Enterprise Ireland’s €1 million competitive start fund (CSF) for female entrepreneurs is open on Tuesday, May 1.
Calling all female founders. A maximum of 20 successful female applicants will get up to €50,000 in equity funding.
You can apply here.
Last year, 46 percent of all companies who received CSF investment from Enterprise Ireland were female-led.
Getting female firms investor ready
As well as funding, 15 of the successful applicants will be offered a place on the INNOVATE accelerator programme, delivered by Dublin BIC. Taking place over a 12-week period in the Guinness Enterprise Centre, INNOVATE gets the participants investor-ready within a short period.
“We need to keep this momentum and grow these numbers so that we see more women confidently starting new businesses and successfully scaling existing ones.”
Growing these numbers
“We made a commitment in 2012 to female entrepreneurs in this country to increase supports dedicated to them, and we did this in response to the low number of female-led startups receiving investments and supports. Six years later the breakdown is encouraging,” says Rachael James, female entrepreneurship manager, Enterprise Ireland.
“More than one in three start-ups supported by Enterprise Ireland last year through the High Potential Startup programme and CSFs were led by women, compared to just one in ten start-ups in 2012. However, we need to keep this momentum and grow these numbers so that we see more women confidently starting new businesses and successfully scaling existing ones.”
For more details and how to apply, go here.
