Invest NI grants

Invest NI grants help SMEs develop and grow. SMEs are the backbone of the Northern Irish economy, providing refreshing and innovative ideas. Invest Northern Ireland (NI) is another place that offers grant funding and support for Northern Irish SMEs. It works with companies to tailor-make a support package for each individual investment project.

Invest Northern Ireland offers business funding that allows business to develop and offer a range of funding solutions. They offer five funds spanning a range of £10,000 to £2 million for SMEs across both debt and equity markets. These are:

Equity Funds

The equity funds are comprised of two Invest NI grants:

  • Co-fund II (European Regional Development Fund)
  • Techstart NI (ERDF).

Loan Funds

The Loan Funds are comprised of three Invest NI grants:

  • Small Business Loan Fund (SBLF)
  • Growth Loan Fund II (ERDF)
  • Growth Finance Fund (a £30m loan fund designed to support export focused NI SMEs).

Invest NI grants will support your idea with a dedicated advisor if you’re able to meet the eligibility criteria. They will be able to guide you and introduce your business to key contacts, educating you on the local market. Finance for the funds may be provided solely by Invest NI or in conjunction with the private sector.

If successful, they may be able to offer you revenue grants that goes towards:

  • Start-up costs
  • Interest relief
  • Factory rental costs
  • Training costs
  • Marketing development costs
  • Research and development (R&D).

They also offer:

  • Pre-employment training support
  • Employment grants
  • Finance investment in the share capital of a company and government loans at commercial and concessionary rates.

Funding for innovation and R&D projects

Invest NI grants offer two options of funding for research and development projects. One for those who are new to R&D and one for businesses that have some experience of R&D.

New to R&D

The new to R&D offers funding to those businesses that have never carried out R&D projects before. Those that have an idea for new projects and products and meet certain eligibility criteria, may be eligible for support. A Grant Writing Consultant can help optimise your chances of a successful application. They know what funders are looking for and how to best convey it. It may be with looking into working with one or commissioning them to write your grant proposal on your behalf.

Invest NI grants support is available up to £50,000 for businesses to:

  • Plan or investigate an idea
  • Make and test a prototype
  • Experiment and refine the design
  • Handle intellectual property costs.

Follow-on R&D

Follow-on R&D support is available from Invest NI. It’s for businesses that have some experience of R&D, and they will provide funding that can help with:

  • Defining, scoping and planning an R&D project
  • Research or critical investigation aimed at producing new technical or scientific knowledge
  • Process or product development or improvements
  • Development of leading- and cutting-edge technology
  • Linking to a university or college to collaborate on strategically important projects.

Need help with writing your grant application?

Our Grant Writing Service is for businesses who want to start applying for grants, but don’t know where to begin. If you don’t have the resources or the time in-house to write a winning grant – we can help. Our Grant Consultants have over 60 years of experience in bidding for funding and grants. Whether it’s a start-up business grant, council business grants or grants for charities, they can help. They can take care of the whole thing for you – they’ll even submit it on your behalf.

Get in touch to find out how we can help your business grow!

You can access our Grant Tracker service which hosts all the latest grant opportunities in the UK from 1,500 data points. Opportunities are manually tracked, enabling for accurate keyword labelling, optimising your search for the perfect grant. This can help you streamline your search for grants for businesses.

You can sign up now!

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