The Albanese Government has officially opened the $392 million Industry Growth Program that includes medical science as one of its priority target areas.
The program was announced in June as one element of the federal government's $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund.
It will support businesses with advisory services with expertise in seeking investment, market testing, business models, and networking. It will provide matched funding ranging from $50,000 to $5 million to eligible startups and innovative small to medium enterprises.
“The challenge for our economy long term is to scale-up our businesses and help them create more secure jobs," said industry and science minister Ed Husic.
“The Industry Growth Program is designed to commercialise great ideas and know-how, build stronger, Australian businesses and put them on a pathway for potential support by the National Reconstruction Fund.
“Our government knows Australians want our country to be a nation that makes things, and we are determined to make that happen," he said.
The chair of Industry Innovation and Science Australia, Andrew Stevens, added, “While we outperform in the creation of start-ups and small businesses against other OECD countries, our industry structure is overly skewed to small businesses with less than 20 employees. It’s hard to compete when you are small.”
“The outcome we need right now is the scaling of small businesses into medium-sized businesses. This will build sovereign capability and economic complexity in Australia."