What would you do with $5,000 or $10,000 for your business?
SPARK Biz Grants!
Round Four - applications open 1-31 May, 2024
Voting & Judging 4 - 30 June, 2024.
Grants awarded 10 July 2024.
Round Five - applications open 1 - 31 August, 2024.
Money talks.
There's a good reason startups spend SO much time seeking capital.
Because chunks of cash MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
Women-founded startups raised 1.9% of all VC funds in 2022, a drop from 2021.
Last year, U.S. startups with all-women teams received 1.9% (or around $4.5 billion) out of around the $238.3 billion in venture capital allocated.
In Australia, Just 3% of total VC capital went to all-women-founded startups in 2022, while just 10% went to those with at least one woman in their co-founding teams.
So we're putting our money where our mouth is and awarding 2 grants worth a total of $15,000 to two epic female-founded businesses in the SPARK community.
And this is just the beginning.
WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?
The purpose of SPARK is to help women in business grow their profit & impact. We do this by creating the resources, insights and community for women to shortcut their success. And while we believe you can do a lot on hustle, sometimes girls just need funds. So we’re reinvesting our profits back into a quarterly $5,000 & $10,000 business grant.
We believe that if we want change.
It starts with us.
2024 Grant Schedule
1 February - Round Three Applications Open
4 March - Voting & Judging Period
10 April - Grants awarded & Funded
1 May - Round Four Applications Open
4 June - Voting & Judging Period
10 July - Grants awarded & Funded
1 August - Round Five Applications Open
4 September - Voting & Judging Period
10 October - Grants awarded & Funded
1 November - Round Six Applications Open
4 December - Voting & Judging Period
10 January 2025 - Grants awarded & Funded
Cat Matson, CEO, Impactful Presenters
“I LOVE this initiative! In my experience, women business owners are SO respectful, creative and thoughtful with their money ... $10,000 in the hands of a savvy woman in business can create such a significant impact. When I was Brisbane's chief digital officer running the Budding and Global Entrepreneur Programs, it always blew my mind what founders could do with just $5,000 or less ... and some of those founders are now running national and global businesses thanks to how they leveraged that small injection of funds.”
Congratulations to our previous winners!
ROUND ONE
Congratulations to Kathryn Walsh from Practice Studio who has WON Round One of the SPARK $10k Women in Business grant!
Practice Studio is an emerging designer workroom, store and gallery that champions innovative, ethical and sustainable design.
We are so thrilled to support Kat on her mission to champion change in the fashion industry and can't wait to follow her business journey!
ROUND THREE
$10,000 public vote - Jeevi, Afrowithjeevi (AWJ).
$5,000 judges vote - Peta-Gai, Iridis Cosmetics.
$5,000 judges vote - Leanne, Acala Stem.
ROUND TWO
$10,000 public vote - Jaymee, The Buttery Music School.
The Two Grants.
$10,000 - awarded to the winner of the public vote.
$5,000 - awarded by a panel of judges.
One application form gets you in to both grants.
The fine print & FAQs.
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The funding is to be used for activities that will directly contribute to the growth of your profit or impact. This is one of the entry questions and you will be required to state how you will use the funds.
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The business owner identifies as a female.
The business is located in Australia, New Zealand or Singapore.
The business has been registered for 12 months or more.
You are currently a SPARK member or SPARK alumni.
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The grant money is meant to be spent! We want you to take action on growing your profit & impact. Grant funds are required to be spent within 6 months of funding. A requirement of the funding will be to participate in a post-funding interview to share how the grant impacted your business.
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The application form should take you 15-30 minutes to complete. You are welcome to record your video simply on your smartphone, there’s no need to make it fancy, you just want to show your personality to potential voters!
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You sure can! Plus, we’ve linked up a google doc so you can make a copy for your self and write a draft in your own time.
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Applications open - 1 - 30 November, 2023
Voting/judging period - 1 - 31 December 2023.
Grant announced - 10th January 2024.
Grant funded - within 24 hours of signing the grant agreement.
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$10,000 - The grant will be awarded by the SPARK and public business community. All grant entries will be listed on a landing page and the public will be able to vote for your entry. Only one vote will be counted per person (with a valid email), no spam here!
All invalid email addresses, spam, bots or duplicate votes will be deleted and invalidated and deleted.
Votes must be verified by the voter to count.
$5,000 - will be awarded by an independent panel of judges.
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The successful grant winner will retain all IP ownership.
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The successful grant winner will be required to:
Participate in an interview after the grant is announced.
Show proof of expenditure that aligns to their grant entry within 6 months of funding.
Participate in a post-grant interview to share how the grant has impacted their business.
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Of course you can you savvy business woman you!
Get $100 off your annual SPARK membership (that discounts it to only $265 for a whole year of epic support!).
Use the discount code GRANT100 when you purchase your membership and you’ll find the grant application form on the inside.
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Part of the reason why we launched our own grant is to get more money in the hands of women-led business without making it hard. With the added side-effect of getting them more brand awareness as a happy side affect of simply entering. We believe there’s shouldn’t be barriers for women trying to make an impact in the world through their business.
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Dial in to an event.
Get your questions answered and put yourself in the best possible position to win.
ON DEMAND REPLAYS
🗓️ Monday 7 August 2023 12pm AEST - Zoom Webinar - Grant announcement and AMA with Danielle Lewis.
🗓️ Friday 11 August 2023 3pm AEST - Zoom Webinar - How to 'stand out' in award submissions and present yourself on video - hosted by Cat Matson.
🗓️Wednesday 16 August 2023 12pm AEST - Instagram Live - AMA with Danielle Lewis.
We are so grateful to the organisations and individuals
supporting SPARK and women in business.
Sponsors
Supporters
Applications are easy.
Applications open 1 - 30 May 2024.
Applications are open to all SPARK program alumni or any current SPARK member.
Log in to your SPARK portal.
Click on ‘SPARK Biz Grants Application’
Complete the application form, including a link to a 1-2 minute video pitch.
A SPARK team member will confirm your entry and send your live link for voting.
Share with your network to vote for your pitch!
Public voting & judging open 4 - 30 June, 2024.
Grants Awarded July 10th, 2024.
Terms and conditions.
Applications open to Australia, New Zealand & Singapore registered businesses. Business must be operational for 12 months or more.
Business owner must identify as female.
Applicant must be a SPARK Alumni or current SPARK member to apply. Not a SPARK member yet? Get $100 off your annual subscription using the discount code GRANT100
Watch a quick walk-through on how to apply with our Founder, Danielle.
Kind words about the SPARK platform & programs.
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Vanessa Murillo, I Am Grounded
“The Spark female founders program offered me the opportunity to connect with incredibly inspiring fellow female founders and mentors across a range of industries. I thoroughly enjoyed participating in this program and made amazing connections as well as grew my knowledge in a range of business topics such as copywriting, personal branding, seeking funding and influencer marketing. I recommend applying for this program if you are looking to connect, learn and participate in a female-identifying entrepreneurial eco-system.”
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Jess Rhufus, Collabosaurus
“The SPARK Founders Program was a great opportunity to connect with leaders in the sales & marketing field, as well as like-minded founders. I absolutely recommend for startups looking for fresh connections & opportunities to bounce ideas off some great marketing minds!”
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Brittney Kenward, Be Physioolgy
“The SPARK Program has given me some amazing tools and challenged my thinking around sales and how I build this into my business - from every angle! Danielle will keep you motivated and is dedicated to your success. If you're unsure, just enrol, you won't regret it.”
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Amanda Crawford, Leadership Shapers
“I loved everything about the SPARK program, from the way it was structured and ‘chunked down’ the process of building your sales strategy, to the connection with other founders and the sense of being on a shared journey.
The program creates the space, opportunity and support to examine (or re-examine) your sales strategy in ‘real time’, applying each step week-to-week whilst also having a chance to reflect and refine along the way. Having the flexibility to self-serve at your own pace if you can’t make it to the weekly session is an added bonus. Do yourself a favour and become part of SPARK Founders!”
