The government, through Enterprise Ireland, is keen on supporting Irish businesses reeling from the effects of the Covid pandemic to get back on their feet, protect jobs, and enable long-term growth. An extra €51m fund has been unveiled by business minister Leo Varadkar, all of which will be dished out to businesses before the close of 2021 – and this also includes a €9,000 voucher that you can use for your digital marketing efforts. Already, Local Enteprise is helping businesses grow online with the Trading Online Voucher Scheme that’s part of the Government’s National Digital Strategy, offering a €2,500 grant. Businesses are using it to solidify their digital presence, and the government still pushes for more to be done. So what is in the new €51m fund?

Sustaining Enterprise Fund Gets A Boost

Remember the €180m Sustaining Enterprise Fund? This was one of the early measures that was undertaken when Covid-19 restrictions were started, even including a grant of up to 50% of the funding package. It focused on keeping businesses afloat, with small and regionally-based companies benefiting from it and remaining in operation. In fact, two-thirds of the businesses that obtained the support were outside Dublin.

Given the success of the fund, it is set to receive an additional capital injection. €20m from the €51m extra funding package will be directed to the Sustaining Enterprise Fund which has been running for a year now, to continue providing support to Irish businesses that were hit by the pandemic.

Accelerated Recovery Fund Launched

While businesses have been resilient in the face of the challenges they’ve been facing, global markets are beginning to open up again, and so the businesses need an extra shot in the arm to keep up with the recovery and adapt to the new operating environment. This is especially those in the manufacturing and export sectors. That’s where this fund comes in.

The remaining €31m from the kitty will go into the newly launched Accelerated Recovery Fund, with the goal of providing liquidity for companies. The aim here is to enable the business to ramp up investments into their capital and digital capabilities, to turbo-charge their productivity.

How Much Can You Get?

Are you already eligible for the Sustaining Enterprise Fund? Then you can access up to €800,000 for your business from the new €51m funding.

For the Accelerated Recovery Fund, the maximum amount that can be approved is €1.8m per project. This specific fund targets companies in manufacturing and internationally traded services sectors, who had at least 10 employees on their payroll as of 29 February 2020; or who had 10 full-time employees at the time of making the application. Check for additional eligibility requirements at Enterprise Ireland.

€9,000 Digitalisation Vouchers Up For Grabs!

A 100% funded grant voucher is part of the resources being availed, and it is specifically targeting digitalisation of businesses. This includes aspects like internal process optimisation, enhancing the digital customer experience across the board – from product and service delivery, to marketing and sales channels, and even using data analytics for decision making.

With this extra funding, businesses get support in developing a digital roadmap for their operations.  This includes access to technical expertise for their current setup and future plans, as well as identifying new digitalisation opportunities. During the application, you’ll need to show Enterprise Ireland your current digital readiness by completing an assessment score card. Get in touch with the Salt Marketing team to guide you through the application process, complete with setting up a digital roadmap for your business.