Enterprise Ireland
Innovation Voucher
aka EI Innovation Voucher
EUR5,000 voucher that funds a small business to work with a registered higher-education or research institution on an innovation question.
EUR5,000 standard voucher (or EUR10,000 cofunded follow-on)
Last reviewed May 2026
What this scheme funds
The Innovation Voucher is a EUR5,000 grant that small Irish businesses can use to access expertise from a registered knowledge provider - Irish universities and Institutes of Technology, plus a small number of overseas partners. The voucher pays the knowledge provider directly to investigate a defined innovation challenge: a new product feasibility study, a process improvement, a software prototype, a market test or a technical due-diligence question. Co-funded vouchers (where the business adds a further EUR5,000) are available for follow-on projects, doubling the project budget. The scheme is one of the lowest-friction ways to put an academic researcher onto a commercial problem.
Application window
Calls typically open three times per year
Who can apply
- •Small or medium-sized enterprise (under 250 employees)
- •Trading and tax-resident in Ireland
- •Engages a registered knowledge provider listed on the EI Innovation Voucher portal
- •Innovation question must be novel to the business
How it typically funds software
- •Software prototype or proof of concept developed in partnership with a HEI
- •AI model evaluation or feasibility (e.g. with the SFI ADAPT centre)
- •User-experience or accessibility audit by a HEI research group
Software categories this can fund
Related grants
Enterprise Ireland
New Frontiers Programme
Six-month entrepreneur development programme delivered through Institutes of Technology and Technological Universities, including a tax-free stipend of EUR15,000 in Phase 2.
Revenue Commissioners
R&D Tax Credit
30% refundable tax credit on qualifying research and development expenditure, claimed via the company's annual corporation tax return.