Australia’s AI Sprint offers $300,000 in R&D for innovators solving the nation’s most pressing problems

Australia’s national science agency is looking for startups and founders to use AI to solve some of the country’s most pressing problems — and there’s hundreds of thousands of dollars in research support up for grabs for the winners.

The National AI Centre (NAIC), which is coordinated by the CSIRO, is partnering with Stone & Chalk and Google Cloud to launch Australia’s AI Sprint, a three-month competitive program designed to help bolster Australia’s AI industry and its sovereign AI capability.

The Sprint will see founders and startups working on AI-powered solutions for national issues, including the cost of living, governance, supply chain resilience, human and environmental wellbeing, and workforce transformation.

The winner will take home $300,000 worth of research and development support from Australian research institutes, and second and third place will receive $100,000 worth of R&D support.

These prizes are provided by the NAIC, with the CSIRO’s SME Connect also providing facilitation services.

Additionally, winners will also be given access to support services from Stone & Chalk to help them raise capital, build their customer base and teams, and ultimately launch their businesses.

Applications are now open for the sprint, which will commence on April 3 and be mostly delivered online. The selection process will be based on how well proposals submitted by applicants align with the program’s objectives.

The second stage of the program will involve a Demo Day in June, where participants will have the chance to present their prototypes to industry stakeholders.

The NAIC is on a mission to create a thriving local AI industry, said NAIC director Stela Solar, and Sprint will form a key part of those plans.

“The initiative provides startups and entrepreneurs with the end-to-end support needed to refine their innovations, gain visibility, and bring their AI solutions to market,” Solar said in a statement.

“This is the springboard opportunity to transform AI concepts into real-world impact.”

Stone & Chalk Group CEO Chris Kirk described the program as a “game-changer that will significantly strengthen our nation’s AI ecosystem for the future”.

“By uniting our organisations’ unique strengths, we have an unprecedented opportunity to cultivate world-class AI talent, drive innovation, and develop solutions that will benefit Australians in the digital age,” he added.

More information and applications for Australia’s AI Sprint are available here.