Project Eligibility

Grant funds are not intended to cover existing day-to-day operations and expenses, such as payroll, rent or loan repayments or to pay for business advisory services.

Grant funds are intended for special business projects with specific timelines and budgets. Grant funding can be used for a variety of purposes, including (but not limited too)

• Purchasing materials or equipment
• Working capital (e.g., buying stock or materials)
• Equity and loan contributions

Subsidy funds are intended to facilitate access to local business advisory services and require a co-payment of up to 50% of the value of a business advisory service.

Both Grant and Subsidy proposals should meet the criteria of at least one (or more) of the following five categories:

1. Innovation: Provides support for projects that drive new products or services, including new and improved operation systems, upgrading and meeting industry standards, enabling access to new markets, digital transformation and online presence. An innovation project should demonstrate how improving products, services, or operations could generate positive business returns and social outcomes.

Examples of innovation projects include new websites, cloud accounting migrations, diversification of products, or launching a new service and reaching new markets.

2. Growth: Growth grants and subsidies support SMEs with a clear and viable plan to increase profit and employment, expand sales to existing and new markets, expand operations to new locations, or increase the production of existing products. Growth projects should demonstrate a viable plan to improve business and social outcomes.
3. Inclusion: BLP will support projects that improve a business’s capacity to reach and serve: rural communities, youth, women, indigenous groups, and people with disabilities. Inclusion projects can be commercial products and services that address this population’s needs or provide employment, access to training or services to these under-served groups. Inclusion projects should demonstrate the viability of generating positive business and social impact.

Examples of inclusion projects are the following: providing accessibility to premises or services for people with mobility issues; the employment of women, people with disability or youth; offering goods and services to remote markets, or implementing a business model that supports social benefits for underserved communities.

4. Climate: BLP will support the following climate-related projects:

• Climate change mitigation – Reducing a business’s air, land and water impacts. These impacts occur through a business’s internal operations, purchasing solar electricity or renewable energy, and indirect supply chain actions.
• Climate change adaptation – Making changes so a business can avoid closure or setbacks in the face of severe weather events. These changes relate to a business’s operations, location, and sourcing supplies and energy.
• Climate change resilience – Improving a business’s capacity to take adaptive actions by enhancing its ability to anticipate, cope and bounce back from climate impacts while incurring minimal damage.
• Green growth – Market growth opportunities from minimising resource use, environmental impact from consumption, and end-of-life products.

Examples of green growth opportunities are zero waste or circular economy business models, regenerative approaches to agriculture and production, or heating and cooling technologies that use renewable energy.

5. Finance: grants and subsidies can be used to secure additional commercial or concessional finance products and services. This can include BLP supported SME finance products, as well as access finance that reduces the impact of climate change, improves business resilience and promotes green growth activities.

Examples of finance projects include using the grant as equity for a loan, advisory services for loan preparation and facilitating investment and investment readiness.

Full application guidelines are available for grants and can be downloaded here. Grant application forms are available here

Full application guidelines are available for subsidies and can be downloaded here. Applications for subsidies are available through BLP approved business advisors, search for an advisory services provider here.