Pre-Seed Start Fund: €50,000 or €100,000 from Enterprise Ireland for very early start-ups

What it pays, and what a convertible loan note is

You apply for either €50,000 or €100,000. The €100,000 comes in two halves. The second is released only after Enterprise Ireland reviews your progress against agreed milestones, and within 12 months of the first.

The money is not a grant. It is a convertible loan note: a loan to the company which the lender can swap for shares later, usually when outside investors come in. Enterprise Ireland's published standard terms are:

• Interest of 3% a year, which builds up and is paid when the loan is repaid or converted.
• If the company raises an investment round of at least €250,000, Enterprise Ireland can convert the loan into shares at a 20% discount to the price in that round.
• If it has not converted after five years, Enterprise Ireland can ask for repayment. The company can also choose to repay then, but not earlier.
• If the company is sold while the loan is outstanding, Enterprise Ireland is repaid plus a premium: the lower of the amount it invested or the value of 10% of the company's shares.

You also get an Enterprise Ireland adviser, 10 mentoring sessions and access to its Market Research Centre.

Who qualifies

An applicant must meet all of these:

• The business is in manufacturing or an eligible internationally traded service, meaning a service that is sold abroad. Enterprise Ireland's announcements have named fields such as fintech, medtech, cyber security, and food and drink.
• The company is registered and located in Ireland, with most of the management team living here.
• It is less than 4 years old, counted from the date it was incorporated.
• It has not raised more than €150,000 in equity. Shares, convertible loans and directors' loans all count.
• It is not trading yet, or has only just started. Revenue must not have passed €150,000 in this or any earlier year.
• It has the potential and ambition to reach 10 jobs in Ireland and €1 million in sales within three years.

Ideally the start-up has a minimum viable product, meaning a first working version, with early proof that customers want it.

You do not have to be an Enterprise Ireland client. An individual can apply while setting up the company. A sole trader cannot be approved.

Who cannot get it

• A shop, cafe, pub, salon, trade or local service. These are not manufacturing or internationally traded services, so they fall outside the fund whatever the business plan says.
• Gambling, adult entertainment, tobacco and military businesses.
• A company that has already had €100,000 from this fund, or money from both this fund and the competition-based fund that came before it. A company that had €50,000 from either can apply for €50,000 more.
• A company or founder still drawing down other State funding for the same plan. A Local Enterprise Office grant or the New Frontiers allowance must be fully drawn down or given up before you accept.

If that rules you out, Microfinance Ireland offers State-backed loans from €2,000 to €50,000 for very small firms. Our guide to the grants a Local Enterprise Office gives, and the firms it has to refuse is the other place to start.

The €5,000 you bring, and what the money is for

For each €50,000, the company must take in at least €5,000 of new cash as equity or something close to it. Equity means shares, a part-ownership of the company. A convertible loan counts. So does a SAFE, which is a simple agreement for future equity: the investor pays now and gets shares at a later funding round.

The cash must arrive after the date of your application. It can come from you, your family, a fund or a private investor known as a business angel. It cannot come from another publicly funded body, and Enterprise Ireland says ordinary loans are not enough.

Your plan must show spending at least equal to the amount you ask for, mainly on salaries, travel and consultancy fees. Sales and marketing costs are not eligible, and legal fees are capped at €10,000. Enterprise Ireland reviews after 12 months whether the money was used as agreed.

How to apply, step by step

1. Read the eligibility criteria on the Pre-Seed Start Fund page on enterprise-ireland.com.
2. Go to a free application workshop if you can. The Business Innovation Centres run one online each month. The next are on 14 October, 19 November and 9 December 2026.
3. Register on Enterprise Ireland's online application system and complete the application, including the cost of your plan.
4. Reply to the confirmation email within 48 hours with a 4-minute video pitch, recorded in PowerPoint and no bigger than 20MB. Without it the application is not valid.
5. Enterprise Ireland checks eligibility and assesses the proposal. It may ask to speak to your customers or investors.
6. If you are approved, the offer is valid for 8 weeks. You need a solicitor, a tax clearance certificate, and written confirmation from a solicitor or auditor that the new €5,000 has gone in.

How many get it, and what happens if you are refused

This is a small fund. In 2025 Enterprise Ireland approved €9.55 million in pre-seed funding for roughly 100 companies in the whole country. Its own documents give the count as 98 in one place and 108 in another.

If you are refused, Enterprise Ireland writes to tell you and points you to other supports. You can apply again when you have dealt with the weaknesses it named, up to three applications per company in any 12 months.

For companies that get further, the usual next step is a larger Enterprise Ireland co-investment once private investors come in.

Common questions

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