Specialist R&D Tax & Grant Funding Advisors

Enterprise Ireland

Enterprise Ireland, the government organisation responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises, offers a range of services to help businesses grow and innovate.

Enterprise Ireland

Guide Overview


We’ve created five simple sections to help you understand how Enterprise Ireland works and whether your business could be eligible for funding.

What is Enterprise Ireland?


Enterprise Ireland, the government organisation responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises, offers a range of services to help businesses grow and innovate.

Enterprise Ireland offers funding and support opportunities for many different types of businesses, from new start-ups to companies with more than 250 employees. For SMEs, Enterprise Ireland offers an online tool to help small businesses discover which of over 170 government supports could fit their business.

In general, the further away from commercialisation your project is, the more funding you can receive from Enterprise Ireland. Award-winning projects will have global opportunities that draw on unique strengths from Ireland.

Innovate UK Graphics 04
Innovate UK Graphics 05

Is your innovation ready for you to apply for Enterprise Ireland grant funding?


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

What type of Enterprise Ireland applications are likely to succeed?


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
Innovate UK Graphics 10
Eureka Eurostars Funding Scheme Graphic 06

What funding supports are available?


Enterprise Ireland offers a range of support to suit your business at any stage of development including;

  • Startup Idea
  • High potential startup funding
  • Established SME funding (>10 employees)
  • Large company funding (>250 Employees)

"With the help of Myriad, our application ranked #1 in Horizon 2020's Fast Track to Innovation across Europe....it opened doors to investors, potential business partners, physicians and much more"

Dr John Thompson

Co-founder, AuriGen Ltd

Need help applying for Enterprise Ireland funding?

Speak to one of our senior grant writers to see if your project is likely to win funding.

Get in touch

What’s the application process for Enterprise Ireland?


Applying for a grant is a time-consuming and resource-intensive process. With our grant bid writing service, we can work with you to prepare an application that gives your project the best chance of success.

Each grant competition has its own rules and requirements. You need to ensure that your innovation meets the competition scope and that you are eligible to apply. For further guidance, you can contact us to determine whether your applying for the right competition.

Grant applications are usually examined by independent experts in the area of innovation identified in the application. The number of experts scoring the application depend on the grant awarding body.

Award-winning projects will involve breakthrough technologies and disruptive innovations that draw on unique strengths from Europe and provide global opportunities to scale up.

Latest Timeline Image Small

How can we help?


Myriad Associates have an enviable track record with R&D grant applications. Using our grant application services can give you a significant competitive advantage over other grant applicants.

Our grant bid writers have secured over €100m for our clients in 2019/20 and have secured some of the highest scoring applications in Europe.

About Myriad Associates
Video Item
  • #1 European grants team - We employ leading bid writers who write compelling applications.
  • Templates & tools - Our templates make it easy to collaborate & prepare a winning bid.
  • 70% Success rates - Dramatically improve your chances of success.
  • A complete service - On receipt of your offer letter, we help you with all administrative requirements to ensure prompt receipt of grant funds.
Grant Figures 2022

Our results

  • €70m in Disruptive Technologies Innovation funding won
  • €97m in Horizon Europe funding won
  • #1 European grants team - We employ leading bid writers who write compelling applications.
  • A complete service - On receipt of your offer letter, we help you with all administrative requirements to ensure prompt receipt of grant funds.

Frequently asked questions


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
Close

Step 1 of #

What best describes you?

Continue

I'm looking too...

Continue Back

Thanks for that!

We would like to help you decide whether your business meets the relevant criteria and whether any credits can be applied for the R&D projects you’ve undertaken. Please click on the button below to speak with an expert.

Thanks for that!

We would like to help answer any questions you have regarding the R&D tax credits scheme. Please click on the button below to speak with an expert and one of our specialist team will get in touch.

Thanks for that!

We would like to help answer any questions you have. Please click on the button below to speak with an expert and one of our specialist team will get in touch.

Speak to an expert Back