Funding & Finance

Inconsistency is what most influences an organisation's decision to invest in R&D and the extent of its R&D investment. This is because a company cannot budget and minimise risk if it does now know the extent to which it is likely to be eligible for a tax concession. The proposed reforms to the R&D tax concession not only conflict with their stated purpose but offer no consistency to organisations already engaged in the complex task of commercialising innovation... whether novel or risky.

Late last year, Miles Burke, the founder of Perth-based Bam Creative, engineered a coup d’état within his own business. He invited all the company’s employees to become shareholders. Bam started the new year with everyone buzzing around the office, genuinely working for the collective good rather than selfish individual ends. Here’s Burke’s account of how (and why) it happened.

There are many reasons to seek funding in the US, and not all of them involve preparation for entry into the American market. Solar-Gem CEO Khimji Vaghjiani, winner of last month’s Australian Innovation Shoot Out in California, presents a checklist all international entrepreneurs should consider before sitting down with US venture capitalists.

The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) announced today that it will be staging a free IPO workshop, on 16 February, for small cap companies (companies with a market capitalisation of between $300 million and $2 billion) interested in growing their business through public listing.

Of note to NSW SMEs and public sector research organisations (PSRO) is the launch last week of the NSW government's TechVouchers scheme, a pilot...

When I embarked on my current search for new funding, I thought I was familiar with most of the likely sources: friends (relatives and fools), angels, angels with teeth - Venture Capital (VC), strategic investors (the Holy Grail), an IPO or Lotto. But it turned out there was one I wasn’t aware of...

When I embarked on my current search for new funding, I thought I was familiar with most of the likely sources: friends (relatives and fools), angels, angels with teeth - Venture Capital (VC), strategic investors (the Holy Grail), an IPO or Lotto. But it turned out there was one I wasn’t aware of...

Digital media networking solutions company Audinate (a NICTA spin-out company since 2006) has secured an additional $4 million funding round, which was led by its existing investors Starfish Ventures and Innovation Capital.

Is innovation a driver of economic development down-under? The simple answer is, yes. But is it a core driver – part of our national psyche, supported by government policy? I personally don’t think that it is. I’m not so sure that ‘necessity’ is a part of life for most Australians. I don’t think that the ‘tyranny of distance’ still forces us to work smarter, not harder. In fact, the only cultural description I believe worth citing as part of this innovation debate is Australia’s reputation as a ‘lucky country’.

In this 'rap off' between two of the history's most influential economic minds, you'll find John Meynard Keynes throwing back Cosmopolitans in an effort to explain the value of stimulus spending. If only K Rudd had tried to articulate this important economic theory from the VIP section of a Manhattan 'gentlemen's club', he wouldn't have encountered nearly so much opposition.

Running a small business inevitably means becoming a jack of all trades, most notably of which is ‘doing the books’. This in turn requires getting to grips with tricky accounting packages, an understanding of spreadsheets and becoming conversant with accounting jargon. The result is waving goodbye to your evenings, weekends and regular sleep.

Starting the new year with an optimistic outlook is one thing. To remain confident throughout the rest of the year requires setting a series of short-term measurable goals that you celebrate as each is achieved.

Starting the new year with an optimistic outlook is one thing. To remain confident throughout the rest of the year requires setting a series of short-term measurable goals that you celebrate as each is achieved.

So you want to start a business but time and money are holding you back? Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin has set himself the challenge of launching a startup in seven days for less than $500. This is the second post in the series.

I realise the aim of this column is to be as open and honest as possible about my experiences raising capital, but at this point I’m eager not to do anything that might jeopardise our chances of success. If you think I’m being a little too prudent then let me tell you a painful story about how I learnt not to count chickens, the hard way...

The first thing you need to do in order to take the amazing idea in your head and turn it into a fully-fledged company is to raise capital, and the first piece of advice you’ll get is to create a business plan and a forecast. If that sounds like an awful lot of hard work, you're right. If you don’t even know where your next pay cheque is coming from, how can you be expected to have foresight years ahead on the performance of a company that exists only in thin air? It also sounds suspiciously like a budget -- something you thought you’d left behind in the corporate world.

The first thing you need to do in order to take the amazing idea in your head and turn it into a fully-fledged company is to raise capital, and the first piece of advice you’ll get is to create a business plan and a forecast. If that sounds like an awful lot of hard work, you're right. If you don’t even know where your next pay cheque is coming from, how can you be expected to have foresight years ahead on the performance of a company that exists only in thin air? It also sounds suspiciously like a budget -- something you thought you’d left behind in the corporate world.

During this evening networking event, attendees will learn from successful Australian business builders who have "been there, done that" and employed grant assistance as an instrumental part of their ongoing commercial success.

So you want to start a business but time and money are holding you back? Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin has set himself the challenge of launching a startup in seven days for less than $500. This is his introductory post in the series. The clock has started!

Want to take it to the next level in your company. It might be time to finance a BIMBO. Todd O’Neil explains.