Fund Your Commercialisation Plans

If you’re bringing something new to New Zealand, you should be considering the Ārohia Innovation Trailblazer grant. This can fund 30% of your commercialisation costs over 2 years, with up to $4M in non-dilutive funding. The program is intended to support the innovation leaders with big ideas that could also benefit other kiwi innovators. Competition will be fierce, so you’ll need a polished proposal and a tailored pitch.

How can I Use the Ārohia Innovation Trailblazer Grant?

The $4M Ārohia Innovation Trailblazer Grant can be used to fund commercialisation work to take your innovation to market. It could subsidise product development, software development, user testing, marketing, launching facilities or even capital expenses. The innovation you’re bringing to market could be a product, a service, a process or even a business model. New physical equipment or facilities would qualify, as would digital platforms or services creating new national capabilities.

Businesses developing potentially groundbreaking innovations will be at different stages. You might be still testing a concept or validating the market, or you might be closer to taking their innovation to market. That’s why the Ārohia Innovation Trailblazer program offers 2 grants:

Ārohia Trailblazer Grant

If you’re ready to blow us away with the new innovation you’re developing, and your robust, well-evidenced plan and ability to take it to market, the Ārohia Trailblazer Grant could be right for you.

Ārohia Evidence Grant

If you’re not quite ready to have a crack at the Ārohia Trailblazer Grant but that’s your aspiration, and you’d benefit from financial support to help you get better prepared to apply, the Ārohia Evidence Grant could be right for you.

Where do I start with the Ārohia Innovation Trailblazer Grant?

Don’t wait for the deadline – you need to lodge your interest weeks in advance. And don’t rely on the administrators, who can’t give 1:1 advice because of the strict competition rules. When they say there’s a high chance of failure, it pays to prepare early.

With the right project, you can get up to $25,000 to fund half of the costs of a smaller project that gets you ready to apply for the main grant. Get in touch with our consultants for a confidential chat about your ideas for a project.

How Can BlueRock Help?

Here’s how BlueRock’s grants and tax specialists can help you access the Ārohia Innovation Trailblazer Grant:

• Free consultation
• Independent pre-assessment advice
• Confidentially workshop your needs and strategy
• Write your Evidence Grant application
• Advice for Evidence Grant contracting and reporting
• Plan your main Trailblazer grant strategy
• Evaluate your commercialisation plans
• Ensure you don’t include ineligible R&D costs
• Preparing your main Trailblazer grant submission
• Ongoing support for reporting and compliance.
• Celebrating your success!