5. Funding to develop business R&D capability – Callaghan Innovation growth, student and project grants
Specialist picture – insights to the wider RSI funding landscape.
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Note: Growth and project grants are historic grant schemes, no longer accepting new applications.
5.1 Low numbers of grants were awarded to Māori businesses between 2018 to 2020
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Figure 11: Proportion of Callaghan Innovation grants awarded to Māori and non-Māori, businesses, 2018 to 2020
Text version of Figure 11
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On average just 2.7% (82 of the 3,054) of grants awarded between 2018 and 2020 were awarded to Māori businesses.
Grants were awarded to 51 individual Māori businesses. This was 3.2% of all businesses, where a total of 1,571 individual businesses received grants.
17 Māori businesses over this period received more than one grant. Most received one or more student grants, and often a project grant.
5.2 Māori businesses have a similar experience to non-Māori businesses in the grant process – mainly positive with some administrative frustrations
Information held by Callaghan Innovation indicates that businesses who held growth, student and/or project grants in 2018 to 2020 had similar experiences to those of Māori businesses holding grants. Average Net Promoter Scores across these grants for Māori and non-Māori businesses match, at 9.6 out of a top score of 10.
A short review of this user experience shows all grant holders value an efficient, effective, and connected grants systems which sets all parties up well to advance R&D.