Innovation Vouchers September 2011 call now open

Local businesses can apply for funding of up to £4,000 to access knowledge and expertise to develop innovative business solutions.

The Invest Northern Ireland Innovation Vouchers programme enables small Northern Ireland registered businesses to apply for a voucher, worth up to £4,000, which they can redeem against the cost of specialist expertise from universities, colleges and publicly funded research institutes. The knowledge available can be applied to areas such as product development, process streamlining and customer interface improvement.

September call for applications

The current call for applications to the Innovation Vouchers programme is open from 1 September until midnight on 30 September 2011.

Eligibility criteria

To be eligible to apply for the Innovation Vouchers programme businesses must meet the following criteria:

be a small enterprise ie the number of full-time employees is less than 50
have an annual turnover and/or annual balance sheet total not exceeding €10 million
businesses must be registered with Companies House Northern Ireland and hold a valid Northern Ireland Company Registration Number
transportation and agriculture sectors are excluded
ceiling of €200,000 for all De Minimis aid provided to any one firm over a three year period