The NSW government’s Tech Central Scale Up Accommodation Rebate will provide a 40% rebate on eligible rental costs and 30% rebate on eligible fitout costs to help technology businesses in the scaleup phase get established in Sydney’s 24-hectare Tech Central Scaleup Hub.
Investment NSW will provide $11 million over 2 years in rebates to attract technology scaleups to the Tech Central Scaleup Hub, a world-class innovation and technology precinct that has Atlassian as an anchor tenant — the construction of their 39-storey 75,000-square-metre headquarters commenced in 2022 and is expected to open in 2027.
The idea of the Scaleup Accommodation Rebate is to support the growth of existing technology businesses and encourage investment from those further afield by providing rebates on rental and fitout costs to accelerate investment within the target area in Tech Central: a 500-metre radius around 2 Lee Street, Haymarket. Any new commercial lease (excluding retail leases) within the target area will be eligible for the program if it is a minimum of 300 m2, but for applicants already located within the target area, eligibility for the rebate will be conditional upon leasing an additional minimum 300 m2.
The maximum rebate available to an applicant is $1.94 million (based on applicant leasing 2,000 m2), comprising the 40% rental rebate and 30% fitout rebate, as detailed below:
- For eligible rental expenses, the program provides a 40% rebate of:
✓up to $600,000 yearly for the first two years; and
✓up to $300,000 in the third year.
- For eligible fitout expenses, the program will provide:
✓a 30% rebate up to $440,000 (i.e., capped at $220 per m2 for up to 2000 m2).
One of the more specific requirements to satisfy eligibility for this rebate is that the applicant must be a Scaleup Technology Business establishing in or expanding within the Target Area. This is defined as a business which:
- develops and commercialises new technology as part of its core service or product offering;
- employs, in NSW, at least 10 fulltime equivalent roles;
- is generating revenue from core services or products and has achieved an average growth of 20% or more in either employment or revenue year-on-year, for at least 3 years immediately prior to the date of application.
Applications for the Tech Central Scaleup Accommodation Rebate close 16 June 2023 or when program funding is fully exhausted — eligible applications will be assessed in the order in which they are received. More information (including Guidelines and the online Application form) can be found at the Tech Central Scale Up Accommodation Rebate webpage.
If you’re an innovative New South Wales tech company and want the best advice to keep moving onward and upward, contact Fullstack Advisory so you can leverage our expertise and knowledge of all the grants, incentives, rebates, and other opportunities available.
