IGP March 2026 Funding Update
Authors: Jacqueline Heighway, Joel Spotswood, Shaun van Dijk
Updated insights on IGP funding trends, sector impacts, and the implications of recent cuts for early‑stage innovators
Program Background
The Industry Growth Program (IGP) is a federal initiative designed to help Australian startups and SMEs bridge the gap between research and commercialisation and bring innovative ideas to market. Administered by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR), the program offers advisory services and matched non-repayable grant funding from $50,000 up to $5M to businesses developing new products, services, or technologies.
The IGP specifically targets projects within TRL 3 to TRL 9, which spans proof-of-concept through to commercialisation. The IGP splits funding into two streams to align support with technology maturity and risk:
Early-Stage Commercialisation (TRL 3–6) provides grants aimed at feasibility and prototyping stages, with grants ranging from $50K–$250K.
Commercialisation and Growth(TRL 4–9) funds later-stage validation, for scaling and market entry, with grants ranging from $100K–$5M.
The IGP has seen strong demand since its launch in November 2023. In September 2024, the DISR issued additional tenders to recruit more IGP advisers — an indication of application volume and program popularity [1]. In August 2025, a milestone figure of 1,000 IGP business advisory reports was achieved via the IGP Advisory Service (IGPAS) [2].
In mid-December 2025, the government announced the IGP would miss out on $102 million in uncommitted funding as part of the Mid-Year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) [3], over 5 years commencing in FY26. This is part of a broader $147.6 million reprioritisation across industry, science, and resources programs over five years.
Funding Pool Progress
The IGP was announced in the 2023–24 Federal Budget with $392.4M in funding provided to be spent over 4 years [4], with $105M (or 27%) allocated to internal costs [5], leaving $287.4 (or 73%) for the project funding pool. The program remains open for applications, with rolling intakes and no fixed closing date.
We previously reviewed the IGP funding allocations and distribution of grants in an article published in December 2025. Since then, an additional 15 projects have been awarded funding.
As a result, as of 16th March 2026, the IGP has awarded 111 grants totaling $171.2M [6] (Figure 1a). Applying the $102M cuts announced in MYEFO to this figure speculatively, but assuming a similar split across internal costs (27%) and funding pool (73%), this amounts to $76.9M cut to the available grant pool, with $40.3M remainingfor allocation- approximately 13% of the initial funding pool (Figure 1b).
Figure 1a: Grant funding pool spent before MYEFO cuts announced.
Figure 1b: Grant funding pool spent after MYEFO cuts announced.
79 out of the 111 awarded grants, or 71%, have been from the Commercialisation and Growth stream, indicating a bias towards higher TRL projects (Figure 2). DISR has not publicly disclosed a fixed split of the funding pool between Early-Stage Commercialisation grants and Commercialisation and Growth grants.
Figure 2: IGP grants awarded by stream.
The IGP has made regular announcements of grant recipients and funding amounts in tranches since the program commenced. The first awardees were announced in August 2024 and announcements have been seen in increasing frequency as the program matures – with funding announcements from DISR regarding IGP grant projects in January 2025, February 2025, August 2025, September 2025, November 2025, February 2026, and March 2026 [7].
Based on the increasing cadence of funding announcements, and the demand for the program, it's anticipated that 100% of the initial funding outlay will be exhausted just after the end of 2025-2026 financial year (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Timeline and content of IGP announcements. Note that 100% of the $287.4M initial funding pool allocation is projected to be exhausted by 3 July 2026. Projection figure is based on linear regression fit of 18Mar25 to 16Feb26 data points (calculated excluding sudden MYEFO drop in red).
Grant Distribution
Early-Stage Commercialisation
Early-Stage Commercialisation grants offer between $50,000 and $250,000, targeting projects at the feasibility study, proof-of-concept and prototyping stages (TRL 3–6). To date, 32 Early-Stage Commercialisation grants have been awarded, with the majority of grants (72%) between $200k and $250k, and a median grant value of $249,610 (Figure 4).
Key statistics
32 grants awarded.
Min: $59,500
Max: $250,000
Mean: $210,675
Median: $249,610
Figure 4: Early-Stage Commercialisation grants by size. The majority of grants in this stream are between $200,001 and $250k.
Commercialisation and Growth
Commercialisation and Growth grants are for innovative projects in prototyping through to market-readiness stages (TRL 4–9). These grants are higher value, between $100k and $5M, as these later stages of development, including scaling production, market expansion, and business growth, require more capital and deliver greater commercial impact. To date, 79 Commercialisation and Growth grants have been awarded, with the majority of grants (58%) below $2M, and a median grant value of $1,690,953 (Figure 5).
Key Statistics
79 grants awarded.
Min: $194,548
Max: $5,000,000
Mean: $2,081,231
Median: $1,690,953
Figure 5: Commercialisation and Growth grants by size. The majority of grants in this stream are between $100k and $2M.
Program Target Industries
The IGP is a key delivery mechanism for the Albanese Government’s Future Made in Australia policy, providing targeted support to innovative Australian businesses aligned with National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) priority areas [15]:
Enabling capabilities (e.g. advanced manufacturing, AI, communication, robotics, biotechnologies)
Medical science
Value-add in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries
Renewables and low-emission technologies
Defence capability
Transport
Value-add in resources (e.g. mining & refining minerals).
IGP grants are awarded based on eligibility and merit criteria, and there is no guidance on how or if funding is split between the priority areas.
Awardees by NRF Priority Areas*
Early-Stage Commercialisation
The Early-Stage Commercialisation grants have heavily favoured value-add in agriculture, forestry, and fisheries, with almost one-third of all grants awarded assigned this category (Figure 6). These projects vary from lab grown meat (Magic Valley Pty Ltd, $100k), to automating berry harvesting (Forager Automation Pty Ltd, $158k), to food packaging made from banana fibre pulp waste (Papyrus Australia Ltd, $250k).
Figure 6: Early-stage commercialisation grants by their NRF Priority Area* highlights Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries and Renewable energy sectors as the most-awarded projects.
Commercialisation and Growth
The larger Commercialisation and Growth grants have favoured enabling capabilities and medical science NRF priority areas, together accounting for almost half of all grants awarded (Figure 7).
Enabling capabilities projects include in-flight wireless charging for drones (Aquila Space Technologies Pty Ltd, $1.8M), developing tactile sensors for robots (Contactile Pty Ltd, $269k), biomanufacturing of human lactoferrin (Eclipse Ingredients, $1.9M), and smart antennas for extending mobile and satellite coverage (Zetifi Pty Ltd, $5M).
Medical science projects include portable brain and CT scanners for first responders (EMVision Medical Devices Ltd, $5M, & Micro-X Ltd, $4.4M), an ultra-realistic non-invasive artificial larynx (Laronix Pty Ltd, $3.2M) software for ophthalmologists to prevent macular blindness (Macuject Pty Ltd, $618k), and novel biomaterials to enhance surgery and recovery outcomes (SDIP Innovations Pty Ltd, $4M).
Figure 7: Commercialisation and Growth grants by their NRF Priority Area* highlights Enabling Capabilities (including manufacturing, robotics, and communications) and Medical Science sectors as the most-awarded projects.
Key Takeaways
The IGP is seeing strong uptake and significant demand from innovative SMEs, with over $171M awarded across 111 grants in its first two years.
Based on our analysis and factoring in recent cuts to the program, an estimated 87-90% of the initial funding pool has been spent to date, less than 2 years from when the first grants were awarded. That momentum reflects both the program’s broad appeal and the urgency many businesses feel to secure support for commercialisation.
If you're considering applying, it's worth noting that the MYEFO cuts to the program have significantly reduced the available funding pool, with an estimated $76.9M slashed from the grant pool, leaving $40.3M remaining as of March 2026. A search of recent coverage and official sources shows no comment from DISR addressing the $102 million reduction to uncommitted IGP funding announced in MYEFO.
It is unclear how the MYEFO cut will impact the previously promised ongoing budgeted support of $68.2 million per year [4]. Official departmental materials continue to present the IGP as operating normally, with no reference to the MYEFO cuts, and our contacts within the program report that IGP advisors have been told it remains business‑as‑usual. If you are already engaged with the IGP through the Advisory Service, we encourage you to continue that engagement and consider applying for the remaining grant funding as soon as possible.
The IGPAS is the required first step to engage with the program and involves delivery of tailored business advice, culminating in the issuing of a report that may recommend you to submit an IGP grant application. The IGPAS will generally deliver confirmation of program entry within 10 working days of application, with matching to an IGP adviser typically occurring within 2–4 weeks from this date. Beyond this, timelines to business development, report generation and IGP application recommendation, submission, assessment, and outcomes can vary significantly.
In summary, the IGP remains a helpful program for both business advisory and commercialisation funding, yet one that is highly competitive with a limited funding pool. The next Australian Federal Budget (2026-27) will be handed down by Treasurer Jim Chalmers on Tuesday, 12 May 2026, which will determine whether the fund is continued as previously indicated.
If you're considering applying for the IGP, we can help you determine your eligibility and guide you through the process. Feel free to contact us at any time regarding the IGP, or to explore other funding opportunities that align with your project or business.
References
[1] https://www.industry.gov.au/news/industry-growth-program-advisers-second-round-request-tender
[2] https://www.industry.gov.au/news/innovative-businesses-share-287-million-industry-growth-program
[3] https://budget.gov.au/content/myefo/index.htm
[4] https://archive.budget.gov.au/2023-24/bp2/download/bp2_2023-24.pdf (page 163)
[5] https://www.innovationaus.com/advice-admin-for-industry-growth-program-to-swallow-105m/
[6] https://business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/industry-growth-program/grant-recipients. Accessed 13 November 2025, current at 17/02/2026
[7] https://www.industry.gov.au/news?news-topic[3310]=3310&field_news_date_value=All
[9] https://www.manmonthly.com.au/400m-industry-growth-program-boosting-australian-manufacturing/
[10] https://www.intellectlabs.com.au/blogdatabase/industry-growth-program-update-032025
[11] https://www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au/news/latest-igp-recipients-announced
[14] https://www.industry.gov.au/news/212-million-support-new-commercialisation-projects
[15] https://www.nrf.gov.au/what-we-do/our-priority-areas
*NRF Priority Area categorisation of projects is based on the known industry of the awarded business and the short project summary provided, and does not reflect true internal IGP project categorisation or businesses’ or assessors’ opinions.