In this episode of the DevReady Podcast, host Andrew Romeo welcomes Trent Scheirs, Co-Founder of Grant Help, a leading consultancy dedicated to helping Australian businesses navigate the complex world of government grants and R&D incentives. With a background in business development and strategic advisory, Trent brings deep insights into funding pathways for innovation, having worked closely with former government assessors and industry experts. Grant Help supports clients across three main pillars: the R&D Tax Incentive, the Export Market Development Grant (EMDG), and a wide range of competitive ad hoc grants. With more than 1,500 grant programmes and $60 billion in funding available across federal and state levels, Trent shares practical advice on how businesses can find and secure the right opportunities to support their growth journey.
Trent delves into the distinction between entitlement-based grants, such as the R&D Tax Incentive, and competitive grants, which comprise the bulk of available funding but are harder to secure due to their selective nature. He highlights how changes in government leadership, particularly shifts between Labor and Liberal parties, can affect the availability and priorities of grant programmes. While entitlement grants tend to remain stable, competitive and ad hoc funding is often influenced by policy shifts, such as the current focus on sustainability and green innovation. As a board member of the Export Consultants Association (ACCI), Trent provides behind-the-scenes insight into how grant policy is shaped and encourages businesses to stay informed and proactive when it comes to long-term planning.
One of the key themes in this episode is eligibility and compliance for the R&D Tax Incentive, especially within software development. Trent outlines the critical need for projects to be technically uncertain and built from the ground up, not simply modifications of existing platforms like WordPress or Wix. Claims must be backed by three essential elements: a technical description, associated expenses, and supporting documentation created contemporaneously. Without detailed records like timesheets, JIRA exports, and contracts that clearly link the R&D activities to the spend, claims are likely to fall short. Grant Help goes so far as to check in monthly with clients to ensure real-time tracking because, as Trent emphasises, retrospective justification won’t hold up.
Beyond compliance, Trent and Andrew unpack the real heart of R&D: trial, error, and discovery. Documenting technical failures is just as important as celebrating successes, as failure signals genuine exploration and validates a project’s eligibility. They also stress the need to align R&D with commercial outcomes—because innovation without a market is just wasted effort. Working with experienced dev partners can reduce risk and free up founders to focus on go-to-market activities like branding and customer validation. In today’s fast-evolving tech landscape, especially in the wake of AIArtificial Intelligence (AI) is a very large and broad spectrum of technologies which most people would be familiar with through... advancements, building something useful and desirable is more important than building something novel.
To round out the episode, Trent introduces the Export Market Development Grant, which offers businesses up to $640,000 over eight years to fund global expansion efforts. From overseas travel and international marketing to hiring offshore reps and registering trademarks, the EMDG is designed to support businesses ready to scale beyond Australia. With global tariffs shifting, particularly between the US and China, Australian markets could soon be flooded with low-cost imports, making export planning a critical hedge for local businesses. Trent advises founders to solidify domestic sales first, and to begin planning early, with the next grant cycle opening in November 2025. Listeners are encouraged to reach out to Grant Help for a free discovery session and access to a competitive grants workbookpacked with tips and tools.
Topics Covered
- Overview of Government Grants in Australia
- Differences Between Entitlement-Based and Competitive Grants
- How Government Policy and Elections Influence Grant Availability
- Eligibility Criteria for the R&D Tax Incentive (Especially for Software)
- Importance of Contemporaneous Documentation for R&D Claims
- Role of Technical Failures and Uncertainty in Valid R&D
- Balancing R&D Investment with Commercial Viability
- Transitioning from Service-Based to Productised Models
- Export Market Development Grant (EMDG) – What It Covers and Who It’s For
- Strategic Export Planning Amid Global Economic Shifts and Tariffs
Important Time Stamps
- $60 Billion Up for Grabs? Why Most Businesses Miss Out on Grants (0:07 – 3:26)
- Grants 101: Why 99% of Businesses Miss Out on Free Money (3:27 -9:26)
- Labor vs Liberal: Who Supports Business More? (9:27 – 13:04)
- R&D 101: The 3 Things You Must Have to Claim Successfully (13:05 – 18:12)
- Busy Founders, Don’t Forget This One R&D Requirement (18:13 – 23:26)
- No Commercial Plan? Your R&D Might Just Be a Money Pit (23:27 – 34:38)
- Product-Market Fit Is a Moving Target—Here’s How to Keep Up (34:39 – 38:12)
- $640K in Free Money to Take Your Product Global? Here’s How (38:13 – 45:14)
