Congratulations to the successful recipients of round 8 of the IPP.
The 14 recipients will share in $2,556,885 of grant funding to deliver accelerator and education programs to assist, support and grow the Western Australian innovation ecosystem.
Round 8 of the IPP (formally X-TEND WA) focused on support programs that enable startups to become investor ready, equip entrepreneurs to scale and commercialise, and inform investors to increase the available capital to Western Australia’s innovation ecosystem.
The latest recipients will provide a variety of programs including specific support for Western Australian First Nations, regional and female innovators and entrepreneurs.
| Organisation | Program | Program Overview | Funding Amount |
| AgriStart Pty Ltd | HARVEST + AgriSpace: WA Agtech Investment Readiness Accelerator | The HARVEST Accelerator supports WA agtech startups that are ready to grow, commercialise, and prepare for investment. It provides targeted mentoring, industry connections, farmer/customer engagement, market access/delegations and investor readiness support. HARVEST participants gain free access to AgriSpace, our new investment platform, connecting agtech startups with investors and providing fundraising tools and practical education for new and emerging investors. Curated Interstate and International market immersions in partnership with VCs and commercialisation partners will support HARVEST alumni to scale globally. HARVEST will build a stronger pipeline of investment-ready ventures and increase innovation for primary industries and across regional WA. | $265,000 |
| Atomic Sky Pty Ltd | HORIZON Impact Bridge WA | HORIZON Impact Bridge WA supports First Nations women in regional Western Australia to build leadership and grow startup businesses through short-course training and mentoring delivered by successful First Nations women, plus founder coaching and a tailored pre-accelerator. The program strengthens regional jobs, economic participation and diversity while connecting founders to wider networks across the state. | $180,000 |
| Connected Futures Hub Ltd | Connected Futures Hub: Investor Readiness Program for Regional Female Entrepreneurs | The Connected Futures Hub is a hands-on program helping female entrepreneurs from regional WA take their businesses to the next level. High potential participants from existing programs like LEEF, Future Founders, and CONNECT Sustainable Industries will receive one-on-one mentoring, guidance from an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, workshops on pitching, strategy, and scaling, plus $5,000 bursaries and free coworking at The SET in Vasse. The program focuses on building confidence, commercial skills, and investor readiness, creating a supportive, place-based environment where female founders can grow, connect, and prepare to attract investment and scale their businesses. | $120,000 |
| CORE Hub Pty Ltd | CORE Start: Enabling Commercial-Ready Founders for a Diversified WA Economy | CORE Start is a six-month entrepreneur education and mentoring program that builds commercialisation capability for startups and innovative SMEs developing technologies aligned to Western Australia’s priority growth industries, including clean energy, critical minerals, advanced manufacturing, automation, robotics and industrial decarbonisation. Innovation Pathways funding will enable CORE Innovation Hub to expand participation to 20 founders, with places reserved for female, First Nations and regional founders, deepen execution-focused commercial support, embed industry and investor engagement, and introduce post-program support. Delivered through a competitive application process and free to participants, CORE Start will strengthen pathways from innovation to market for WA-based technologies commercialisation. | $98,000 |
First Nations X Ltd | FNX Scale | FNX SCALE, A First Nations enterprise and investment pathway for WA, formalises and scales the First Nations X delivery model developed through X-TEND (2023–2024) and First Nations House (2024–2025). It transitions a proven summit platform into a structured, year-round entrepreneurship and investor education pathway for First Nations founders in Western Australia. The program combines Perth-based education events, regional workshops, and a capstone First Nations House Summit with facilitated mentoring to build business capability, investment readiness, and market confidence. It supports First Nations entrepreneurs to progress from early-stage enterprise to scalable, investable businesses while maintaining cultural integrity and community connection. | $198,750 |
| Gloss Digital Pty Ltd | Female Founders in Tech Accelerator Program | A six-month accelerator for 20 WA female tech founders. This holistic program provides a bespoke growth pathway through monthly 1-on-1 mentoring, investor readiness training and specialised workshops. Participants access a national virtual ecosystem of mentors and resources, designed to be flexible for those with caregiving or professional commitments. By "meeting founders where they are," we bridge the gap between ideation and scaling, fostering an inclusive environment for female founders to thrive. | $101,025 |
| Health Translation Group Limited | WA Therapeutics Accelerator (WATA) | Health-related technologies from WA’s research organisations are at a very early stage of development. As a result, they often require significant strategic, structuring and management inputs to position them for investment readiness and maximising the potential returns they can provide. WA Therapeutics Accelerator (WATA) unifies research with a local critical mass of commercialisation/management expertise together with a local fund to bring hands-on and seed equity support. The successful maturing of early-stage therapeutic drugs will bring export income, jobs and new innovation to WA. WATA's team is uniquely positioned after involvement in all of WA's approved drugs from medical research. | $300,000 |
| Impact Seed Ltd | Impact Investment WA Alliance | The Regional WA Impact Investment Education project aims to overcome key barriers to impact investment in the regions, by (a) improving investor knowledge of investable innovation enterprises in WA’s regional and remote areas; (b) activating Aboriginal institutional investors to actively lead and participate in WA impact deals; and (c) growing the number of investors actively participating in the Impact Investment WA Alliance, a community of practice focused on growing impact investment in WA. | $181,130 |
| Ocean Impact Organisation | WA Blue Economy Innovation Platform | The WA Blue Economy Innovation Hub is a coordinated, multi-partner program supporting the commercialisation and global scaling of marine and maritime dual-use technologies developed in Western Australia. Delivered by Ocean Impact Organisation, For Blue and the University of Western Australia, the Hub provides a single entry point for innovators, investors and industry. It integrates venture diagnosis and incubation, a six-month accelerator for investment-ready ventures, and inbound and outbound landing pad services. The program supports ventures from TRL 4–7, strengthens export and investment pathways, and leverages WA’s defence, maritime and offshore capabilities to deliver measurable economic and innovation outcomes. | $290,000 |
| Pollinators | Pollinators - Mid West WA | Pollinators will deliver a 12-month regional innovation program designed for how innovation actually happens in the Mid West. Innovation here occurs across a spectrum — from founders developing new ideas to established businesses improving products, services and operations. Many of these innovators are under-served by traditional startup or business programs. The program builds practical innovation capability through mentoring, workshops and an Entrepreneur-in-Residence. It also pilots a new Innovation & Growth Forum for established SMEs. Alongside this, Pollinators will map how capital operates locally to strengthen connections between innovators and investors across the regional ecosystem. | $135,000 |
| South West Angels Limited | Regional Innovation & Investment Program | Our program will connect early-stage founders with private investors based in regional WA who can provide not only capital, but coaching, mentorship, skills and networks. It will support innovative, globally scalable WA startups through pitch events, education, coaching and investor readiness programs, helping ventures grow sustainably while strengthening the regional startup ecosystem. It will also build angel investing capability, through education, coaching and opportunities to learn from experienced angel investors, to encourage informed, collaborative angel investing to support economic development and entrepreneurship across regional WA. | $52,980 |
| Spacecubed Ventures | Plus Eight Accelerator 2026 | Since 2017, Plus Eight has been a cornerstone of Western Australia’s startup ecosystem, supporting 57 startups, investing over $4 million in seed funding, and creating 465 jobs, 60% of which are in WA. With a combined portfolio valuation of $230 million, the program drives measurable growth. Delivered by Spacecubed, founders benefit from hands-on workshops, mentorship from Entrepreneurs-in-Residence, and a six-month collaborative accelerator experience. Plus Eight encourages global thinking, connecting startups to opportunities in the US, UK, and Singapore. Alumni return annually to mentor new cohorts, creating a circular learning ecosystem that strengthens founder readiness, investment confidence, and long-term business growth. | $300,000 |
| The Centre for Entrepreneurial Research and Innovation | CERI FIRST - Female Innovators in Research, Science and Technology Progam | The CERI 'FIRST' program will deliver more female led, investment ready, deep-tech ventures that diversify the WA economy. This will be achieved by leveraging CERI's existing network of successful female founders to provide a new high quality mentoring program, entrepreneur education scholarships, a collaborative community, female founder led events and engagement with investors and the wider WA innovation ecosystem. | $135,000 |
| The Waalitj Foundation | Aboriginal Defence Strategy - Over the Horizon | The Aboriginal Defence Strategy – Over the Horizon is an education and capability building program designed to support Aboriginal businesses to prepare for and engage with opportunities in Australia’s Defence industry. The program focuses on building practical understanding of Defence markets, procurement and commercial expectations. It provides structured education, one-to-one coaching and facilitated engagement with Defence agencies and major contractors to help Aboriginal businesses become market and investment ready. Rather than providing funding, the program equips participants with knowledge, tools and connections needed to confidently position their businesses for Defence and Defence-adjacent opportunities, supporting long-term participation in sovereign industry supply chains. | $200,000 |
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