Blog icon

CSIRO Kick-Start

An initiative for innovative Australian start-ups and SMEs

Designed specifically for start-ups and established small businesses, CSIRO Kick-Start offers dollar-matched funding of $10,000 to $50,000 for collaborative research projects.

Learn more about CSIRO Kick-Start

Important statistics

$10,000 - $50,000

Matched funding to undertake R&D activities with CSIRO researchers

12 months

Maximum length of project

Year-round

Apply anytime

180 Australian businesses

Number of businesses we've supported

Kick-Start projects span many sectors

Curing fashion’s reliance on leather with an eco-friendly plant-based alternative

Melbourne's Alt. Leather is transforming the leather industry with a sustainable, plant-based alternative, fast-tracked by CSIRO’s support.

Ochre Sun: from Country to the global stage

Alana Kennedy, founder of Ochre Sun, combines Indigenous knowledge with modern science to create high-protection sunscreens.

There's mush-room for plant-based Vitamin D

Hi-D, a family-run startup, has harnessed the expertise of our Kick-Start and RISE Accelerator programs to enhance their mushroom powders and expand into new markets.

Date with density: the science behind YFRESH's jujube revolution

Australian family-owned YFRESH is developing a shelf-stable jujube fruit with R&D support from our Kick-Start program.

Innovative Sparc gets a Kick-Start on path to green hydrogen solution

As we grapple with the urgent challenges of climate change, Australian start-up Sparc Hydrogen emerges as a beacon of innovation with support from the CSIRO Kick-Start program.

CSIRO's magic formula

Connecting SMEs with Australia's brightest minds is a delicate process involving research partnerships, facilitation, funding and collaborative guidance. This is where CSIRO comes in.

Flavocide: taking a new insecticide from leaf to lab

A brilliant idea, coupled with our expertise, has led to an innovative new insecticide.

Wash Wild

Wash Wild’s W4C® blend of Australian oils is an environmentally friendly alternative to traditionally harsh household cleaners.

Food Recycle

Supporting sustainability in the aquaculture industry through recycling food waste.

Start-up heroes

We find out what it takes to transition from a researcher to a founder, and celebrate the start-ups who have navigated the journey.

Traditional knowledge meets deep tech

We're supporting Indigenous science with cutting edge technology to shape a more innovative and sustainable future.

AI-powered spinal segmentation technology could ‘save radiologists and surgeons thousands of hours of work’

A new AI-powered piece of medtech segments spinal vertebrae, partner Singular Health anticipates a 95% accuracy in two minutes, which could enable medical professionals to better plan their surgeries.

Kick-starting a ‘paw-some’ pet food business

CSIRO Kick-Start has assisted a Newcastle-based entrepreneur, and dog-lover, develop scientifically-sound pet food.

Ready, set, grow: how we're supporting innovation and commercialisation success

Our business and research commercialisation programs make up a comprehensive innovation ecosystem that supports entrepreneurship and funding opportunities for researchers, start-ups and SMEs across Australia.

Empowering women and youth-led SMEs to innovate

Innovation can be key to small business success, and reducing barriers for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to engage in research collaboration is vital.

Sahul Exploration

Unravelling multi-phase Archean gold and base metal mineralisation with the help of CSIRO technologies and expertise.

Ready, set, collaborate: five ways to boost your SME's research and development potential

Science, technology and research are key drivers of growth for small to medium enterprises (SMEs). However, many lack the resources to pursue research projects alone. Here are five measures an SME can implement in their business to get the most out of their research and development collaborations.

Tessara Therapeutics

Tessara Therapeutics is a pioneering Australian biotech company accelerating the discovery and development of more efficacious drug candidates for neurological diseases

Eyes of AI collaborates with CSIRO's Data61 on revolutionary dental AI-imaging technologies

Sydney-based start-up, Eyes of AI, is collaborating with CSIRO to create ground-breaking machine learning models that can identify important dental features in radiographs.

Helping a start-up to transform fabric into furniture

An Australian start-up has enlisted the expertise of CSIRO to test and improve their recipe for turning the fabric from faded old uniforms into pieces of furniture.

Native Secrets

Collaborating on new extraction processes for native plants in skincare and more

Ominiwell

Supported by CSIRO Kick-Start, Ominiwell is determining the feasibility of culturing human organoids using Ominiwell’s BioTwin chip for application in R&D and personalised medicine.

SME Collaboration Initiative

Partnering across the ecosystem, we’ll deliver on the SME Collaboration Initiative aim, working to double the number of SMEs engaging with publicly funded research by 2030.

Protein processing hub

With our partners, we've scoped the long-term opportunities for manufacturing high-value protein ingredients in North Queensland.

Beyond H2

Beyond H2 are pursuing energy-efficient technologies to accelerate the development of Australia’s hydrogen economy.

CSIRO starts work on medicinal psychedelics

CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, is aiming to develop new psychedelics to help people with a variety of mental health issues including depression, addiction, end of life anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder.

Tidetech

Tidetech provides oceanographic data to the commercial shipping industry to save fuel and reduce emissions.

Could seaweed replace plastic?

CSIRO worked with Western Australia-based start-up, ULUU, to test seaweed-derived polymers for use as an alternative to conventional plastics.

Amber Electric

CSIRO researchers helped Amber Electric develop a predictive model to forecast wholesale electricity prices to give customers the opportunity to adapt their energy usage to reduce costs.

University of Newcastle

Over the last eight years, the University of Newcastle has partnered with 117 small and medium businesses (SMEs) to deliver 167 projects through CSIRO SME Connect, making them our number one university in Australia for SME collaboration.

University of Technology Sydney

Through SME Connect, the University of Technology Sydney has partnered with 84 different small or medium businesses on 126 projects, delivering outcomes from faster crop cloning to a more sustainable pint.

Track your pet’s movements in real-time with this smart collar

After releasing a 'fitness tracker for cows' in 2018, Ceres Tag in collaboration with CSIRO's Data61 are developing a prototype smart tracker for cats and dogs.

This AI-powered platform can identify insect and snake species from photo

Dubbed Critterpedia, the platform will enable the user to take a photo of a snake or spider from any smart device before a trained algorithmic system classifies it, providing information on the family, genus or species.

Designing robots to detect and deactivate landmines

There have been 122,000 landmine casualties since global tracking began in 1999, with 25% occurring between 2015 to 2018 and a substantial percentage children.

CannPal Animal Therapeutics

CannPal identified a gap in the market for natural plant-derived animal therapies that are both safe and effective for promoting better health and wellbeing for companion animals, focusing on compounds derived from cannabis.

goodMix

Helping goodMix to evaluate the nutritional composition of their superfood muesli mix Blend11.

ReNerve

Aggravating or debilitating nerve pain affects one in twenty Australians. Medical devices start-up ReNerve is pioneering the way in developing ready-to-use products for the repair or replacement of damaged peripheral nerves.

Australian Plant Proteins

Australian Plant Proteins (APP) optimised the protein content extracted from faba beans to more than 80% through a CSIRO Kick-Start project.

T-Provenance

The journey of agricultural products from producer to consumer is rapidly being redesigned with the introduction of innovative smart tracking software.

Q-Sera

CSIRO researchers helped to optimise Q-Sera's blood collection technology for commercial use.

LeaseInfo

An SME Connect introduction between retail leasing specialists LeaseInfo and CSIRO’s Data61 has revolutionised commercial lease abstraction.

Conflux Technology

Helping Conflux Technology commercialise its novel liquid-to-liquid heat exchanger technology.

Sex lives of flies could be key to tackling food waste

This National Science Week, Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, has revealed how a secret recipe to get Black Soldier Flies in the mood could help tackle our local food waste crisis.

CSIRO Kick-Start

Designed specifically for start-ups and established small businesses, CSIRO Kick-Start offers dollar-matched funding of $10,000 to $50,000 for collaborative research projects.

R&D support

CSIRO offers a range of R&D support for small and medium-sized businesses, regardless of sector, through funding and facilitation. We can help you refine your research problem, find the right researcher, and provide matched funding. 

With the help of experienced researchers and innovation experts, participants can examine their technical and/or business challenges, explore their R&D and innovation opportunities, and develop actionable business and funding plans.

  • Kick-Start - aimed at start-ups and small SMEs, providing funding support and access to CSIRO’s research expertise and capabilities to support R&D.
  • Innovate to Grow - a free 10-week program for those at the start of their innovation journey.

Kick-Start FAQs

FAQ's about CSIRO's Kick-Start: an initiative for innovative Australian start-ups and small SMEs, providing funding support and access to CSIRO’s research expertise and capabilities to help grow and develop their business.

Kick-Start projects span many sectors