The Queensland Government has introduced the Private Sector Pathways Program to support small-to-medium enterprises in collaborating with large corporations to develop commercialisation opportunities.
This initiative, part of Advance Queensland, aims to increase partnerships between SMEs and corporate businesses to address business challenges and create commercial opportunities within the state.
The PSP Program encourages corporates to present business challenges, inviting SMEs to propose innovative solutions.
Successful applicants can receive up to $200,000 in co-funding from Advance Queensland and corporate partners to trial their solutions over 6-12 months.
Each challenge will be jointly funded by Advance Queensland and the corporate challenge owner.
Benefits:
- For SMEs: Funding for technology trials, corporate connections, potential commercial contracts, and IP retention.
- For Corporations: Access to technological innovations, local solutions for corporate challenges, diversified procurement, and increased speed of technology adoption.
Eligibility:
- Corporates: Must have an office in Queensland, be a legal entity with an active ABN, and ideally operate within priority industry sectors such as advanced manufacturing, hydrogen, biomedical, and more.
- SMEs: Must be Queensland-registered, have a product at or beyond the MVP stage, and not have prior commercial contracts with the participating corporate.
Current Challenges: For instance, Boeing has set a challenge to co-design a display environment for data visualisation and autonomous vehicle control, with applications closing on 27 August 2024.
Application Process: The PSP Program uses a staged application and evaluation process, including identification of challenges, market release of challenge statements, assessment of applications, selection of feasible solutions, and co-funding for pilot projects.