The funding challenge

Firms should find it easier to access support from Enterprise Ireland’s in-house Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) Fund, thanks to some small but significant changes to the application process. The fund is there to assist in the development of new or substantially improved products, services or processes. Eligible innovation projects range from solving technical challenges, to innovations in services delivery, or alterations to business models.

Support ranges from 45 per cent of eligible costs for small companies, medium-sized clients get 35 per cent, and large companies with more than 250 employees get 25 per cent. There is a 15 per cent bonus if two or more companies are collaborating but there is a ceiling on grants in Ireland of 50 per cent at present. The Government has signalled this may be increased to 70 per cent in the near future, however.

The application process is now more accessible to potential applicants, according to Enterprise Ireland in-company R&D manager Joe Madden. "Even the term R&D can be seen as frightening by lots of companies," he says. "It just means product, process or service development; it doesn't have to be a major research project. It can simply involve improving a product or service to make it better and more competitive on new markets."

Up until recently, companies had to fill in quite a complex application form. This included financial details going back for up to five years as well as projections for the next two. “Now they can send in an outline proposal to us, we’ll take a look at it and if we think it could be eligible for support, we’ll help them complete the full application,” says Madden. “This makes the whole process much less intimidating.”

There is also a new process for smaller projects eligible for funding of less than €150,000. “There is now an online two-page application to be completed and we hope to have approval in 10 to 20 days of receiving it,” says Madden. “Business owners are busy people and they don’t want to spend a lot of time form-filling, particularly if it turns out not to be eligible.”

This new process also allows Enterprise Ireland to clear up some misunderstandings which can arise in relation to the support. “We can help in explaining what qualifies and what doesn’t. For example, direct costs qualify, of course, but some overhead costs can be eligible as well while capital costs usually are not. There is another issue which we try to help with. If a company seeks €100,000 in support and it later turns out that the project would have been eligible for €150,000, EU rules prevent them from coming back for more later. It is therefore very important to get the initial application right.”

Straightforward

The process for eligible projects can be very straightforward, as some of the examples given by Madden demonstrate. “Let’s say a company manufactures lightbulbs and wants to change the colour of the filament to meet tastes in a certain market that they want to enter. They just need to figure out how to change the colour without affecting other performance characteristics. It’s not really a new process or product, it’s more of a technical challenge which will allow the company to expand its market. We can support that.”

Some other examples include a project which improved the performance and reduced the cost of naturally composted fertiliser; the development of a low-cost inventory management system; development of food product variations such as gluten-free, low-fat, low-sugar, and long-life options for different markets; new treatments to improve the lifespan of outdoor wooden furniture; and the addition of new features to agricultural machinery.

Madden encourages firms to get involved in R&D and innovation. “Companies that do R&D generally do better in business,” he says. “Companies that engage with Enterprise Ireland do better again.”

Support is restricted to Enterprise Ireland clients who are, in general, manufacturers or are involved in internationally traded services. “They can also be a potential Enterprise Ireland client,” he adds. “They may not be involved in exporting or manufacturing at present but if the project will lead them into those areas, they could qualify for assistance.”

Firms which are impacted by Brexit should look seriously at innovation as well. “They might have products or services which are currently only suited to the home and UK markets but may with small tweaks become suitable for EU or US markets. We are here to help those companies.”