Round 4 - FAQs

The Alumni Scale-up round is designed to support previous Participating Organisations who are ready to scale their commercial presence in India.

This includes accelerating:

• Customer acquisition and revenue growth in India, and/or
• Establishing or deepening manufacturing or assembly operations capability.

The Round is focused on execution and scale, rather than market discovery, technology piloting/validation or early-stage exploration.

Your initial participation focused on market entry, validation, and early engagement.

This alumni round is for organisations that have already completed or are on track to completing that phase and are now seeking to:

• Convert validated demand into contracted sales
• Operationalise partnerships
• Localise manufacturing or assembly
• Build sustained in-market capability

Applicants should already have demonstrated traction and a clear scale-up pathway.

RISE Accelerator Round 4 will run for 32 weeks. There will be no official domestic and international travel periods. 

This round is open to Australian alumni of the RISE Accelerator program only. Full eligibility criteria can be found in the RISE Accelerator Round 4 Alumni Scale-up Program and Grant Guidelines.

Organisations considering applying for Round 4 must also meet the following eligibility criteria:

• a company incorporated in Australia with ABN and ACN or an incorporated trustee applying on behalf of a trust
• be headquartered or domiciled in Australia
• registered for GST
• has not had revenue of more than $20 million in any of the last 3 financial years
• have a technology or solution at TRL 7 or higher. We may consider solutions at TRL 5-6 that have a clear potential to rapidly advance through expansion into India
• have previously participated in a RISE Accelerator Round 1-3 under a Participation Agreement with CSIRO.

In addition, you must meet the following conditions:

• can demonstrate readiness for commercial scale-up in India, with a focus on tangible execution – revenue growth, contracted sales, and or establishment of manufacturing or assembly capability in India.
• have fulfilled all reporting obligations, to date, under your Program Round Participation Agreement
• continuing to develop a technology or solution that aligns with circular economy, climate smart agriculture or renewable energy
• readiness to execute within the next 6 - 12 months.

Competitive applications will be able to evidence traction in India (e.g. signed contracts, paying customers, committed channel or manufacturing partners).

No. This round does not support:

• Market discovery activities
• Initial pilots or proof-of-concept trials
• Feasibility or scoping studies (unless attributed to scale-up outcomes based on activities to date).

Support may be applied to activities that accelerate scale, including:

• Sales execution and customer acquisition
• Distribution or channel expansion
• Manufacturing or assembly set-up and localisation
• Supplier engagement and quality systems
• In-market operational capability

All activities must be linked to clearly defined commercial outcomes.

Expenditure must be directly linked to accelerating sales growth or establishing/expanding manufacturing or assembly capability in India, and tied to defined 12 month outcomes.

Examples include, but are not limited to:

Operationalising production capability

• Supplier onboarding
• Production tooling specific to your technology and a manufacturing partner
• Quality assurance system implementation
• Pilot to production transition activities

(Standalone feasibility studies or trial activities would not be considered competitive).

Localisation and supply chain development

• Quality system integration
• Local component qualification
• Process adaptation for local operating conditions

(Evidence of supplier auditing, due diligence and industry-specific compliance approvals will enhance competitiveness).

Sales execution expansion

• Channel partner onboarding and activation costs
• Local technical sales support linked to conversion

(Activities not clearly connected to revenue outcomes would not be considered competitive).

No. Applicants may pursue:

• Sales-led scale-up/growth, or
• Manufacturing/assembly-led scale-up, or
• A combination of both.

Applicants proposing manufacturing or assembly activities must demonstrate readiness, including partner engagement and commitment, costed models, and operational planning.

Successful organisations may receive up to $100K in funding to support scale-up activities. Your Expression of Interest application should briefly outline your budget for key scale-up activities to warrant funding.

Applicants are expected to commit their own resources, aligned with proposed activities and associated expenditure, alongside Program support.

Not necessarily at the time of submitting an EOI.

However, applicants should have a clear and credible operating model for India, which may include:

• A local entity
• Strategic channel partners (e.g. distributors, resellers, OEMs)
• Manufacturing/assembly partners.

The appropriateness of the model will be assessed relative to the proposed scale-up activities.

This round is likely a good fit if:

This infographic is a decision-tree titled “Is the Alumni Scale-Up Round right for your organisation?” It guides users through a series of steps to determine their readiness.

The first question asks: “Do you have proven traction in India?”

• If No, the path leads to “Early stage or exploratory” and concludes with “Not ready for Alumni Scale-Up Round.”
• If Yes, the graphic asks whether the organisation’s focus is on sales expansion or manufacturing/assembly.

Under Sales Expansion, the criteria listed include:

• Paying customers or contracts
• Channel or OEM partners
• A clear revenue scale plan

Under Manufacturing/Assembly, the criteria include:

• A costed production model
• Supplier and QA strategy
• A localisation plan

Both pathways lead to “Potential fit for Alumni Scale-Up Round.”

The final section asks: “Are you ready to execute and scale?” with indicators such as:

• Defined operating mode
• Co investment commitment
• Clear 12–18 month outcomes

At the bottom, a call to action prompts: “Submit Expression of Interest

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• You have already validated your market in India
• You can point to tangible progress since completing or in progress with RISE Accelerator Rounds 1-3
• You are now focused on execution and scale
• Program support would materially accelerate targeted outcomes and activities already underway/in planning.

Manufacturing-led applicants should ideally be able to demonstrate:

• Identified or shortlisted suppliers or partners
• Costed or partially costed manufacturing/assembly model
• A clear rationale for localisation (cost, scale, supply chain resilience, or market access).

Purely exploratory manufacturing concepts without defined next steps are unlikely to be competitive.

This round does not support early-stage feasibility studies or high-level scoping exercises.

Proposed activities should be clearly linked to establishing or expanding manufacturing or assembly capability, such as supplier/partner onboarding, pilot-to-production transition, quality systems, or localisation execution.

Partial assembly, localisation of sub-components, or staged manufacturing approaches are all acceptable.

What matters is that the activity:

• Is commercially justified
• Contributes to scalable operations
• Can deliver tangible outcomes within the next 12months

Applicants should clearly articulate what will be localised and why.

These are considered critical for manufacturing-led proposals.

Applicants should be prepared to demonstrate that:

• IP risks have been considered and mitigated
• Quality assurance and supplier governance frameworks are in place or being implemented
• Manufacturing decisions are aligned with long-term commercial strategy

No. The program recognises hybrid and staged manufacturing models.

Strong applications clearly articulate:

• What remains in Australia and why
• What is localised in India and why
• How this strengthens overall competitiveness, supply chain resilience, or market access.

Yes. Manufacturing is not mandatory.

Sales-led applicants are encouraged to apply where they can demonstrate:

• Validated demand in India
• A repeatable sales model
• A credible plan to scale revenue through customer acquisition, distributors, OEMs, or channel partners.

Not necessarily.

Applicants may position models that incorporate:

• Distributors or agents
• Strategic partners or OEM relationships
• Direct sales supported by local staff or contractors

However, applicants should be able to clearly explain why their chosen model is appropriate for scale and how it will be governed.

Yes. Hybrid models are encouraged where appropriate.

Applicants should clearly articulate:

• How sales growth and manufacturing activities reinforce each other
• Which activities are prioritised
• What tangible outcomes will be delivered within the next 12months
• Strategic rationale.