Tag Archive for 'Funding'

New €60m growth fund for Irish SMEs

Published
by
John Hannafin
on April 22, 2008
in Business Support
. 1 Comment Tags: .

Staying with the theme of funding, Enterprise Ireland have announced a new €60m growth fund (up to €650,000 per SME) in the latest edition of The Market. The fund aims to

assist SME clients of Enterprise Ireland to achieve greater competitiveness by improving their export potential”

Eligable costs include:

  • capital investment
  • technology acquisition
  • recruitment of key managers
  • consultancy to assist with the implementation of the Growth Fund proposal
  • management development and
  • staff training

Support Limits:

 

Max. Funding

Funding Type

Min. Company Spend

Capital Investment

€300,000

Grant / 50% repayable

€75,000

Technology Acquisition

€300,000

Grant

€50,000

Training & Management Development

No specific limit

Grant

€25,000

Consultancy

25% of total project

Grant

n/a

Recruitment of Key Managers

€200,000

Grant

n/a

Workplace Innovation &
Management Development

No specific limit

Grant

€25,000

Overall Maximum Support for Submission

€650,000

The closing date for applications is the 3rd Thursday of every month (two calls have already closed), currently until the end of 2008.

More information, including eligibility criteria and funding levels, is available at http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/Grow/Finance/Growth+Fund.htm

Eurostars: Up to €750,000 funding available for Irish SME Research

Published
by
John Hannafin
on April 21, 2008
in Business Support
. 0 Comments Tags: , .

Eurostars LogoEurostars is an EU research fund available to SME’s in the Eurostars participating countries, of which Ireland is one. In Ireland the funding is provided through Enterprise Ireland who will fund up to 50% of total project costs, which typically have a total value of 1.5 million Euro.

The research project must satisfy certain criteria, some of which are:

  • The research must be collaborative which means that there must be at least two participants in the research project, from at least two different Eurostars participating countries (most EU member states plus some others).
  • The main (or lead) participant must be a “research-performing SME”, that is, invest 10% or more of full-time equivalent or annual turnover in research activities.
  • 50% of the research conducted by the project consortia must be conducted by SMEs (the remainder, for example, could be conducted by a research centre with a 3rd level educational institute, a larger organisation, a university, or indeed other SME’s).
  • The research must be aimed at the development of a new product, process or service.
  • The research project must have a maximum duration of three years, and within two years of project completion, the product of the research should be ready for launch onto the market

The next deadline for electronic submission of applications is Friday 21 November 2008 at 1700 CET. You can find out more information from Enterprise Irelands web site.