Exploring Innovation Grant

About this scheme

The Exploring Innovation Grant helps companies do strategic thinking around disruptive technologies and look outside their own organisation for inspiration, guidance and potential collaboration, leading to better planning of R&D, Innovation or International Collaboration projects. It can be used to develop strategic thinking around disruptive technologies, identify possible research partners in the third-level sector, develop prototypes to evaluate project options, conduct feasibility studies to determine resources, risks and potential return on investment, and create a project plan that could form the basis of a later Enterprise Ireland R&D or Innovation funding application. It is aimed at existing or potential Enterprise Ireland client companies registered in Ireland (HPSU-funded start-ups are excluded for 6 months post-investment). It provides up to 50% of eligible expenditure to a standard maximum grant of €35,000, against expenditure of up to €70,000; in exceptional cases, larger discretionary grants may be offered for bigger, higher-risk feasibility projects, though this extension is not publicly advertised. Eligible costs are salaries, consultancy and materials. General management/business-strategy consultancy and Digital IT system scoping are excluded.

Who can apply

• Must be an existing or potential client of Enterprise Ireland only (other agencies - IDA, Údarás na Gaeltachta, LEOs - have their own equivalent Feasibility grants and are not included here)
• Applicant must contact their Enterprise Ireland Advisor prior to application
• Must be a company registered in Ireland
• Enterprise Ireland start-up clients who have received HPSU investment funding are excluded from RD&I funding (including this grant) for 6 months after the date of investment
• No explicit limit on the number of applications a company can make over time, but there is no automatic entitlement to funding; approval is a strategic decision based on company need and value for money for the State
• Project must be linked to the development of one or more new or substantially improved products, processes or services (a feasibility study, as defined under the EU Framework for State Aid for R&D&I)
• Application must be submitted before the project has commenced
• Eligible costs (Defined Costing Method): salaries, consultancy (capped at €900 per day per project), and materials; an overhead of up to 20% of salary costs only may be applied where detailed and justified
• At least 40% of project expenditure (related to salaries) must be carried out in-house; if subcontracted/consultancy costs amount to a majority of total project costs, the project is deemed ineligible
• Excluded: general management consultancy including business strategy development, and feasibility of investment in Digital IT systems including scoping or sourcing
• Standard grant covers expenditure up to €70,000 (max. €35,000 grant); for expenditure significantly above €70,000, larger, discretionary Exploring Innovation grants (above €35,000) may be offered in exceptional cases, subject to Department & Divisional Manager agreement, with no public communication about this larger-grant option on Enterprise Ireland's corporate website
• A maximum of 2 claims may be made against this grant
• Maximum grant rate of 50% applies equally to Small, Medium and Large enterprises, per the Industrial Development Act 1986 (2019 as amended) and EU State Aid rules (GBER Commission Regulation (EU) 2023/1315, Articles 25-30; de minimis Regulation (EU) 2023/2831)
• Funding will normally be a grant, but may be offered as equity at Enterprise Ireland's discretion based on the company's financial position
• Where projects are funded under the EU Recovery and Resilience Facility, they must comply with the 'Do No Significant Harm' Technical Guidance (2021/C58/01), excluding certain fossil-fuel, ETS and waste-related activities

How to apply

1. 1Contact your Enterprise Ireland Client Advisor before applying to confirm this is the most appropriate programme for your company
2. 2Submit an application via Enterprise Ireland's Online Application System at any time, as there are no fixed call close dates (for larger, discretionary grants above €35,000, the application instead mirrors the RD&I Fund's three-part format - Business Plan, Project Plan, and Project Costs Workbook - plus company/financial background information, and is submitted by email to Enterprise Ireland's Grant Applications unit at GA@enterprise-ireland.com)
3. 3Enterprise Ireland carries out a commercial and technical assessment, evaluated by a Development Advisor with input from a Department Manager and an Enterprise Ireland Technologist (and, for larger grants, also the Commercial Evaluation team), considering value for money, prior State funding, strategic fit, financial track record, and incentive effect
4. 4Approval is granted through Enterprise Ireland's Delegated Powers mechanism (or the relevant Committee/R&D Committee for larger applications); if approved, the company receives a Letter of Offer/Grant Agreement confirming the grant title, Project Number, approved expenditure and Final Claim Date; projects should begin within 6 months of formal approval or approval may be withdrawn
5. 5Company carries out the approved feasibility/exploration project (e.g. market need investigation, stakeholder collaboration, external expert input, prototyping, commercial analysis)
6. 6Company downloads and completes the Exploring Innovation Claim Checklist, Claim Form, Director Statement and Progress Report (one Excel workbook); only the Director Statement needs to be printed, signed and returned as a PDF; the Excel claim worksheets themselves must not be converted to PDF before submission, or they will be returned
7. 7Company emails the completed claim to IndustryGrantClaims@enterprise-ireland.com; a maximum of 2 claims may be made against this grant
8. 8The Client Advisor reviews the claim and instructs the Payment Officer to pay or disallow it; the Payment Officer authorises the claim and submits a payment request to Finance