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.

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.

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.

Project Assessment – Our specialist consultants discuss all the relevant technical, commercial and financial details of your R&D project with you and assess your chances of success.

Workshop Session – We will take you through a workshop session so that we fully understand your project in terms of the technical problems and solution, commercial opportunities, market dynamics, project team and financial projections.

Grant Writing – We research, prepare, and write an award-winning R&D grant application for your review and approval.

Submission and Feedback – We complete the online registration process and submit the web-based grant application on your behalf. Grant assessors provide feedback on both successful and unsuccessful grant applications, and we review this feedback with you to give you on-going advice and guidance.

Compliance and Monitoring – When your grant application is approved, we help you comply with all requests from the grant body’s monitoring officers.