Where Can Your Business Get Funding in Ireland?

Start with the organisation that fits your business and the project you want to fund: your Local Enterprise Office, an Enterprise Ireland or Údarás adviser, a local LEADER body, a relevant sector agency or a business lender. Grants, repayable loans and advice or training support are different routes. None automatically pays for every website, marketing or software project. [1][2][3][4][5]

Where should you look first?

Choose a route before choosing a headline grant amount.

This guide focuses on small-business and digital-project funding leads relevant to website, software and business-development decisions. It is not a complete list of Irish or EU funding, a personal-finance guide or an eligibility assessment.

Scheme guidance was reviewed on 9 October 2026. Availability, budgets and terms can change. Check the linked scheme owner before committing expenditure.

Your situation	A sensible starting point	What to ask
A small business assessing digital systems	Local Enterprise Office	Would Digital for Business or Grow Digital fit the actual project?
An eligible Enterprise Ireland client	EI Development Adviser	Does the work fit a defined consultancy, process-innovation or training offer?
An eligible Gaeltacht business	Údarás na Gaeltachta adviser	Which current supports fit the business and proposed costs?
A potentially eligible rural enterprise	Local LEADER implementing body	Is there an appropriate local call and eligible project category?
An eligible food, drink or horticulture producer	Bord Bia adviser	Does the Market Growth Programme fit the business and specific activity?
A micro-enterprise needing repayable finance	Microfinance Ireland or a suitable lender	Does the loan purpose fit, and can the business afford repayment?

These are leads to investigate, not statements that the visitor qualifies. Agency-client status, location, company size, sector and the project itself can all matter. [1][2][3][4][5][6]

What is the difference between a grant, a loan and support?

A grant

A grant can contribute to approved expenditure under a scheme’s rules. The headline ceiling is not the amount every applicant receives.

Ask about the eligible cost categories, your contribution, approval timing, payment or reimbursement arrangements and evidence required for a claim.

A loan

A loan is borrowed money that must be repaid. It is not a discount on the supplier’s invoice.

Microfinance Ireland lists different products for start-up, cashflow and expansion needs, with amounts varying by product. Its published range across products includes €2,000 to €50,000. Check the actual product, eligibility, interest, term and repayments before applying. [5]

This is a funding lead, not personalised borrowing advice.

Advice or training support

Support may pay for or subsidise an assessment, specialist advice or training rather than the implementation work you have in mind.

A digital strategy assignment and a website build are not interchangeable. Neither are management training and an ongoing SEO or advertising retainer.

Can your Local Enterprise Office fund a custom website?

Do not assume that Grow Digital will fund bespoke website development.

The current Grow Digital eligibility page excludes bespoke website development and custom or bespoke software. Eligible software must be off the shelf and new to the business. The programme has further applicant and project conditions, including a completed Digital for Business project within the previous two years. [1]

The same guidance supports eligible subscriptions for a maximum of one year, limits related training and IT configuration combined to 50% of overall project cost and excludes expenditure incurred before receipt of the application form. Those are Grow Digital rules, not rules to apply to every funding programme. [1]

The practical question for your LEO is:

Our project includes a custom website, an off-the-shelf software subscription and related configuration. Which parts, if any, are eligible under the current scheme, and what must happen before we commit to them?

Do not rename bespoke development as a subscription or training to make it appear eligible.

Digital for Business is an assessment and advisory route. It should not be presented as a cash grant for a website supplier chosen by the applicant. [7]

What should an Enterprise Ireland client ask?

Ask the Development Adviser about the precise business objective and the relevant cost category.

The reviewed EI routes include Digital Process Innovation, Strategic Consultancy Assignment and Build Capability. They concern different kinds of work: process innovation, defined consultancy and strategic training. Their eligibility and costs are not interchangeable. [2][8][9]

The former Enterprise Ireland Digital Marketing Capability offer is closed. Build Capability is described as training support; do not present it as a general replacement subsidy for website builds, recurring SEO or ad spend. [9][10]

A useful project description explains the process being changed, the people involved, the expected capability and the separate supplier activities. Ask EI to confirm the scope rather than assuming a generic digital label is enough.

Are there local or sector-specific routes?

Yes, there are routes worth investigating, but local or sector eligibility matters.

Wexford LEADER’s published enterprise guidance includes support categories for website development and digital marketing. That is evidence of a local possibility, not proof of a nationwide bespoke-website grant. Contact the relevant implementing body for your own location and project. [4]

Údarás’s Digital Marketing Capability guidance describes review, strategy and senior-management training for eligible clients. It explicitly excludes website development and maintenance, and online-advertising implementation. Do not confuse its separately administered offer with Enterprise Ireland’s discontinued scheme of a similar name. [3]

Bord Bia’s Market Growth Programme is a qualified lead for eligible food, drink and horticulture businesses. The reviewed public page does not establish that every website, SEO or advertising invoice qualifies. Confirm the specific activity, current intake and supplier conditions with Bord Bia. [6]

The fact that an agency has experience in your sector does not establish your grant eligibility.

What information should you prepare before contacting a funding body?

Use this original enquiry worksheet:

1. Business details: location, sector, trading history, employee numbers and relevant agency-client status.
2. Business problem: what needs to change, and why?
3. Project scope: separate development, software, configuration, training, advice and promotion.
4. Costs: identify one-off fees, subscriptions, VAT and other running costs.
5. Timing: note proposed start dates and any commitments already made.
6. Supplier information: ask whether approval, qualifications or procurement evidence is required.
7. Your contribution: explain how you would fund any unsupported balance.

Do not send sensitive customer records simply to describe the project. A clear scope is more useful than a collection of unrelated documents.

Which questions should you ask before paying a deposit?

• Is the business eligible under the current scheme?
• Is the specific expenditure eligible?
• Must approval happen before ordering, paying a deposit or starting work?
• Are there supplier, quotation or procurement requirements?
• How are VAT, subscriptions and mixed projects treated?
• When is support paid, and what evidence is required?
• What happens if the scope or supplier changes?
• Is the application route actually accepting submissions?

The answer needs to come from the relevant body. Do not use an old voucher article or a supplier’s marketing statement as a substitute.

How do you keep the project affordable if funding is not approved?

Prepare an unfunded version of the budget. Separate essential work from later improvements and do not treat a possible award as cash already available.

The website budget priorities guide can help define a complete first phase. The website quote checklist helps separate development, software and support so a funding adviser can assess the actual work.

Sources

1. Local Enterprise Offices: Grow Digital eligibility.
2. Enterprise Ireland: Digital Process Innovation.
3. Údarás na Gaeltachta: Digital Marketing Capability.
4. Wexford Local Development: LEADER funding for enterprises.
5. Microfinance Ireland: loan packages.
6. Bord Bia: Market Growth Programme.
7. Local Enterprise Offices: Digital for Business.
8. Enterprise Ireland: Strategic Consultancy Assignment.
9. Enterprise Ireland: Build Capability.
10. Enterprise Ireland: Digital Marketing Capability closure notice. The closure notice takes precedence over older descriptive text remaining on that page.

Next step: Contact the relevant scheme owner first. Once the eligible scope and application timing are clear, discuss the website or software work you need specified.