There are more small business grants in Ireland than most owners realise, and fewer that fit a typical local business than most lists suggest. Everything comes from the official pages of the Local Enterprise Offices, Enterprise Ireland, SEAI and Microfinance Ireland, checked in September 2026.
Every small business grant in Ireland, at a glance
| Grant or support | Run by | What you get | Who it’s for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Priming Grant | LEO | 50% of the investment, up to €150,000 (in most cases €80,000) | Start-ups in their first 18 months, in manufacturing or internationally traded services |
| Business Expansion Grant | LEO | 50%, up to €150,000 (in most cases €80,000) | The same sectors, after the first 18 months |
| Feasibility Study Grant | LEO | 50% up to €15,000 (60% in the Border, Midland and Western region) | Testing whether a new idea or market is viable |
| Market Explorer Grant | LEO | 50% up to €10,000 | Businesses trading at least 12 months, exploring new markets |
| Grow Digital Voucher | LEO | 50% of new software, €500 to €5,000 in total | 1 to 50 employees, after a Digital for Business project |
| Digital for Business | LEO | Time with an expert digital consultant | 1 to 50 employees, trading six months |
| Lean for Business | LEO | Up to 90% funding for help to work more efficiently | 1 to 50 employees |
| Green for Business | LEO | Free consultancy, up to two days | Turnover over €30,000, trading six months |
| Energy Efficiency Grant | LEO | 75% of eligible costs, €750 to €10,000 | Businesses with a commercially rateable premises and an energy report |
| Mentoring | LEO | An experienced mentor, price set locally | New and existing businesses in the LEO’s area |
| Start Your Own Business | LEO | A training course, price set locally | Anyone starting out |
| Business loans | Microfinance Ireland | €2,000 to €50,000 at 6.5% (start-up loans 5.5% through a LEO) | Fewer than 10 employees, turnover under €2 million |
| Energy audit voucher | SEAI | €2,000 towards an audit | SMEs spending at least €10,000 a year on energy (changing on 11 October 2026) |
| Solar PV (Non-Domestic Microgen) | SEAI | Up to €162,600, set by system size | Businesses, farms, schools, community groups and non-profits |
| EXEED | SEAI | Up to €3 million or 40% per project | Any organisation; aimed at large energy users |
| New Frontiers | Enterprise Ireland | An entrepreneur programme with a €15,000 tax-free stipend in phase 2 | Founders of innovative start-ups |
| Pre-Seed Start Fund | Enterprise Ireland | €50,000 or €100,000 investment, as a convertible loan note | Early-stage companies with international potential |
| Digital Discovery, Digital Process Innovation, Digital Transition Fund | Enterprise Ireland | Digital grants from €5,000 up to €150,000 | Enterprise Ireland clients |
Budget 2026 didn’t add a new grant scheme for small businesses. It cut VAT on restaurant food and hairdressing to 9% from 1 July 2026 (our VAT calculator has the new rates) and promised more funding for the Local Enterprise Offices.
Which grant fits your business
This is where most lists let you down. The Local Enterprise Offices’ biggest cash grants, the Priming, Business Expansion and Feasibility grants, are for businesses in manufacturing or internationally traded services. Their eligibility rules leave out retail, personal services, professional services and construction.
So if you run a shop, a salon, a practice or a trade, those three aren’t for you. What is:
- the Grow Digital Voucher and Digital for Business
- Lean for Business and Green for Business
- the Energy Efficiency Grant and SEAI’s energy grants
- mentoring and training from your Local Enterprise Office
- a Microfinance Ireland loan, when a grant doesn’t fit
If you make products, or sell services to customers outside Ireland, the Priming, Business Expansion and Feasibility grants open up as well, and Enterprise Ireland may too once you grow.
Grants for starting a business in Ireland
Priming Grant. Your Local Enterprise Office can pay 50% of the investment in a new business in its first 18 months, up to €150,000, though in most cases the ceiling is €80,000. It’s for manufacturing and internationally traded services.
Feasibility Study Grant. Before you commit, this pays 50% of the cost of testing the idea, up to €15,000, or 60% in the Border, Midland and Western region.
Start Your Own Business. A training programme every Local Enterprise Office runs. Each sets its own price and length.
Microfinance Ireland start-up loans. Not a grant, but often the most realistic money for a local start-up. Loans run from €2,000 to €50,000; a start-up loan through your Local Enterprise Office is at 5.5% over up to three years.
New Frontiers and the Pre-Seed Start Fund. Enterprise Ireland’s routes for founders building something innovative and scalable. New Frontiers carries a €15,000 tax-free stipend in its second phase; the Pre-Seed Start Fund invests €50,000 or €100,000.
How much can you get to start a business in Ireland?
On paper, up to €150,000 through a Priming Grant. In practice, far less for most people, and for two reasons.
First, the sector rules above. Second, almost every grant is matched: it pays 50%, and you find the other half. A €10,000 grant means a €20,000 project.
That’s why “a grant to start a business with no money” rarely exists. What’s left is advice: training and mentoring from your Local Enterprise Office, priced locally, and for tech founders New Frontiers, which pays you a stipend. The money that doesn’t need matching is a loan.
Grants for growing a business
Business Expansion Grant. The Priming Grant’s partner for businesses past their first 18 months: 50% of the investment, up to €150,000, usually €80,000, for the same sectors.
Market Explorer Grant. 50% of the cost of exploring new markets, up to €10,000, for businesses trading at least 12 months.
Lean for Business. Up to 90% funding for help to take waste out of how you work, for businesses with 1 to 50 employees.
Mentoring. One-to-one time with an experienced mentor. The topics include website planning and design.
Grants for going digital
The Grow Digital Voucher is the main one: 50% of new off-the-shelf software, from €500 to €5,000 in total, for businesses with 1 to 50 employees. You need a Digital for Business project with your Local Enterprise Office first.
It replaced the Trading Online Voucher, which closed in December 2024. Tourism businesses should also look at Fáilte Ireland’s Digital that Delivers.
Enterprise Ireland’s digital grants are bigger, up to 80% of €5,000 for Digital Discovery and 50% of up to €150,000 for Digital Process Innovation, but they are for its clients: mostly exporting manufacturers and service firms with 10 or more staff.
Is there a grant for a website in Ireland?
Not in the way there used to be. The Trading Online Voucher paid up to €2,500 towards an ecommerce website until it closed on 13 December 2024.
The Grow Digital Voucher can pay for website development bought as an off-the-shelf subscription, but the Local Enterprise Office says it “does not support bespoke website development”. We build websites, so we’d rather tell you that now than after you’ve applied.
What’s left: a mentor from your Local Enterprise Office can review a website plan before you spend, and our website cost calculator prices a site line by line from what Irish web designers charge.
Energy and sustainability grants
Energy Efficiency Grant. 75% of eligible costs, from €750 to €10,000, through your Local Enterprise Office. You need a Green for Business report, a GreenStart report or an SEAI energy audit first, and a commercially rateable premises. Home-based businesses are out, and solar panels aren’t covered here.
Green for Business. Up to two days of free consultancy on becoming a greener business, for businesses with turnover over €30,000 that have traded for six months.
SEAI energy audit. A €2,000 voucher for an audit, for SMEs spending at least €10,000 a year on energy. SEAI says the rules change on 11 October 2026: from then any business using under 2.8 GWh a year qualifies.
SEAI solar PV. The Non-Domestic Microgen grant pays up to €162,600 for solar panels, at a rate per kilowatt that falls as systems get bigger. The letter of offer lasts eight months.
Loans when a grant doesn’t fit
Microfinance Ireland lends €2,000 to €50,000 to businesses with fewer than 10 employees and turnover under €2 million, at 6.5%. Start-up loans made through a Local Enterprise Office are at 5.5%, over up to three years.
A loan has to be repaid. It also doesn’t need matching, doesn’t care about your sector, and doesn’t make you wait for a grant committee.
Grants that have closed
People still search for these, so here is where they stand:
- Trading Online Voucher: closed at 5pm on 13 December 2024, replaced by the Grow Digital Voucher.
- Power Up Grant: €4,000 for retail and hospitality businesses from Budget 2025; the Department of Enterprise gave the deadline as 8 November 2024.
- Increased Cost of Business (ICOB) Grant: closed. A 2025 reclassification window was, in the Department’s words, “not a re-opening”.
- Digital Start: a Local Enterprise Office pilot that became Digital for Business.
How to apply for a small business grant
- Find your own Local Enterprise Office. There are 31, and each only takes applications from businesses in its area. Some counties have more than one.
- Talk to them before you spend. Most grants have to be approved before the work starts.
- Have the basics ready: what you want to do, what it costs, quotes, your trading history and your tax position.
- Expect the other half to come from you. Most pay 50%, and many pay out only after you’ve paid.
The Local Enterprise Offices’ customer charter promises to arrange a meeting within five working days of your request. If a grant is refused, the appeals process for the Priming, Business Expansion and Feasibility grants gives you four working weeks to appeal.
Questions about small business grants in Ireland
What grants are available for small businesses in Ireland?
The Local Enterprise Offices run most of them: the Priming, Business Expansion, Feasibility and Market Explorer grants, the Grow Digital Voucher, Lean and Green for Business and the Energy Efficiency Grant. SEAI funds energy audits and solar panels, and Enterprise Ireland supports start-ups and exporters.
Can a shop or a salon get a Priming Grant?
Usually not. The Priming, Business Expansion and Feasibility grants are for manufacturing and internationally traded services, and their rules leave out retail, personal services, professional services and construction.
Do I have to match the grant?
For most, yes. The Priming, Expansion, Feasibility, Market Explorer and Grow Digital grants pay 50%, or 60% for feasibility studies in the Border, Midland and Western region.
Is there a grant for a website in Ireland?
Not for a website designed and built for you, since the Trading Online Voucher closed in December 2024. The Grow Digital Voucher can cover website development bought as an off-the-shelf subscription.
Where do I apply for a small business grant?
To the Local Enterprise Office for your area for LEO grants, to SEAI for energy grants, and to Enterprise Ireland if you are, or could become, one of its clients.
Sources
Checked in September 2026: the Local Enterprise Office pages for the Priming Grant, Business Expansion Grant, Feasibility Study Grant, Grow Digital Voucher, Energy Efficiency Grant, Green for Business, the appeals process and the customer service charter; Microfinance Ireland; SEAI on energy audits, solar PV and EXEED; Enterprise Ireland on New Frontiers, the Pre-Seed Start Fund, Digital Discovery and Digital Process Innovation; and the Department of Enterprise on Budget 2026 and the Power Up grant. Amounts and rules change; confirm with the body that runs the grant before you apply.
