
Australian Govt funds IT start-ups - nreece
http://www.zdnet.com.au/blogs/bootstrappr/soa/Australian-Govt-funds-IT-start-ups/0,2001092438,339292565,00.htm
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SwellJoe
Boy, there's an idea that'll snatch defeat from the jaws of victory if ever
there was one. Government and technology innovation, a match made in heaven.

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reitzensteinm
Yep, and assuming equal distribution of tax (including children), I paid 15
cents for this. Realistically more like approaching $1.

So let me get this straight - pick n companies that are the most effective at
sucking up to the govt, give them grant money, while hurting the rest of the
(total - n) companies in the country, some of which will actually be
profitable.

I don't have an intrinsic problem with the govt investing in start ups,
getting their returns as tax dollars (I don't think it's the governments role,
but if they were profitable I wouldn't have a problem with it), but when will
they wake up and realise that they're no good at it?

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pm
A client of mine received a COMET grant in a previous cycle. The article gives
a poor impression of what the COMET scheme was designed to do - allow small
businesses with little capital to commercialise their technology so as to be
able to bring it to market effectively. Grantees are required to match twenty
percent of the grant they spend.

There are guidelines to how the money may be spent, but as long as it's
towards commercialising your technology, they are satisfied (i.e., you have a
programmer as an employee, but you can contract out a programmer to complete
the work required).

I've heard most businesses in the scheme don't end up profitable, but this is
no different from your typical VC fund. While some of the businesses listed
may not appear innovative, there are plenty striving to serve a niche, my
client being one of them. The technology platform isn't particularly
innovative, but the research behind it is solid and the implementation is
getting fantastic results.

If there is but a single success from this scheme, then it will have all been
worth it.

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curiousgeorge
unless it competes with my business.

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bootload
_"... bootstrappr trawled through the list and pulled the most obviously web
2.0 or IT-related companies out ..."_

$64K AUD for escalator advertising isn't really web or software. I think the
IP is tied up in the printable media ~ <http://www.escalated.com.au/faqs.html>
Grants like these are pretty funny affairs. If you satisfy the criteria you
can spend the money as long as the guidelines are followed & you keep the
receipts for a set period of time.

