Enterprise Ireland, together with Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke TD, has launched a new funding call under the Innovators' Initiative — one of Ireland's most ambitious programmes for developing the next generation of innovation talent.
The call is live now. The deadline for applications is Wednesday 8 July 2026 at 12pm. For the research organisations, industry partners and ambitious professionals this programme is designed to reach, that is 32 days away.
What the Innovators' Initiative Actually Is
The Innovators' Initiative is not a startup grant. It is not a research fund in the traditional academic sense. It is something more specific — and more commercially ambitious.
The programme funds Irish publicly funded research organisations to design and deliver immersive, needs-led innovation training programmes targeted at mid-career professionals with an entrepreneurial mindset. The objective is to take people who already have deep sector expertise — in medtech, cybersecurity, digital health, deep tech, green transition or food and agri-tech — and give them the structured frameworks, mentoring and commercialisation support to translate that expertise into viable innovations with real market potential.
The logic is compelling. Ireland has deep talent in its established industries. Many of the best innovations come not from first-time entrepreneurs but from experienced practitioners who understand a sector's problems from the inside. The Innovators' Initiative is designed to unlock that potential.
What This New Call Funds
This new call — designated as the Innovators' Initiative II (STEP) — builds on the first iteration of the programme, which currently comprises four active innovation training programmes across Ireland. The new call will add three further programmes, expanding the initiative's regional reach and sectoral coverage.
The total funding allocation is €10.5 million, distributed across the three new programmes over four years. Projects must be operational by 1 January 2027.
The programme is co-funded by the Government of Ireland and the European Regional Development Fund, administered through the Northern and Western Regional Assembly and the Southern Regional Assembly — meaning there is a specific emphasis on regional spread and ensuring innovation capability is developed outside of Dublin as well as within it.
The STEP designation — Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform — reflects the programme's alignment with EU industrial priorities established in February 2024. Priority areas include deep tech, green transition technologies, digital innovation and industrial competitiveness. Programmes funded under this call must demonstrate alignment with at least one of these priority areas.
Who Can Apply
Eligibility for the funding call itself is restricted to Irish publicly funded research performing organisations — primarily universities, technological universities and research institutes. The call is seeking RPOs to design and deliver the programmes, not individuals to participate in them directly.
However, the commercial and professional opportunity the programme creates extends well beyond the institutions. Participating industry partners — the businesses that collaborate with RPOs on identifying real-world challenges for the programme to address — play a central role in the Innovators' Initiative model. And the mid-career professionals who participate in the resulting programmes are precisely the kind of people who emerge from them with validated innovations and pathways to commercialisation.
For businesses in the sectors the programme targets — particularly deep tech, medtech, digital health and sustainability — the Innovators' Initiative is worth watching closely as a talent and innovation pipeline.
Why This Matters for Irish Business
The broader context matters here. Ireland's innovation output — its ability to turn research and expertise into new companies, new products and new competitive advantages — has been identified as a critical determinant of long-term economic competitiveness.
Enterprise Ireland's own data shows a 22 per cent increase in productivity annually per person employed in companies that use its research and innovation supports. Industry-led collaborative projects supported since 2013 have a combined value of over €60 million. The Innovators' Initiative is part of a larger ecosystem of supports — alongside Innovation Vouchers, Innovation Partnerships and the Knowledge Transfer Ireland infrastructure — designed to ensure that Ireland's significant academic research capacity translates into tangible commercial outcomes.
The Innovators' Initiative II (STEP) adds a specifically European dimension to that ambition. By aligning Irish innovation training with EU STEP priorities, it positions participating professionals and their innovations within a continental technology strategy — opening pathways to European funding, partnerships and markets that purely domestic programmes do not provide.
The Deadline: 8 July 2026
For research organisations considering a submission, the closing date of Wednesday 8 July at 12pm allows sufficient time to develop a credible application — but not enough time for extended deliberation.
The full call documentation and application guidelines are available directly from Enterprise Ireland at enterprise-ireland.com.
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