Get your R&D project off the ground with non-repayable R&D grant

Is your organisation trying to resolve a technical uncertainty by undertaking risky or innovative research and development? R&D grants can provide an essential source of match funding to help you meet the costs. And the best thing? These grants don’t need paying back.

R&D grants are often awarded to projects considered too risky for private sector investment. Proposed R&D projects and costs must also be realistic, with a clear commercial opportunity, and have the aim of creating new or exploiting significant growth within the market. Think disruptive!

Government funding incentives for Irish businesses

Irish Enterprises can apply for a number of Irish-based government grants and European grant funding. The main source of Irish R&D grant funding is from Enterprise Ireland, the government’s innovation agency. Enterprise Ireland runs funding competitions which can help you:

• Test whether your idea will work, through a feasibility study
• Create a new product, process, or service, or improve an existing one, through R&D
• Work on collaborative projects with other businesses or research organisations.

Horizon Europe and EUREKA Eurostars

European grant funding for Irish enterprises also includes Horizon Europe, designed to fuel the EU’s scientific and technological excellence. It also looks to tackle policy priorities, including green and digital transitions and Sustainable Development Goals, and boost Europe’s innovation uptake, jobs, competitiveness and growth.

Horizon Europe has many funding opportunities across multiple areas, including the dedicated SME Instrument, which has several topics and cut-off dates throughout the year.

EUREKA Eurostars is also aimed at innovative SMEs of under 250 employees wanting to engage in collaborative research with partners across Europe and associated countries. Enterprise Ireland supports Irish SMEs who want to get involved with multiple different opportunities presented throughout the year.

You can find out more about both schemes on our EUREKA Eurostars and Horizon Europe webpages.

What are the stages of an R&D grant application?

You’ll need the right combination of people to cover the grant application’s key aspects: the technology, market knowledge, commercialisation plan, and financial details. Preparation of a grant application can take over 200 hours of work, so it’s best to make sure you have everything in place before you start the application process.

Once you’ve made your application, it will be evaluated by the grant funding organisation. This process varies by competition, with some competitions subject to a ‘portfolio’ approach to ensure that funds are allocated across all the strategic areas in the competition scope. Successful applications must usually meet a quality threshold.

It will generally take up to 3 months (although it can be longer) after you make your submission to be notified of the funding decision.

What types of digital innovation projects qualify for R&D grants?

Your R&D grant funding application is more likely to succeed if it:

• Shows how the project results in a real innovation and doesn’t replicate products currently on the market.
• Provides a convincing company description which explains why you are more likely to succeed than a competitor.
• Includes a clear and thorough description of the business opportunity, not just a description of the project.
• Demonstrates a clear understanding of the target market, including commercialisation and competitor information.
• Has global opportunities that draw on Ireland’s unique strengths.

Why work with Myriad Associates on your R&D grant funding application?

Applying for an R&D grant takes a large amount of time and resource so is something that needs to go right first time.

Our grant bid writing service means we will work with you to prepare an application that gives your project the best chance of success. Our team is proud to have secured over £50 million for our clients in 2019/20, including some of the highest scoring applications in Europe.

When you come to us, we will take you through our proven steps to success:

Project Assessment: Our experts will sit down with you and discuss all the relevant financial, technical and commercial details of your R&D project, to assess the likelihood of success.

Workshop Session: Next we will go through a workshop session with you so that we fully understand the technical challenges and solutions your project is looking to address. This is also the chance to understand your commercial opportunities, project team, market dynamics and financial projections.

Grant Writing: Finally we go away and research, prepare, and write an award-winning R&D grant application. Once complete, we will send it to you for review and approval before submission.

Submission and Feedback: We submit the application on your behalf online. Grant assessors will give feedback on all grants regardless of whether they are successful or not. Our team will then review this feedback with you and offer advice and guidance regarding next steps.

Compliance and Monitoring: Grant approved? Congratulations! But our service doesn’t stop there, as we will help you comply with any requests from the grant body’s monitoring officers.

Interested in applying for an R&D grant?

Whether you know exactly which grant you’d like to go for or you’re simply interested in understanding the options, why not get in touch with our team. Call us on +353 1 566 2001 or send us a message and we'll call you back.

An injection of potentially millions of euros of non-repayable cash could make a huge difference in getting your R&D project off the ground. Give your organisation the very best chance of success by working with the expert team at Myriad Associates.