The Tyro Smart Growth Grant program will see up to 10 small to medium-sized businesses (SMEs), including retail businesses, receive grants worth a total of up to $250,000.
Grant applications will be accepted between 15 September 2016 and 15 November, 2016 via https://tyro.com/smart-growth-grant-2016/.
Tyro CEO, Jost Stollmann, said the grants program is timely for retail SME owners, many of whom continue to battle every day just to stay open, let alone innovate and grow.
“Our research tells us that inefficient business banking processes cost small businesses on average $7,800 per year, or almost $7 billion nationally.
“The Tyro Smart Growth Grant program will help SME owners in two ways: it will encourage them to introduce new business efficiencies to boost their growth ; and it will generate new ideas from the community that will get us closer to closing the SME efficiency gap,” he said.
Mr Stollmann revealed his vision for nextGen banking: cloud-based, totally integrated and mobile banking that encompasses eftpos, payments and cash flow-based unsecured growth funding – something SMEs have been crying out for.
“Along with efficiency, swift access to working capital is the most important driver of competitive growth for Australian SMEs,” Mr Stollmann said.
“Ensuring these businesses have access to cash flow-based lending and efficient solutions that allow them to invest, innovate and grow, is absolutely critical to sustain the engine room of the Australian economy.”
Last month, Tyro published a report (click here for full report) which revealed the extent to which banking inefficiency is hurting SMEs, with 44 per cent of businesses being robbed of 19.5 days per year – the equivalent of a year’s worth of annual leave for the average working employee – on online business banking processes.
This is important because while SMEs provide about 50 per cent of private sector employment and contribute 46 per cent of GDP, their contribution is slowing.
