Access to finance and funding
Access to finance and funding is a key enabler for the Minister’s four strategic priorities:
- Good Jobs
- regional balance
- productivity
- decarbonisation.
The department will work to develop Northern Ireland's access to finance and grant funding ecosystem in partnership with key stakeholders and delivery partners such as Invest NI, InterTradeIreland, Innovate UK and British Business Bank.
We will also work with stakeholders to ensure that public, private and third sector organisations are better positioned to compete in competitive funding programmes.
The following resources are available to aid local companies and organisations to find the right finance and funding opportunities.
Please note that this list is not exhaustive.
| Organisation | Website | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| Nibusinessinfo | Information on publicly funded opportunities available for local companies. | |
Advice on raising finance for local companies. | ||
| Invest NI | Information on Invest NI’s suite of funds to help SMEs with high growth potential. | |
| British Business Bank | Information to help businesses understand and identify suitable finance options. It has been devised for businesses and advisers by the British Business Bank with editorial partners from across the finance industry. | |
| Innovate UK | Includes public finance and funding options and support for innovation. | |
| UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) | Provides research funding opportunities from UKRI’s seven disciplinary research councils and Innovate UK. Funding opportunities are primarily for research organisations with some opportunities for public sector and business via collaborative partnerships. | |
| InterTradeIreland | Information on InterTradeIreland’s cross border programmes which can aid business growth. Support includes funding as well as help to source specialist expertise. Provides information on the different types of finance available for business at different stages of growth. | |
| Innovation Funding Service | Information on UK wide grant funding for innovation. Allows users to search by innovation area. | |
| Industrial Decarbonisation for Northern Ireland | IDNI is a knowledge sharing platform led by Invest NI in collaboration with partners including local authorities. The aim is to develop a plan for industrial decarbonisation. It provides information on funding opportunities that support the transition to net zero. | |
| Find Government Grant Service | Developed by the Cabinet Office, it includes information on all Exchequer-funded general grants which are competed or criteria-based. Includes grants for public sector organisations as well as private sector. Includes geographical remit – not all opportunities will be available to local companies. | |
| Konfer | Smart-matching innovation tool which helps to connect universities and business. | |
| European Commission | Information on EU Funding opportunities available through Horizon Europe. | |
| Special EU Programmes Body (SEUPB) | Information on open funding calls for each of the PeacePlus Investment Areas. Applications for funding can be submitted by a wide range of organisations including local authorities, public sector bodies as well as voluntary and community sector organisations. | |
| Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI) | Funding tool which provides information on R&D and innovation funding and other research supports for business in the south. |