Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Damien English, this week invited early-stage entrepreneurs to apply for two Enterprise Ireland Competitive Start Funds (CSFs) which are now open for applications. The two funds for ‘All Sectors’ and ‘Women Entrepreneurs’ amount to a combined total of €2m.
A maximum of 40 investments of up to €50k in equity funding to successful projects. Ambitious entrepreneurs and start-ups with an eligible innovative product or service set for international markets are urged to apply. Closing date for both CSF competitions is in 3 weeks’ time at 3pm on Tuesday, 28 September 2021.
The ‘All Sectors’ Competitive Start Fund and ‘Women Entrepreneurs’ Competitive Start Fund competitions are part of Enterprise Ireland’s strategy for increasing the number of diverse High Potential Start-Up companies (HPSUs) that have the potential and ambition to succeed internationally. The funds are designed to help start-ups reach key commercial and technical milestones.
A number of CSF application-support workshops will be held online by the national Business Innovation Centres (BICs) over the coming weeks. Details of these workshops, as well as the Competitive Start Fund application forms and eligibility criteria for both the ‘All Sectors’ and ‘Women Entrepreneurs’ competitions, can be accessed on the Enterprise Ireland website at www.enterprise-ireland.com/csf. Applicants can only apply for one competition and must meet the requirements for that specific competition.
Welcoming the initiative, Minister Damien English said, "As we emerge from the pandemic, we need to continue to cultivate our country’s start-up culture and help our ambitious entrepreneurs to move their business ideas to the next level. Getting your own business up and running is challenging at the best of times, so I am encouraging eligible early-stage start-ups with global ambition to apply to the relevant Competitive Start Fund competition, each of which is worth up to €1m. I am particularly pleased to see Enterprise Ireland continue to prioritise increasing the number of women entrepreneurs as we know from years of international research that greater diversity delivers better business results."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
