This full-day workshop, “Get Grant-Ready: Building Strategic Roadmaps for Health Tech Funding,” is designed to help early-stage health and medtech ventures understand how to strategically plan for and secure government grant funding.

If you’re an early-stage health or medtech innovator looking to secure non-dilutive funding, this one-day, hands-on masterclass will give you the strategic roadmap you need. Facilitated by Dr. Megan O’Connor, Managing Director of Kantara Consulting, you’ll learn how to align your capital-raising strategy with grant opportunities, without falling into the trap of chasing funding for funding’s sake.

This workshop is designed to demystify the grant landscape and help you build a practical, personalised plan to identify, apply for, and win competitive grants. You’ll get expert insights into programs like MRFF, MDF, Cureator, and the Industry Growth Program, and leave with the tools and templates to sharpen your approach.

Whether you’re applying for your first grant or refining a long-term funding strategy, this masterclass will help you boost your internal readiness and set realistic expectations on what grants can (and can’t) do for your business growth.

By the end of this full-day masterclass, participants will:

Understand the strategic role of non-dilutive funding as part of an overall capital-raising mix, and when to prioritise grant funding versus equity or customer revenue.
Gain realistic expectations of grant funding - Timelines, scope limitations, and the importance of not relying solely on grants for growth.
Identify the most relevant grant programs for their stage, clinical goals, and commercial roadmap (e.g. MRFF, MDF, Cureator, IGP).
Build a strategic grant funding roadmap that aligns project milestones with funding opportunities and policy windows.
Evaluate their internal grant readiness, including team structure, partner relationships, data availability, regulatory pathway, and budget clarity.
Understand how to prepare a “grant-ready data room”, including the documentation needed to support successful and efficient application development.
Learn how to structure high-quality, outcome-focused grant responses, with clear articulation of need approach, impact, and value.
Receive feedback and guidance on their own grant strategy and written materials using shared templates and peer discussions.
Leave with tools, templates, and a prioritised action plan for identifying, planning, and applying for grant funding over the next 6–12 months.

The session will be facilitated by Dr Megan O’Connor, Kantara Consulting.

About the Facilitator

Dr. Megan O’Connor
Managing Director, Kantara Consulting

Megan is a funding strategist and government engagement expert with a decade of experience advising life sciences companies. Formerly the National Life Science Leader at Deloitte, she now works with some of Australia’s most awarded startups—supporting them to navigate government funding programs and unlock critical capital for growth. She holds a PhD in Neurobiology and an MBA, and brings deep expertise across biotech, medtech, and the grant landscape in Australia.

Whether you're a clinician-entrepreneur, research manager, or startup founder, this masterclass will help you build a smarter, more strategic approach to grant funding so you can unlock capital and keep your momentum strong.

Please note this event will be at Level 4, iQ Building, 160 Hawkesbury Rd, Westmead NSW 2145

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Don't miss this opportunity to gain valuable insights from industry experts and network with fellow health tech innovators.

Cicada Innovations is proud to be collaborating with the Westmead Health & Innovation District, Australia’s fastest-growing health and innovation precinct, for this commercialisation masterclass series. These masterclasses are to help bridge the gap between research and commercialisation.

Find out more about the Cicada HealthTech Hub

The Cicada HealthTech Hub is proudly supported by NSW Government and is part of the Westmead’s Health & Innovation District. The district includes 4 major hospitals, 4 world-leading medical research institutes, 2 university campuses and the largest research-intensive pathology service in NSW. By 2036, the number of full-time staff will increase to more than 50,000 and the number of students will expand to more than 10,000. Among the first projects for development is a viral vector advanced manufacturing facility to provide ground-breaking trial therapies for infections, cancer and genetic diseases.