NZ R&D Co-funding Grants 2025: How to Access Up to NZD 5,000,000 During the Callaghan Innovation Transition

Callaghan Innovation is changing. Fast. For anyone building novel tech in New Zealand — from agritech startups in Waikato to medtech teams in Auckland — that matters because the programmes, grants, and expertise you rely on are moving into new homes. The practical upshot: there remains up to NZD 5,000,000 in co-funding for eligible R&D projects, but the delivery pathways and contacts are shifting as services transfer to MBIE and four new Public Research Organisations (PROs). This guide tells you what continues to operate, who can apply, how to craft an application that actually reads like it can be delivered, and how to navigate the handover without losing momentum.

Read this if you have an R&D project with commercial potential and the cashflow capacity to co-fund part of it. This is for founders, R&D managers, and technical leads who need clear next steps — not bureaucratic generalities. Expect practical advice, real examples, and a checklist you can use tomorrow.

At a Glance

Why This Matters Right Now

Callaghan Innovation’s formal disestablishment is part of a government reorganisation intended to realign public research and industry support. For applicants that can feel alarming — change creates uncertainty — but it also means continuity: many services have already moved to MBIE and others will land in specialised PROs such as the New Zealand Institute for Advanced Technology (NZIAT), the New Zealand Bioeconomy Science Institute, and the merged Earth Science institute. The grants themselves and the money to support R&D are not disappearing overnight. Active grants will be transferred and many programmes remain open while the handover completes.

Practically, that means you should treat the opportunity like a live funding stream with an evolving delivery mechanism. You can still access grants, advisory support, and technical facilities; you just need to be aware of which organisation is now your touchpoint, and whether any timelines or reporting arrangements will change as ownership moves.

What This Opportunity Offers

This is not a one-size-fits-all cash injection. The Callaghan Innovation portfolio historically included Project Grants for early validation, Growth Grants for scaling R&D programs, Student Grants to subsidise internships and theses, and access to labs and specialist advisors. Across these instruments the programme can co-fund a large portion of eligible R&D activity — in aggregate up to NZD 5,000,000 for the most ambitious, multi-year projects — and provides practical, non-financial benefits:

• Advisory support from experienced growth advisors and technical navigators who can help shape scope and milestones.
• Access to specialist laboratories and Crown Research Institute expertise for testing, calibration, or complex workflows.
• Help with IP strategy and connections into export support networks (for example NZTE) to align commercialisation pathways.
• Student funding to bridge talent gaps while adding value to project deliverables.
• Structured milestone funding with periodic review rather than a single up-front payout — good for accountability and for breaking big risks into manageable chunks.

Imagine the grant as a co-pilot: it won’t drive your business, but it will cover part of the fuel and navigation costs and point out safer routes. Given the transfer to new PROs, businesses may also gain more specialised technical relationships — for instance biotech teams can expect deeper connections with the Bioeconomy Science Institute.

Who Should Apply

This is for New Zealand-registered businesses that have a clear R&D objective and can show credible commercial potential. That includes small founders with a working prototype and a validated customer problem, medium enterprises scaling R&D, and more established firms developing export-oriented technology.

A few real-world examples:

• A Wellington medtech startup with a laboratory prototype and initial clinical partners, seeking funding for clinical validation and regulatory pathway work. They can request funding for trials, outsourced testing, and quality systems.
• An Auckland software company applying R&D to AI-driven agronomic tools that reduce fertilizer use. Eligible costs would include developer salaries, data acquisition, and testing with pilot farms.
• A South Island food-tech SME wanting to scale a novel processing method. Grants can help with pilot plant runs, certification testing, and IP protection.

If you are a very early idea without a plan for pilot testing, this programme may not be the right fit. Likewise, companies that cannot show the ability to co-fund their portion — through equity, prior funding, or committed revenue — will struggle to qualify.

Eligibility and What Reviewers Want to See

To be eligible you must be a NZ-registered business conducting the bulk of the R&D within New Zealand. Reviewers evaluate three main axes: technical merit, commercial potential, and organisational capability.

Technical merit means your project tackles a genuine technical uncertainty — something neither routine nor trivially solved. Commercial potential requires a plan for revenue or market adoption and preferably an export angle. Capability is about people and governance: do you have the right skills, management processes, and financial systems to run an R&D program and report on it?

If you’ve received public funding before, have evidence of prior delivery, or have strong partner letters (CRIs, universities, iwi organisations), make that front and centre. If you don’t, show how you’ll fill capability gaps: contractors, partnerships, or hiring plans.

Insider Tips for a Winning Application (5–7 Actionable Tips)

1. Start with a one-page story. Boil the project down to: the problem, your solution, the next piece of evidence you will produce, and how the grant accelerates that. Give reviewers a narrative they can remember in one read-through.

2. Show customer validation early. Letters of intent, pilot agreements, or signed NDAs from potential buyers weigh heavily in favour of commercial potential. If you have none, run at least one paid pilot or user study before applying.

3. Build a phased milestone plan tied to concrete outputs, not vague ambitions. Each milestone should be measurable: prototype version number, lab test completed with X outcome, regulatory submission filed. Funders fund progress, not promises.

4. Be realistic with cashflow. Grants are often retrospective or milestone-based. Demonstrate you can bridge the project between costs and claims — provide bank letters, investor commitments, or supplier terms that show you can meet expenses before reimbursement.

5. Use partners strategically. Outsource high-risk technical tasks to CRIs or university labs and include letters confirming scope, pricing, and deliverables. That converts technical risk into contractual certainty.

6. Treat IP as business strategy. Explain what you will protect, why, and how it supports commercial plans. Include a basic freedom-to-operate summary if you can.

7. Talk to an advisor early. Engage with a Callaghan or MBIE navigator now — they’re still available during the transition and can save you weeks of wasted drafting by clarifying eligibility and prioritising costs.

These tips are practical: they reflect what reviewers actually reward. They also reduce the odds of getting tripped up when services transfer between agencies.

Application Timeline (Work backwards from 29 August 2025)

Begin six to eight weeks before the deadline. First, schedule a discovery conversation with an advisor to confirm eligibility and scope. Two months out, assemble your team and draft the one-page project story and the high-level budget. Six weeks before, collect partner letters and financial evidence. Four weeks before, write your full technical plan: methods, milestones, and risk register. Two weeks before, finalize your budget, run the application through at least two external reviewers, and lock in signatories. Submit at least 48–72 hours before the deadline to avoid last-minute portal problems.

After submission, expect a period of technical and commercial due diligence that may take several weeks. Approved projects will negotiate a funding agreement and schedules. Given the organisational transition, confirm who your contracting body will be (MBIE or a named PRO) before signing.

Required Materials and How to Prepare Them

You will need a coherent package of documents. Prepare these with the mindset of saving reviewers time:

• Executive summary and concise project pitch that can be read in five minutes.
• Detailed technical plan with methodology, deliverables, and timeline. Use figures and a Gantt chart to make sequencing obvious.
• Budget with line items linked to milestones. Include a co-funding table showing callaghan contribution and company contribution.
• Financial statements or bank letters proving co-funding capacity.
• Letters of support from partners, pilot sites, or customers. Make them specific: what each partner will deliver and when.
• IP summary and any patent documents or agreements.
• CVs of key team members highlighting relevant experience.
• Risk register and mitigation actions for the principal technical and commercial risks.
• Any regulatory or ethics approvals required for testing, or a plan for obtaining them.

Tip: assemble the package as a single PDF portfolio with a clickable table of contents. That small convenience is appreciated by reviewers and reduces clerical follow-ups.

What Makes an Application Stand Out

Standout applications combine crisp market logic with disciplined execution planning. Reviewers want to see believable step-changes: not a wishlist of features but clear progress markers, validated customer demand, and realistic budgets. Applications that tie technical milestones to commercial milestones — for example, “Complete prototype tests (technical) and secure three paying pilot customers (commercial)” — are compelling.

Highlight tangible outcomes: reduced production cost by X percent, performance metrics that beat incumbents, or a confirmed distribution channel in a target export market. Where possible, attach evidence: lab results, customer receipts, or investor term sheets.

Also, contextualise national benefit: explain how your project aligns with New Zealand priorities such as emissions reduction, export growth, or regional job creation. If you’re working with Māori or Pasifika partners, show how benefits are shared and governed.

Common Mistakes to Avoid (and Fixes)

Many applications fail not because the idea is bad, but because they make avoidable mistakes:

• Over-ambitious scope. Don’t try to do everything in one grant. Break large programmes into deliverable phases. If your timeline stretches beyond 36 months, present a minimum viable scope for the grant plus a clear follow-on plan for additional funding.

• Weak budgets. Vague line items scream unreliability. Link every cost to a milestone and provide quotes for large items or subcontracted work.

• No evidence of demand. If you can’t show customers or pilots, reviewers assume the market risk is high. Run a small paid pilot or secure at least two LOIs.

• Ignoring regulatory pathways. If your product needs certification, show a timeline and budget for it. Not planning for regulation is planning to fail.

• Poor governance and IP arrangements. If ownership is fuzzy among founders or partners, fix it before applying. Unclear IP ownership is a red flag.

Fix these by tightening scope, obtaining quotes and LOIs, and getting basic legal/IP housecleaning done before you submit.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Will my active grant be affected by Callaghan Innovation closing? A: Active grants will be transferred to the receiving organisation. You should continue your project under existing terms and expect your current contacts to guide the transition.

Q: Are international collaborators eligible for funding? A: The funding is for NZ-registered businesses and NZ-based R&D work. You can include international partners for specific activities, but the grant typically pays NZ-hosted costs and your business must be the NZ applicant.

Q: What proportion of costs will the programme fund? A: Many instruments fund up to around 40% of eligible R&D costs, but the exact ratio depends on the specific grant. Demonstrating additional co-funding sources strengthens your case.

Q: Are student placements fundable? A: Yes. Student Grants have historically been used to subsidise internships and thesis placements that contribute to project milestones.

Q: How soon will I know the outcome? A: After submission there is a technical and commercial assessment period. Timelines vary but plan for at least several weeks to a few months, especially during the transition.

Q: What if I need help preparing the application? A: Contact a Callaghan Innovation or MBIE advisor. They remain available during the transfer process and can confirm which organisation will handle your application.

Next Steps and How to Apply

Ready to move? Take three actions today:

1. Book a discovery call with an advisor to confirm eligibility and which organisation (MBIE or a PRO) will handle your application.
2. Prepare your one-page project story and co-funding evidence so you can get fast feedback.
3. Assemble partner letters and basic financial evidence — these are time sinks and take longer than you think.

You can follow real-time updates on which products have transferred and which remain supported on the official transition pages. When you’re ready to apply, use the official portal or the MBIE pages linked below to submit your expression of interest or full application.

How to Apply

Ready to apply? Visit the official Callaghan Innovation disestablishment and funding pages for the most current guidance and links to MBIE and the new PROs.

Official opportunity page and transition updates: https://www.callaghaninnovation.govt.nz/about-us/disestablishment-updates/

For the general fund and product pages: https://www.callaghaninnovation.govt.nz/products/fund/

If you need a direct contact for eligibility checks, start with the advisory contacts listed on the Callaghan Innovation and MBIE pages. They are there to help you figure out whether your project fits and which grant instrument suits your stage.

If you want, I can draft the one-page project story for your proposal or review your budget table and suggest adjustments that match typical co-funding ratios. Need a checklist template you can hand to your CFO? Tell me about your project and I’ll tailor it.