About the program
The Female Founders Co-Investment Fund aims to support eligible innovation driven enterprises (IDEs) founded and led by women to secure new early-stage investment through a capital raise, and will:
- support Queensland-based female founders to close early-stage investment rounds leveraging Government backing,
- support Queensland female founders to grow innovative businesses across a wide range of industries,
- increase the number of female founders participating in the Queensland innovation ecosystem, and
- help to grow an investment pipeline for female founded businesses.
The fund is best suited for businesses planning to use the sale of shares through a new capital raise and who understand the responsibilities and legal requirements of equity funding. If you are not yet ready to raise capital, check the Investment Resources below to learn more about the startup capital raising process.
Funding and support
The Fund provides grants from $50,000 to $200,000 matched at a 1:3 ratio for a raise round led by an eligible investment entity. The organisation must secure a minimum of $150,000 in external investment to be eligible to receive a minimum of $50,000 in grant funding.
Provisionally approved applicants will have 180 calendar days to seek and secure any further investment as part of their nominated raise.
Eligibility
To be eligible for funding, organisations must:
- be a business headquartered in Queensland (operating and having its head office located in Queensland)
- have an active ABN and be registered for GST
- be majority female owned: have at least 51% of shares held by a woman/women (at least six months before application)
- female led: have at least one primary executive decision-making position held by a woman (at least six months before application) e.g. Chief Executive Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Technology Officer
- have no more than 50 full-time-equivalent employees
- not be a subsidiary of a group of companies that has more than 50 full-time-equivalent employees in total
- not have received investment through previous capital raises totalling more than $500,000.
The organisation should also:
- have an investment plan to approach new eligible investment entities within the next six months OR have already secured an offer of investment from an eligible investment entity
- have a clear innovation focus
- have a product/service beyond proof of concept
- have an established business plan covering the next 12 months
- have a clear runway and growth plan for 12 months
- plan to use the funding to scale their business.
Application Process
- Applications may be submitted at anytime
- The Program will remain open until all funds have been allocated
- Applicants who meet the eligibility criteria will be assessed competitively and notified of the outcome by email within approximately 6-10 weeks
- Provisionally approved applicants must secure their raise/investment within 180 calendar days from the provisional approval date in order to receive grant funding.
Key documents
- 2024 Program guidelines
- Funding Agreement - Sample
- Lead Investor Letter of support Template
- Referee Letter of support Template
Enquiries
Additional support
- Backing Female Founders Program
- Advance Queensland Female Founders LinkedIn group
- Business support and grant writing information
- Queensland Government Grants Finder
- Dealroom provides useful tools and information for investment in Queensland
- Business Queensland support for early businesses and women in business
Investment Resources
There are numerous events and courses to support founder investment education. A sample of these include:
- Business Queensland – Fund your business growth
- Scale Investors – EmpowerEd and FoundEd programs
- Startup Onramp – Founders Course
- Ignite Spark program
- LegalVision – Event recordings and Webinars
- Cake Equity – Events
- AirTree open source investor list (not an endorsement of investors)
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