Enterprise Ireland

If you are a business based in Ireland, you can apply for funding. All kinds of business are eligible, from startups and new companies to large multi-national corporations.

You can apply for Enterprise Ireland grant funding if you want to:

• 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

There are many different types of grants and support available from Enterprise Ireland, some of which have a streamlined application process, such as the Agile Innovation Fund, and some of which require between 150 to 300 hours of work.

You will need the right combination of people to cover the application’s key aspects: the technology, market knowledge, commercialisation plan, and financial details.

The evaluation process depends on the funding programme. For example, the Research, Development & Innovation (RD&I) Fund considers applications for funding on a monthly call basis. Completed online applications, including the project costs, financial data, project plan, and supporting documents, are assessed technically and commercially.

Applicants are visited by the assessors, and both successful and unsuccessful applications will be informed by letter.

Your Enterprise Ireland 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

The assessors for an Enterprise Ireland grant application depend on the funding programme. For the RD&I Fund, the approval committee includes:

• The chairperson, appointed by Enterprise Ireland
• Representatives from Teagasc (1), Enterprise Ireland (3), Údarás na Gaeltachta (1), and Bord Bia (1)
• Up to 6 private sector members
• A third-level sector member
• A representative from the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
• A representative from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food

The decision time for an application depends on the funding programme.

The method of grant payment depends on the funding programme.

The “Bottom up” funding mechanism includes:

• Grants for early technology to proof-of-concept, such as the EIC Pathfinder
• Grants for technology at the proof-of-concept to pre-commercial stages, through programmes like EIC Transition
• Grants and investment (through the EIC Fund) for single SMEs and start-ups, to take technology from pre-commercial to the market and scale-up stages, in the EIC Accelerator