€500,000 fund to stimulate start-up firms

Minister for Business and Employment, Ged Nash has launched a new €500,000 Enterprise Ireland Competitive Start Fund to stimulate start-up activity in the agricultural and manufacturing sectors.

The fund, which provides for up to €50,000 in equity support for each successful applicant, will open for applications on this Wednesday and closes on Wednesday, September 30.

The first of its type targeting the agricultural and manufacturing sectors, the fund will help start-up and early stage companies to get off the ground and launch new products and services in the international marketplace. The priority is to provide young companies in these sectors with the critical early stage funding for the key commercial and technical milestones that will ensure delivery of their product or service, and help them get their project to a key funding milestone.

The new Fund is part of Enterprise Ireland’s strategy for increasing the number and quality of High Potential Start-Up Companies (HPSUs) that have the potential to employ more than 10 persons and achieve €1 million in export sales within 3 years.

Minister Nash said, “A key part of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs is targeting specific sectors where we have established strengths, and supporting growth and expansion in those areas in order to create jobs.This fund will make a real contribution to supporting more businesses and ultimately more jobs in these important sectors.”