If you’re building a product in Australia and eyeing customers overseas, there’s a government grant sitting there that most founders never apply for. It’s called the Export Market Development Grant, or EMDG, and it can put $20,000 to $80,000 a year back into your export push.
We talk to a lot of founders about the R&D Tax Incentive. EMDG rarely comes up, and that’s a shame, because for startups selling software, IP or physical products into overseas markets, it’s real money for work you’re probably already doing: trade shows, overseas sales trips, marketing material, consultants who help you land your first buyer in Singapore or the US.
Here’s what it actually covers, who can get it, and where things stand right now.
What EMDG Actually Is
EMDG is run by Austrade, the federal government’s trade and investment agency. It’s been helping Australian businesses go global for almost 50 years, which makes it one of the oldest grant programs still running in the country.
The idea is simple. You spend money trying to win export customers. The government matches a chunk of that spend, up to a cap that depends on where you sit in your export journey. It’s not a loan and it’s not equity. You don’t give anything up for it.
Unlike the R&D Tax Incentive, EMDG isn’t about technical uncertainty or experimentation. It’s about market development. Trade shows, overseas trips to meet buyers, consultants who help you research a new market, promotional material built specifically for an international audience. If you’re already spending money trying to sell overseas, there’s a good chance some of that spend qualifies.
Who Can Apply: The Four Tiers
EMDG splits applicants into four categories, based on where you are in your export journey.
Tier 1 is for businesses that are ready to export but haven’t started yet, or are just getting going. This tier can also fund export training, which is useful if your team has never sold internationally before.
Tier 2 is for businesses already exporting within markets they’re established in. Think a startup that’s cracked New Zealand and wants to grow that market further.
Tier 3 is for businesses exporting into brand new markets they haven’t touched before. This is the tier most growth-stage startups end up in: expanding from, say, Australia and New Zealand into the US or UK.
Representative bodies, industry associations and similar groups that support member businesses to export, get their own category with funding to deliver export support and training to their members.
You apply for the tier that matches your situation. You can’t just pick whichever pays the most.
How Much You Can Actually Get
EMDG is matched funding, not free money with no strings. To qualify, you need to show you can spend at least $20,000 of your own money on eligible export activities. The grant matches that spend, up to a cap.
For the current program period covering the 2025-26 and 2026-27 financial years, the maximum grant amounts per financial year are:
- Tier 1 (ready to export): $20,000 to $30,000
- Tier 2 (existing markets): $20,000 to $50,000
- Tier 3 (new markets): $20,000 to $80,000
- Representative bodies: up to $50,000
Across the two financial years, Austrade has allocated up to $104.5 million in 2025-26 and up to $104.5 million in 2026-27 for the program. Grant agreements run for up to two years, so a successful applicant can plan spend across both years rather than scrambling to use it in twelve months.
What You Can Actually Spend It On
The grant covers costs that are directly tied to winning export business, not general operating costs. Eligible categories include:
- Maintaining a representative in a foreign country to support your export push
- Short trips overseas for the specific purpose of export promotion, meeting buyers or closing deals
- Engaging a consultant to do market research or promotional work in a target country
- Short domestic trips specifically to meet foreign buyers who are visiting Australia (general industry conferences or networking events don’t count if no foreign buyers are actually present)
- Hosting foreign buyer visits
- Soliciting business directly in a foreign market
- Providing free samples to potential overseas buyers
- Producing promotional and advertising material built specifically for international markets
- Registering or protecting intellectual property rights overseas
- Export training, if you’re a Tier 1 applicant, or delivering export training to members, if you’re a representative body
Your product also needs to be substantially Australian in origin. That covers goods, services, events, IP or know-how, and software, so this isn’t just for businesses shipping physical stock overseas. A SaaS company selling into the US market is just as eligible as a manufacturer exporting hardware.
Where Things Stand Right Now
Here’s the part founders need to know before getting excited: EMDG Round 4 is currently closed to new applications. Round 4 covered planned export spend for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 financial years, with tiers opening for applications progressively from November 2024. Austrade has confirmed there are no grant rounds currently open, and the timing of the next round hasn’t been announced yet.
That’s not a reason to ignore EMDG. It’s a reason to get ready for it. Grant rounds for programs like this tend to open with limited notice and get assessed on a first-come, first-served basis until the funding pool is allocated. Businesses that already have their export plan, their spend forecast and their documentation sorted are the ones who get applications in fast when the window opens.
If you’re planning any kind of international expansion in the next 12 to 18 months, now is the time to start tracking your export-related spend and keep records of what you’re doing to win overseas customers. When the next round opens, you want to be ready to apply on day one, not scrambling to reconstruct six months of trip receipts and consultant invoices.
Why This Matters Alongside the R&D Tax Incentive
A lot of the founders we work with on R&D Tax Incentive claims are building software or hardware with genuine export potential. They’re so focused on the R&D side of the business, the technical uncertainty, the iteration, the failed prototypes, that the commercial side of going global gets left on the table.
These two programs aren’t mutually exclusive. You can claim up to 43.5% back on eligible R&D spend through the R&D Tax Incentive, and separately apply for EMDG to help fund the sales and marketing push once that product is ready to sell overseas. They sit in different parts of your business and don’t compete with each other for eligible spend.
If you’re building something in Australia with your eye on international customers, it’s worth mapping both programs against your roadmap early, rather than discovering EMDG existed only after you’ve already spent the money it could have helped cover.
Common Misunderstandings We Hear
“We’re too early for this.” Tier 1 is built for businesses that are just getting export-ready. You don’t need existing overseas revenue to qualify for that tier.
“It only covers physical products.” Software, IP and services are all eligible product types, provided they’re substantially Australian in origin.
“General marketing spend counts.” It doesn’t. The activity has to be specifically tied to export promotion in a foreign market, not general brand marketing that happens to reach an international audience.
“I can apply any time.” Rounds open and close, and Round 4 is currently shut with no confirmed reopening date. Missing that window means waiting for the next one.
Getting Ready for the Next Round
Since applications aren’t open right now, the smart move is preparation. Start keeping clean records of any export-related spend: flights and accommodation for overseas buyer meetings, consultant invoices for market research, costs of producing export-specific marketing material, IP registration fees in foreign markets. Keep these separate from your general marketing budget so they’re easy to pull together when the next round opens.
It’s also worth getting clear on which tier you’d apply under, based on where your export journey actually sits today, so you’re not working that out under time pressure once applications open.
Grants like EMDG reward founders who plan ahead, not the ones who find out about the program after the money’s already been spent.
What Happens Once a Round Opens
When Austrade does open the next round, applications are assessed on a first-come, first-served basis until each tier’s funding pool is fully allocated. That means a strong application submitted in week one has a real advantage over an equally strong one submitted in week six.
The practical steps look like this. Work out which tier fits your export status. Pull together your planned export spend for the year, and make sure it’s genuinely $20,000 or more, since that’s the minimum needed to be matched. Have your evidence ready: quotes from consultants, planned travel costs, marketing production costs, IP registration fees. Submit through the Austrade grants portal as soon as your tier opens, rather than waiting to see how the first few days go.
Founders who treat EMDG as a “maybe later” item usually miss the window entirely. Founders who treat it as a standing item on their funding calendar, alongside things like the R&D Tax Incentive deadline each April, tend to actually get the money.
Where Grantly Fits In
This is exactly the kind of thing Granton’s grant-matching platform, Grantly, is built to solve: keeping track of when programs like EMDG open, closing dates, and whether your business fits the criteria, so you’re not relying on stumbling across a media release to find out a round has opened. It’s currently on waitlist, but worth knowing about if chasing grant deadlines manually isn’t how you want to spend your time.
If you want a hand thinking through how EMDG, or any other grant, fits your growth plans alongside your R&D Tax Incentive claim, a quick chat is the easiest way to work out where you actually stand. Head to granton.io/meet and book a time. It takes about 15 minutes and costs nothing to find out.
Are you ready to turn your funding aspirations into reality? At Granton, we specialize in helping individuals and businesses navigate the world of grants, offering expert guidance on grant applications and finding opportunities that best suit their needs. Whether you’re seeking funding for a startup, nonprofit, or a specific project, our team is here to assist you every step of the way. We take the guesswork out of Grant Applications, R&D Tax Incentives, and Accelerator Programs, making the process smoother and increasing your chances of success. Ready to take the next step? Book a free consultation with us today, and let’s explore how we can help you secure the grants you deserve. Visit our website at granton.io to learn more or use our contact form to get in touch. Your grant journey starts here!