NSW startups developing new products for market are invited to apply for Minimum Viable Product (MVP) grants of up to $25,000 from the NSW Government.
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney Stuart Ayres said applications for the 2019/20 financial year are now open and eligible startups are encouraged to apply.
“NSW is home to nearly half of Australia’s startup founders and we want to help them grow their businesses and create more future-focused jobs.
“Successful applicants can receive matched funding of up to 50 per cent of their project costs up to a maximum of $25,000 to support them to develop their prototype and assess how it can meet market demand” Mr Ayres said.
“We want promising NSW entrepreneurs to have the confidence to launch a startup by giving them the support they need to give it the best chance of success.”
Mr Ayres said MVP grants are open to startups that are developing technology-enabled new products with scalable business models.
“Funding is provided to help develop the solution to a stage where it can be demonstrated to potential paying customers. MVP grants are a competitive process and applicants will be evaluated on the strength of their business model, innovative use of technology and potential economic benefits such as jobs that can be created, or export potential.”
Sydney startup VAPAR, founded by engineers Amanda Siqueira and Michelle Aguilar, used an MVP grant to develop technology that uses artificial intelligence to identify faults in stormwater and sewerage pipelines.
The MVP grant allowed us to build the beta version of our product and experiment with different approaches. This led to our first paid projects that resulted in wider customer adoption,” Ms Siqueira said.
“Our technology means local councils and water utilities can upload CCTV footage of pipeline inspections to a cloud platform for automatic analysis instead of engineers having to manually review hours of footage. Our system cuts a two week process to a few minutes, reduces inspection costs by 30 per cent, and allows on site repairs to be carried out straight after the inspection.”
For further information visit https://www.jobsfornsw.com.au/mvp
