Small Business Grants NZ 2026: What Really Exists

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Small Business Grants in NZ: The 7 Real Options in 2026

New Zealand business funding in 2026 comes in 7 main forms, and only 2 of them are for ordinary small businesses that aren't doing R&D or exporting. Here's the full list, checked against each official page on 29 October 2026.

Two more sources sit outside this table because they suit only a narrow group: NZTE's International Growth Fund (opens in a new tab) (up to $600,000 over 3 years at 40% co-funding, for exporters working with NZTE) and Te Puni Kōkiri's Māori Development Fund (opens in a new tab) ($100,000 or more, with 50% cash co-funding, for iwi and Māori entities).

What's missing from the list matters just as much. There's no grant for buying stock, fitting out a shop, a website, a van or wages for a café, and the business.govt.nz government grants and help page (opens in a new tab) doesn't list one. If someone is selling you access to a "government small business grant" for those things, treat it as a red flag.

What Happened to Callaghan Innovation Grants

Callaghan Innovation stopped running grants on 1 December 2025. According to Callaghan Innovation's 2025/26 annual report, the R&D Tax Incentive, Founder and Startup Support, the New to R&D Grant, Student Grants and the Ārohia Innovation Trailblazer Grant all transferred to MBIE from that date, as part of the government's decision to disestablish the agency.

The grants didn't disappear. They now sit under "Innovation Services administered by MBIE" on business.govt.nz, and Callaghan's disestablishment updates page (opens in a new tab) says existing customers keep working with the same teams. Three things did change:

• Ārohia Innovation Trailblazer grants were on hold for the whole 2025/26 financial year, according to the same annual report. The business.govt.nz innovation funding page, last edited 26 May 2026, lists only 3 grant types and doesn't mention Ārohia.
• R&D Project Grants stopped. The report says new Project Grants haven't been awarded since 2022/23, and 13 were still live when administration moved to MBIE.
• Deep tech incubators stay with Callaghan for now. The Deep Tech Incubator Programme (opens in a new tab) offers a $750,000 repayable government grant plus at least $250,000 from an approved incubator, for ventures with fewer than 5 FTE. You repay 3% of annual revenue once the business earns revenue, and the incubator may take equity.

If an older article tells you to "apply to Callaghan Innovation for a grant", it's out of date. Start at the innovation funding page on business.govt.nz (opens in a new tab) instead.

What 881 Grants in One Year Show

Grantsights analysis of Callaghan Innovation's 2024/25 annual report counts 881 successful grant applications across 5 products in the year to 30 June 2025. Student internships and graduate placements made up 59% of them.

Source: Callaghan Innovation Annual Report 2024/25, Table 3, "Total number of grants awarded in 2024/25". Percentages are Grantsights calculations and are rounded.

The money tells a different story from the counts. Per the Callaghan Innovation 2025/26 annual report, New to R&D approvals rose 173% in 2024/25, to $26.1 million from $9.6 million the year before, with an average contract of about $304,000. In the first quarter of 2025/26 the average fell to about $268,000. So New to R&D grants are few but large: 148 grants worth roughly $26 million, against 517 student grants worth no more than about $9.1 million between them, even if every one were paid at today's maximum rate.

Demand figures from the same reports show how competitive each one is:

The report's narrative counts 661 student approvals while its grants table lists 517 Experience and Career grants, so the two measures don't count the same thing; read them as a range, not an exact figure. Either way, around 4 in 5 student grant applications were approved, and the report says the scheme was still oversubscribed because the $15 million budget is fixed while the living wage it pays keeps rising.

Since 2013. On 10 May 2026, the Innovation Services recipient database listed 9,785 projects and $560,363,078 of R&D grants allocated or administered since Callaghan Innovation started in February 2013. That's an average of about $57,000 per project, pulled down by the many small student grants. The database shows maximum awarded amounts, not what businesses actually drew down.

Recent examples. A case in point is the newest batch of grants in the database (snapshot of 8 February 2026), which included a New to R&D Grant of $400,000 to Light Revolution Limited in Waikato and $399,687.84 to Sterling Ai Limited in Wellington, both starting 15 January 2026. Hardy Rifle Engineering Limited, a business in Manawatū-Whanganui, got $179,646.76 from 5 January 2026, and Canopio Limited in Waikato got $20,000. R&D Career Grants of $30,000 went to Xtracta Limited and Agenticai Limited in Auckland, and $35,000 to Dragonfly Data Science in Wellington. Of those 12 newest grants, 4 went to Wellington businesses, 3 to Auckland, 2 each to Waikato and Canterbury, and 1 to Manawatū-Whanganui, so businesses outside the main centres do win them.

The $5,000 Grants: Regional Business Partners and Work and Income

The search "$5000 small business grant nz" points to 2 real schemes, both capped at $5,000 and neither paid as free cash.

1. Management Capability Development Fund (any qualifying small business). The Regional Business Partner Network (opens in a new tab) has 15 regional partners around the country. You register online, a growth advisor contacts you within 5 working days, and after a discovery session they can connect you to subsidised management training. The network page says the fund covers up to 50% of training costs, up to $5,000 a year excluding GST. The newer Funding Explorer entry (opens in a new tab), edited 3 August 2026, adds that group training can be subsidised up to 75%, and that the business must have fewer than 50 FTE. Training must come from registered service providers and cover eligible subjects (opens in a new tab) such as business planning, cashflow, marketing, digital tools, governance and lean manufacturing.

In practice this means you pay a $4,000 one-to-one course and get up to $2,000 back. It won't pay for equipment, software licences or staff.

2. Business Training and Advice Grant (people starting a business while on a benefit). Work and Income's Business Training and Advice Grant (opens in a new tab) pays an expert for business skills training, a business plan, pre-start advice, an independent vetting report or a mid-project financial report. You can apply more than once, but the total can't be more than $5,000 in any 52-week period. You must be out of work, disadvantaged in the job market, at risk of long-term benefit dependency, and intending to get Flexi-wage for self-employment for the same business.

Flexi-wage for self-employment (opens in a new tab) itself pays a subsidy while you start, claimed every 4 weeks, after a multi-step assessment that includes a pre-assessment pack and an independent review of your business plan. Work and Income won't help if you're re-starting a business you owned before, propping up an established business that's struggling, or bankrupt. A Self-Employment Start Up Payment can also help with essential costs such as equipment or first stock, and the amount depends on your situation.

AI Advisory Pilot. The Regional Business Partner Network also runs an AI Advisory Pilot (opens in a new tab) with up to 50% government co-funding: up to $2,500 (excluding GST) for an approved provider to write your AI roadmap, then up to $12,500 to implement it. You need 50 or fewer FTE, GST registration, an NZBN and an actively trading business. The page says meeting the criteria doesn't guarantee a place.

The New to R&D Grant: Rules, Money and Who Qualifies

The New to R&D Grant (opens in a new tab) is the largest grant a small New Zealand business can realistically win, and it pays 40% of eligible costs, up to $400,000. It's built for a company's first structured R&D project and lasts up to 2 years.

The money. The maximum is based on up to $1 million of eligible project costs excluding GST. MBIE's worked example is a $400,000 project: the grant pays $160,000 and the business pays $240,000. Your 60% can't come from other government or public funds. You claim quarterly through the Innovation Services portal and are reimbursed, so you need the cash to spend first.

Who can apply. A company incorporated and registered in New Zealand, a limited partnership, or a Māori incorporation or trust managing Māori assets under multiple ownership. The business must:

• have spent less than $150,000 in total on R&D in the past 3 years
• have received less than $5,000 of government R&D funding in the past 3 years
• intend to keep doing R&D, be financially healthy and able to fund its 60%
• not have received a student grant (Experience or Career) before

Who can't. Sole traders, charitable trusts, partnerships, joint ventures, look-through companies and overseas companies registered here are ineligible, as are businesses owned or controlled by councils, government agencies, state-owned enterprises, Crown entities or tertiary institutions.

The capability rule. You pick at least 2 of 6 R&D capability areas (such as intellectual property, regulatory and compliance, project management or understanding customers) and spend at least 5% of project costs on them. MBIE also asks you to take part in an introductory session with the RDTI team, because the grant is meant to lead into the tax credit.

Is it really R&D? MBIE's test is whether a competent professional in the field couldn't answer your question from existing knowledge. Its own example: working out the structure for a glass-heavy house on a hard site isn't R&D, because an engineer can solve it with known methods; testing whether wool composite panels work for construction probably is.

Talk to Innovation Services before applying. The page asks every first-time applicant to contact its Navigators and Funding Engagement Specialists first, through the Innovation Services contact form (opens in a new tab).

The R&D Tax Incentive: 15% Back on Bigger R&D Budgets

According to Inland Revenue, the R&D Tax Incentive (opens in a new tab) gives a 15% tax credit on eligible R&D, with a minimum of $50,000 and a maximum of $120 million of eligible expenditure a year. That minimum rules it out for most micro businesses, which is why the New to R&D Grant exists as an on-ramp.

You can't just claim it on your tax return. Inland Revenue says you must first get approval for your R&D activities, through a general approval or a criteria and methodologies application, then file an R&D supplementary return. Per the Inland Revenue due dates page (opens in a new tab), general approval applications from 1 April 2025 are due by the last day of the third month after the end of the first income year in the application: 30 June for a standard 31 March balance date. Late applications aren't accepted, and missing the date means you can't claim for that year.

Scale: Callaghan Innovation's 2025/26 annual report says the scheme has supported more than $7 billion of R&D and more than $1 billion of tax credits since April 2019. Its assessment team handled 522 general approval assessments in July to September 2025, down from 628 a year earlier.

What business.govt.nz Doesn't Tell You

Grantsights checked the business.govt.nz pages against the annual reports and the recipient database, and five gaps stand out.

Two pages disagree on the Career Grant. The innovation funding overview, last edited 26 May 2026, says R&D Career Grant applications "are now open". The Career Grant's own page, edited 2 June 2026, says the funding has been allocated and the grant is closed. The newer, more specific page is the one to trust: it's closed.

The student grants are the easiest money, but you need R&D first. Around 4 in 5 student grant applications were approved, compared with a much smaller pool of New to R&D grants. But both student grants require an active R&D programme with a budget and at least one full-time R&D person, and receiving one makes you ineligible for New to R&D later. If you're new to R&D, think about the order before you apply for an intern.

Reimbursement means you fund the work first. Every Innovation Services grant here pays back costs after you've spent them, monthly or quarterly. A common mistake is treating an approval letter as cash in the bank, then running short before the first claim lands.

The database lists maximums, not payments. The $560 million total is what was awarded. Callaghan's report notes that 5 approved Technology Incubator grants never reached contract, and that R&D Project Grant claims came in lower than recognised, so real payouts are lower.

The "previous grant recipients" link is now on MBIE's site. The innovation funding page sends you to MBIE's "who got funded" page for past recipients, and the old funds.business.govt.nz search page that held 9,785 records returned "page not found" on 29 October 2026. If you want to check whether businesses like yours have won, you may need to ask Innovation Services.

Who Shouldn't Apply (and What to Do Instead)

Most small business owners won't qualify for anything in the Innovation Services list, and that's by design. Here's an honest sorting:

• Retail, hospitality, trades and services businesses with no R&D: you won't fit the R&D grants. Register with the Regional Business Partner Network for the training subsidy and free advice, and look at business finance rather than grants.
• Sole traders: you're excluded from all 3 Innovation Services grants. The network's training subsidy and, if you're on a benefit, Work and Income are your routes.
• Startups planning to raise investment: Startup Aotearoa, Creative HQ, Ministry of Awesome and the other programmes on the startup and founder support page (opens in a new tab) are free, part-funded by MBIE. For equity, NZ Growth Capital Partners' Aspire NZ Seed Fund co-invests $50,000 to $1.5 million per round alongside private investors, according to Funding Explorer.
• Businesses hoping a lottery or community trust will pay: they won't. The Lottery Grants Board doesn't fund commercial aims or private gain, and the gaming and community trusts covered in our other New Zealand guides fund community organisations rather than businesses. See our guides to Lottery grants in NZ, NZCT grants and the Four Winds Foundation if you also run a club or charity.
• Artists and creative practitioners trading as sole traders: Creative New Zealand's arts funding is a separate route. Our Creative NZ funding guide covers it.

Watch for grant scams. business.govt.nz tells owners to check whether it's a scam before paying anyone to help get a grant. Every scheme on this page is applied for directly through business.govt.nz, the Regional Business Partner Network, Inland Revenue or Work and Income, and the Innovation Services pages ask you to talk to their own team first.

How NZ Compares With Australia and Canada

New Zealand's mix looks thin next to bigger countries, but the shape is the same: grants for R&D and exporting, a tax credit for bigger R&D budgets, and advice rather than cash for everyone else. Australia's R&D Tax Incentive pays a refundable offset to smaller companies, covered in our Australian R&D Tax Incentive guide, and NSW runs state programmes like MVP Ventures, covered in small business grants NSW. Canada's federal and provincial options are in small business grants Canada. If you trade across the Tasman, it's worth checking where your R&D would be done before you decide which scheme to use.

A Realistic Funding Plan for a NZ Small Business

Most owners get the best result in 4 steps:

1. Register with your Regional Business Partner (5 to 10 minutes online). It's free, and the growth advisor is your gateway to the $5,000 training subsidy, the AI pilot and referrals to Innovation Services.
2. Check whether your project is genuinely R&D using MBIE's test. If it is, and your company has spent under $150,000 on R&D in 3 years, talk to Innovation Services about the New to R&D Grant before writing anything.
3. Plan for the tax credit early. If your R&D spend will pass $50,000 a year, diarise the general approval due date for your balance date now.
4. Use free programmes before paid help. Startup programmes and the network's advice cost nothing, and nobody needs to be paid to apply for any scheme on this page.

Sources Checked

All pages were read on 29 October 2026 unless a different date is shown:

• business.govt.nz, Get funding for innovation and R&D (opens in a new tab) (last edited 26 May 2026), New to R&D Grant (opens in a new tab), R&D Career Grant (opens in a new tab) (edited 2 June 2026), R&D Experience Grant (opens in a new tab) (edited 12 June 2026)
• business.govt.nz, Regional Business Partner Network (opens in a new tab) (reviewed 28 September 2026), AI Advisory Pilot (opens in a new tab), eligible service subjects (opens in a new tab)
• business.govt.nz Funding Explorer entries: Management Capability Development Fund (opens in a new tab), International Growth Fund (opens in a new tab), Māori Development Fund (opens in a new tab), Aspire NZ Seed Fund (opens in a new tab), Deep Tech Incubator Programme (opens in a new tab)
• business.govt.nz, Government grants and help for your business (opens in a new tab) and startup and founder support (opens in a new tab)
• Inland Revenue, Research and development tax incentive (opens in a new tab) (updated 9 April 2026) and due dates (opens in a new tab)
• Work and Income, Flexi-wage for self-employment (opens in a new tab) (updated 23 July 2026) and Business Training and Advice Grant (opens in a new tab)
• Callaghan Innovation, disestablishment updates (opens in a new tab) and publications (opens in a new tab): Annual Report 2024/25 and Annual Report 2025/26
• Innovation Services grant recipient database (funds.business.govt.nz/grant-recipients), Internet Archive copies of 8 February 2026 and 10 May 2026; the live search returned "page not found" on 29 October 2026