CSIRO invests $20m to help SMEs, startups unlock R&D potential

Australia’s national science agency is looking to unearth the next Goterra, with a fresh injection of $20 million in funding for its SME Connect portfolio.

Announced at an event with Industry Minister Ed Husic on Wednesday morning, CSIRO says the additional funding will support as many as 750 SMEs and startups to accelerate their businesses through the programs in the SME Connect portfolio.

These programs provide matched funding, training and support for companies undertaking company-led research projects, including via the SME Kick-Start program.

This flagship program has to date supported 280 such projects and its alumni companies collectively hold a market value exceeding $2 billion.

One of those companies is Canberra-based Goterra, which participated in CSIRO Kick-Start in 2019, and has developed innovative robotic maggot farms that transform organic waste into animal feed.

Since it was founded by former sheep farmer Olympia Yarger in 2016, the company has expanded its technology to seven locations across four states in Australia.

To date, Goterra has raised $18 million in funding and in 2023, Goterra won the Sustainability category of SmartCompany’s Smart50 Awards.

Goterra founder and CEO Olympia Yarger told SmartCompany the CSIRO’s scientists and research capabilities enabled Goterra to “address some of our most complex problems”.

“The ongoing support is something we are grateful for as we innovate and make technological advancements,” she added.

“We would highly recommend the program to SMEs looking for scientific and technological support”.

Making R&D “seamless”

The CSIRO Kick-Start program is designed specifically for early-stage SMEs and startups that want to undertake a research project.

It provides training and access to research and development capabilities, as well as dollar-matched funding of between $10,000 and $50,000, which comes in the form of a voucher towards the cost of the R&D.

The grants program was previously only available to Australian businesses with up to $1.5 million in annual revenue or operating expenditure, however, this eligibility threshold was lifted in October 2023 to $10 million, opening up the program to a larger proportion of Australian businesses.

Speaking to SmartCompany, Simon Hanson, director of SME Connect at the CSIRO, said since CSIRO Kick-Start was established in 2017, it has supported SMEs and startups in sectors as wide-ranging as medtech, biotech, manufacturing and agri-food.

The new $20 million in funding will allow SME Connect to deliver its programs for the next five years, including this one.

Hanson says a key focus will be on helping companies that operate in the seven National Reconstruction Fund priority sectors, including resources; agriculture, forestry and fisheries; transport; medical science; renewables and low-emissions technologies; and defence and enabling capabilities.

“Dealing with research and development can be a little bit daunting for small companies and startups and so the aim is to make that experience as seamless as possible,” says Hanson.

“Those companies face barriers. They don’t have the in-house technical expertise always, and R&D is expensive.

“So the Kick-Start program provides them with … dollar-matched funding support to undertake a project.”

Unlike other grant programs, CSIRO Kick-Start is a facilitation service, explains Hanson, and the science agency works with companies to first articulate their research question, connect them with the right researcher, and then “check in along the way” until the project is complete.

Hanson likens the CSIRO’s role to one of a “chaperone” who helps ensure the project is successful, and who can then provide advice and make connections at the end of the process too.

The new funding means the CSIRO will also be able to deliver the Innovate to Grow online program for the next four years, says Hanson.

This program, which also forms part of SME Connect, is for founders who think they may need to work with the research sector but need guidance on where to start, says Hanson.

Since it was established in 2020, Innovate to Grow has supported 500 companies, he says.

The CSIRO SME Connect portfolio also includes the Generation STEM Links program, the RISE Accelerator, and the Collaboration Readiness Levels tool.

The different SME-focused programs mean the CSIRO has a variety of ways to help entrepreneurs, says Hanson, and the agency encourages anyone who may be interested to get in touch.

“We’re here to help and we’re very pleased to spend some time with companies to help them in their thinking and with connections and things across the research sector,” he says.

“So if in doubt, we’d say please call.”

More information about these programs can be found on the CSIRO website.