Digital Process Innovation

About this scheme

Digital Process Innovation incentivises and supports companies to invest in implementing new or significantly improved production methods, digital service delivery, or organisational methods that increase operational effectiveness, productivity and competitiveness. It is aimed at a step-change in company capability, not routine or incremental digital upgrades: eligible projects must qualify as 'process innovation' and/or 'organisational innovation' under EU State Aid rules, involving genuine change assessed for its impact on quality, speed, dependability or flexibility, and for building in-house company capability. Eligible costs cover salaries, consultancy, equipment, materials and overheads. It provides a maximum grant rate of 50% of eligible costs for SMEs and Large Companies (Large Companies funded on a de minimis basis), up to a maximum grant of €150,000; applications for grant support below €20,000 are not accepted. Applications must be submitted before any project work starts, following discussion with an Agency Advisor, and are assessed via a commercial and technical review by Enterprise Ireland's Investment Committee or Management Approvals Committee.

Who can apply

• Company must be registered in Ireland
• Company must be in business for 2 years or more
• Company must be engaged in manufacturing or an eligible services industry
• Company must be internationally trading, or have the potential to do so in the short term
• Company must be a client of Enterprise Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta with an assigned Agency Advisor
• Company must employ 10 or more full-time staff at the time of application; this requirement may be reduced to 5 or more in certain cases, such as for Enterprise Ireland High Potential Start-Up clients
• Company must be able to show adequate cash resources to implement the proposed project
• There is no automatic entitlement to funding for valid applications; approval is a strategic decision by Enterprise Ireland based on company need and value for money for the State
• Project must qualify as 'process innovation' and/or 'organisational innovation' as defined under EU State Aid rules (Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1315), involving a new or significantly improved production/delivery method or organisational method; routine or 'business as usual' projects, minor changes, simple capital replacement, mergers/acquisitions, and similar excluded categories do not qualify
• Application must be submitted to Enterprise Ireland BEFORE any work on the project starts; only expenditure incurred after a valid application is submitted can be considered
• Eligible costs: salaries (for staff based in and paying income tax in Ireland, ideally a core team of 5-10 people over 2-3 months to 12-18 months), consultancy (non-routine, non-continuous external consultancy carried out in Ireland), equipment (depreciation over project life), materials, and agreed overheads
• Subcontracted/consultancy costs cannot exceed 60% of total project costs (at least 40% of project expenditure, i.e. salaries, must be carried out in-house)
• Ineligible costs: staff time outside the salary heading; indirect overheads such as recruitment fees, insurance, general travel, equipment repairs/maintenance, shipping, business entertainment, telephone, internet, bank charges and interest
• Applications for eligible grant support of less than €20,000 will not be accepted
• For Large Companies, funding is classified as de minimis, subject to the de minimis funding limit of €300,000 over a rolling 3-year period
• Where projects are funded under the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility, they must comply with relevant EU/national environmental legislation, including the 'Do No Significant Harm' Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01); specific fossil-fuel, ETS, and waste-related activities are excluded on that basis

How to apply

1. 1Company discusses the proposed project with its Enterprise Ireland or Údarás na Gaeltachta Agency Advisor before submitting an application
2. 2Company completes the Digital Process Innovation application form, published on the Enterprise Ireland website, ensuring the application is submitted before any project work starts
3. 3Company emails the completed application to Enterprise Ireland's Grant Applications unit at GA@enterprise-ireland.com
4. 4Enterprise Ireland carries out a commercial assessment and a technical assessment of the application, considering value for money for the State, prior State funding received, strategic fit with the company's development plan, financial track record, development needs, and prior track record on state-funded projects; approval is granted through the Enterprise Ireland Investment Committee or the delegated Management Approvals Committee, based on expected impact on operational effectiveness and enhanced company capability
5. 5If approved, company receives a Letter of Offer (Grant Agreement) confirming the grant title, Project Number, approved expenditure types and amounts, and Final Claim Date; before starting work, the company reviews the grant claim procedure, including the Timesheet template and Claim Form
6. 6Each employee working on the project maintains their own Timesheet (or a Task Assignment Letter is used instead) throughout the grant-aided project
7. 7Company downloads and completes the Grants Claim Form for R&D-type Grants (one per Project Number), the Progress Report for R&D-type Grants (one per Project Number), and the Director's Statement; if the approved grant exceeds €400,000, an Independent Accountant must certify the claim using the IAR Template
8. 8Company emails the completed claim to IndustryGrantClaims@enterprise-ireland.com, with Company Name and Project Number in the subject line; a Grant Payment Officer reviews it, the inspection team validates it, and the Payment Officer authorises the claim and submits a payment request to Finance, after which payment follows to the company's bank account