Local Enterprise Office Priming Grant (Ireland)
Local Enterprise Offices (Enterprise Ireland network) · Start-up grant
$54K50% of investment up to €50,000 (~$54k) in Dublin City; caps vary by county LEO (e.g. Limerick €75k, Kildare €150k)
Business start-up grant from Ireland's county Local Enterprise Offices covering half of early investment, salaries and marketing for micro-enterprises in their first 18 months.
Key terms
- Business must be 0–18 months into start-up (micro-enterprise)
- Grant covers max 50% of investment; employment support capped at €15,000 per full-time job
- Dublin City requires at least 1 new full-time paid job and paying customers
- Caps and criteria differ by county — apply to the LEO where the business is located
- Competitive assessment; preliminary eligibility form precedes a formal application
Eligibility
- Where
- Ireland
- Stages
- pre-seed, seed
- Max company age
- 1.5 years
- Needs VC/accelerator backing
- No
- Needs partner referral code
- No
- Must be incorporated
- Yes
- AI focus required
- No
- Students / researchers
- Not eligible
- Nonprofits
- Not eligible
Also required
- Eligible costs: salaries (founder can be the new hire), capital items, consultancy, innovation, marketing
- Priority to businesses with export/Enterprise Ireland growth potential
How to apply
Complete your county LEO's online Grant Eligibility Assessment Form; an adviser contacts you (Dublin City: within 10 working days) and developed projects move to a formal application.
- Benefit
- cash
- Equity-free
- Yes
- Decision time
- —
- Credit validity
- —
- Deadline
- Rolling
- Status
- Open
Verified 2026-10-23 · source