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.
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?
There's some of this in Germany as well. Of the schemes that I've heard (we haven't approached the government backed funding options) was a co-investment scheme, where there's a Berlin-backed investment group that wants to foster innovation in the city, but they only co-invest with private investors. At least in theory the idea sounds great because it keeps much of the decision making in the market, but also sweetens the deal attracting private investment to the city.
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.
"... 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.
