Women entrepreneurs urged to apply for Pre-Seed Start Fund

Enterprise Ireland has launched a funding support explicitly designed for high-growth early-stage startup firms and entrepreneurs in the manufacturing and internationally-traded services sectors to support innovative Irish entrepreneurs.

Enterprise Ireland is offering funding of up to €100,000 through the Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF), and this funding is in the form of Convertible Loan Notes (CLNs) with two options – €50,000 and also €100,000, paid in two equal tranches subject to key targets being met.

The PSSF, launched in 2022 and a replacement of the Competitive Start Fund (CSF), has already supported 44 Irish companies and is open all year round to applicants from all sectors. The funding is designed to accelerate the growth of early-stage startup companies in Ireland with the capacity and ambition to succeed in global markets.

It aims to support these companies with operational costs, develop market-ready products or solutions, conduct product testing and build critical skillsets within their teams. The funding also helps companies to reach key technical and commercial milestones required to attract future seed funding within six to 18 months.

The PSSF is open to all entrepreneurs at this early stage of development and is not competitive, which means that each application is evaluated on its own merits rather than against other applications. Ideally, applicants would have a minimum viable product ready, but this isn’t a condition of applying to the fund.

Funding from this scheme is just one step on the entrepreneurial journey, and applicants may, for example, have already completed the New Frontiers programme or have had some support from their Local Enterprise Office or Business Innovation Centre.

In addition to funding, successful applicants also access a comprehensive range of supports and resources to enhance their chances of success. This includes access to 10 business mentoring sessions, in-depth market research and networking opportunities. These resources help entrepreneurs navigate the challenging journey of starting and growing a business, offering guidance, expertise, and valuable connections along the way.

Enterprise Ireland believes our country’s economic success will be driven by harnessing a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem that utilises a diverse population's skills, ambition and talent. And a key objective of our ‘Women in Business’ strategy is to grow the number of women becoming entrepreneurs and improve the participation of women in senior leadership.

We’ve made some critical progress in this area. In 2011, just 7pc of Enterprise Ireland’s high-potential startups were led by women; in 2022, 36pc of the startups supported by Enterprise Ireland were founded by women.

While the PSSF is open to all applicants, we want to encourage women founders at that stage of their entrepreneurial journey to consider applying, as we want to continue that positive momentum as increasing opportunities for women entrepreneurs is a strong focus of our work.

Application-support workshops for the PSSF will be held monthly by the national Business Innovation Centres (BICs), and details of these workshops as well as the relevant application forms and eligibility criteria, can be accessed on the Enterprise Ireland website at www.enterprise-ireland.com/pssf.

Anna-Marie Turley, department manager, Entrepreneurship & HPSU Operations, Enterprise Ireland