$23m in funding for incubators

Atomic Sky chief executive Andy Lamb hopes Western Australian incubators will be taken into consideration when the federal government carves up $23 million in grants to support startups across the nation.

The Commonwealth today launched its Incubator Support initiative, which includes $23 million on offer for new incubators and existing, ‘high-performing’ incubators to expand their services.

Applications have opened for grants between $10,000 and $500,000, while matching grants of up to $25,000 will also be available for incubators to engage experts-in-residence from Australia and overseas.

Mr Lamb said any grants made available to the startup scene went a long way, but the devil was in the detail.

“(The question is) where the money is going to be distributed,” Mr Lamb told Business News.

“Is it going to be distributed based on opportunities outside the vast majority – being Melbourne and Sydney – and what does the government classify as a ‘high-performing’ incubator?

“Any support in this area is fantastic. I think we just need to make sure that (WA) is seen as being high-performing and doing something different, and that we’re taken on our merits even though we’re three hours away from Canberra.”

The initiative was announced last year with $8 million in funding originally available, however a further $15 million over four years has been committed by the federal government.