About
Innovators Initiative
Innovators’ Initiative: A national programme with regional impact, developing a talent pipeline through immersive, needs-led training to support Ireland’s economic goals. Hosted by publicly funded Research Performing Organisations (RPOs), it drives the creation of new products, processes, IP, and high-potential start-ups (HPSUs) while fostering connections with industry clusters across Ireland.
Intermediate Body:
Enterprise Ireland is the Irish government’s enterprise development agency. They invest in and support the development of Irish-owned companies on their journey to achieving greater scale and to become global leaders in their field. This provides a platform for strong economic growth and creating and sustaining jobs in communities around the country.
Their teams help Irish companies to develop high-growth strategies and to enter new markets with innovative and sustainable solutions.
Enterprise Ireland has announced a competitive call for applications to the Innovators’ Initiative: Pioneering Smart Futures 2023-2029. Research Performing Organisations based in the Republic of Ireland are invited to submit applications for funding in accordance with the Innovators’ Initiative CallGuidance Document and Application Form. All applicants must comply with the relevant EU regulations as outlined in the Innovators’ Initiative Call Guidance Document and Application Form. Failure to do so will render the application ineligible for funding. The Innovators’ Initiative is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Union under the ERDF Southern, Eastern and Midland Regional Programme 2021-27 and the ERDF Northern and Western Regional Programme 2021-27. The Innovators’ Initiative will support the following ERDF objectives.
Applications must be submitted within the specified deadlines for consideration.
Policy Objective 1:
A more competitive and smarter Europe by promoting innovative and smart economic transformation and regional ICT connectivity.
Specific Objective:
Developing and enhancing research & innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies
Objective:
The objective of the Innovators’ Initiative is to create a series of multi-year training programmes. Each programme will be hosted in Irish publicly funded RPOs, delivering highly qualified innovation champions with the necessary skillset to observe and identify market led opportunities in key sectors of national and regional importance in Ireland.
Eligibility of Applications:
The Initiative is open to publicly funded RPOs based in the Republic of Ireland. Ineligible applicants: Individual companies, clusters of companies or sectoral representative bodies cannot apply directly for funding nor are they eligible for direct funding via the programme budget.
Geographic Regions Covered:
The Enterprise Ireland Innovators’ Initiative is co-funded by two ERDF Regional Programmes. Eligible institutions will be co-funded according to their location within the relevant programme area – the Southern, Eastern & Midland Programme Area or the Northern & Western Programme Area.
Total Amount of Support:
The total budget for supports available is €30 million, of which €19.6m is funded through the Southern, Eastern & Midland Regional Programme 2021-27 and €5.9m is funded through the Northern & Western Regional Programme 2021-27. The ERDF co-funding is 40% for projects in the Southern, Eastern and Midlands Region and 60% for the Northern and Western Region. Additional funding was also made available from the Department of Enterprise Trade and Employment totalling €4.3m. Contracts will last up to seven years.
Call Start/ End Dates:
The call start date is 23rd February 2023, and the deadline for applications is 12pm (noon) on Monday 17th of April 2023. Applications received after this time will not be eligible.
Application Process:
Applications should include an electronic copy (MS Word format and pdf) signed by relevant persons in the Host RPO, sent to innovatorsinitiative@enterprise-ireland.com by the deadline.
Briefing Workshop:
An online briefing workshop on the application and assessment process for the Innovators’ Initiative will be held soon after the call is launched. This will include a Q&A session where we hope to answer any queries you may have. We strongly recommend that you attend this workshop. FAQs to support your application submission will be available following the workshop.
Assessment Meeting:
Following on from the receipt of your applications, you may be invited to meet an assessment panel to discuss your application in further detail in a Q&A session hosted by Enterprise Ireland.
More Information:
For information on the Enterprise Ireland website.