Enterprise Ireland grants: who they are for, and what a small or local business can get

Who counts as an Enterprise Ireland client

Enterprise Ireland asks to hear from an "established, export-ready technology, manufacturing or internationally-traded services company". Kildare's Local Enterprise Office sets out the dividing line plainly. To become a client you need to be:

• a manufacturing business, or an eligible internationally traded services business, employing 10 or more people, or
• a high-potential start-up

Enterprise Ireland's own grant pages use the same test. Its Digital Discovery grant, for example, is for an Irish-owned business in manufacturing or internationally traded services "employing 10 or more", or a high-potential start-up client.

High-potential start-up has a specific meaning. It is a company that:

• is bringing a new and innovative product or service to international markets, with some form of protectable intellectual property
• is in manufacturing or internationally traded services
• can create 10 jobs in Ireland and reach €1 million in annual sales within three years of starting
• is led by an experienced team living in Ireland, and is headquartered and controlled here
• is less than five years old

What Enterprise Ireland offers

For start-ups aiming at export markets:

• The Pre-Seed Start Fund of €50,000 or €100,000. It is an investment through a convertible loan note, not a grant. You do not have to be a client to apply, but the company must be in manufacturing or internationally traded services and less than four years old.
• Equity investment for high-potential start-ups. Enterprise Ireland invests alongside private investors and does not lead a funding round. The fund's own page says up to €1.2 million.
• A feasibility grant for high-potential start-ups: 70% of costs, up to €30,000. Existing clients only.
• The New Frontiers programme and its allowance of €17,500, run at 18 locations by the technological universities and institutes of technology. It is for founders with an innovative idea that could export and employ people.

For established clients: grants towards research and development, market research, key staff, equipment, training, and digital and green projects. Applications go through a client adviser. Examples on the public list include a Market Research Grant of up to €35,000 and Key Manager Support of up to €150,000.

For any limited company: the €10,000 voucher for work with a college or research body. Client or not, any small or medium limited company can apply. Sole traders cannot.

In 2025 Enterprise Ireland invested €32.9 million in 198 start-ups. Of that, €23 million was equity for 90 high-potential start-ups and €9.55 million was pre-seed funding. It also approved 541 Innovation Vouchers.

What a small or local business can get

Directly, very little. This table shows where each kind of business stands.

Small makers and exporters should start with the full list of Local Enterprise Office grants and who they exclude. Part of the offices' job is to bring companies on until they are ready for Enterprise Ireland. In 2025, 145 of their clients moved across.

Some Enterprise Ireland schemes reach small firms through the Local Enterprise Office, including GradStart, research and development funding, and advice on intellectual property. They are for the office's manufacturing and exporting clients, and sole traders cannot apply for the research funding.

Enterprise Ireland's own pages send smaller firms back to the local office. Its Climate Action Voucher page says non-clients with fewer than 50 employees should contact their Local Enterprise Office.

In Gaeltacht areas the agency is Údarás na Gaeltachta. Galway's Local Enterprise Office, for example, limits its Priming Grant to businesses outside Gaeltacht areas.

The National Enterprise Hub: the front door for everyone else

If you do not know which agency you belong to, start with the National Enterprise Hub. It is a free service, run by Enterprise Ireland on behalf of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. It lists more than 250 Government supports from different agencies, and you can search them by the size of your business and what you want to do.

You can also talk to an adviser:

• Phone: (01) 727 2100, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm
• Email: enquiry@neh.gov.ie
• Online: neh.gov.ie, which has a live chat

Enterprise Ireland sends its own general business enquiries to the Hub.

How to become a client, if you fit

1. Check yourself against the tests above: the sector, the staff numbers or start-up potential, and real plans to sell abroad.
2. If you are an established manufacturer or exporter, fill in the enquiry form on Enterprise Ireland's become a client page. It asks for your name, company, website and a message.
3. If you are a start-up, email the high-potential start-up team at hpsuenquiries@enterprise-ireland.com with your slide deck or business plan.
4. If you are already with a Local Enterprise Office, talk to your adviser there. The offices and Enterprise Ireland assess companies jointly before a move.
5. Once you are a client you have an adviser of your own. You talk a project through with them before applying on Enterprise Ireland's online system.

Common questions