other applications.

How much can I get?

All eligible applicants can apply for grants to cover 50% of the project cost, between $25,000 and $400,000.

However, some applicants can apply for a grant covering 70% of their costs, with an increased cap of $480,000.

This applies to businesses that:

Have their head office located in a regional area;
Are Indigenous owned;
Have at least one founding team member who has a disability; or
Have at least one founding team member who has come to Australia as a refugee or humanitarian migrant.

If your business meets one of these criteria, you must provide evidence with your application.

In this instance, ‘regional’ includes inner-regional, outer-regional, remote and very remote areas, as defined by the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS) Remoteness Structure.

If you’re unsure whether your business qualifies, you can use this mapping tool to find out.

How do I apply?

There are two steps to the application, the expression of interest (EoI) and the actual submission.

Expression of interest

The EoI includes filling out a relatively detailed application form, in which you will be asked to provide details on your sales revenue, research and development expenditure, taxable income, and number of employees —so make sure you have up-to-date information handy.

You will have to detail the project you’re planning, including key activities, objectives and outcomes, proposed budget, as well as how it meets the objectives above.

You must also submit a declaration that your business is eligible. If you are eligible for the higher funding bracket, you must also provide evidence of this.

Application

If the EoI is successful, you can move on to the actual grant application. You will be asked to provide much of the same information again, with a little more detail.

This includes a business plan showing your revenue model, addressable market, customer acquisition strategy, budget, risks and how you will measure success.

You will also be asked to explain how you will fund the remainder of the project not covered by the grant.

Successful applicants will enter into a grant agreement, and once project activity begins, funding will be delivered in instalments.

You can read all the key documents about the scheme, including sample EoI and application forms, here.

Keep your eye out for when EoIs open for the next round here.