Call for Applications: Smart Regions Scheme – Ireland

The Smart Regions Scheme will support the development of innovative services through local infrastructure, innovation clusters, Services to SME’s and early-stage feasibility and priming research.

The Smart Regions Scheme supported under the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is aimed at accelerating economic growth in all regions of the country, by working with stakeholders to deliver on their potential regional enterprise strengths and opportunities, and by strengthening the regional enterprise innovation system.

Smart Regions: Objectives

The overall objective of this Scheme is to drive job creation/retention and enterprise development in each region throughout Ireland. In addition, Smart Regions funding is targeted at strategic locations regionally where an identifiable deficit exists in key infrastructure, which is necessary to support the micro and SME client base.

These projects shall be:

• Collaborative in nature,
• Innovative,
• Financially viable, (must be profitable business propositions in the case of Infrastructure projects)
• Sustainable,
• Focused on delivering metrics and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) which provide additionality to the existing regional infrastructure.

Streams

The scheme, with a total value of €145.3m for 4 Streams, which shall support the following activities/projects:

• Local Infrastructure projects
  • Stream One will support Not-for-Profit Designated Activity Companies (DAC)s or Not-forProfit Companies Limited by Guarantee’s to construct and/or upgrade Local Infrastructure Projects which propose to have major regional, multi-regional or sectoral impact, with grant support from €1m up to €10m per project. These projects must address a defined need for Local Infrastructure in a sector and/or region. In addition, applicants must, through a comprehensive application and financial sustainability plan, demonstrate how they will finance costs associated with maintenance and operation of the Local Infrastructure.
• Innovation clusters & consortia
  • Stream Two will support significant Innovation Clusters/Consortia with grants of €50k up to €2m per project. The applicant must be a Not-for-Profit DAC or a Not-for-Profit CLG. Up to 50% grant aid will be available for eligible programme support costs and relevant staff costs over the 3-year funding period.
• Services to SMEs to drive innovation solutions
  • Stream Three will support Services to SMEs to drive Innovative Solutions, with grants of €200k up to €1m per eligible project. This Stream will support the eligible Not-for-Profit DACs or Not-for-Profit CLGs. This funding will support programmatic costs over a minimum two-year/maximum three-year period under De Minimis Pass Through. The support will offer funding for delivery of a wide range of services to businesses, particularly to SMEs, to help them drive innovative solutions and enhance their competitiveness. The services provided must be valued at market rates and the amount of support must be recorded against the De Minimis aid balance of the supported company.
• Feasibility and Priming Grants
  • Stream Four will support the investigation of new projects through Feasibility Study Funding for early-stage project concepts (with grants from €25k up to €50k) or through Priming Funding to support detailed preparation of more advanced projects (with grants from €50k up to €200k). Up to 80% grant will be offered towards eligible costs under this stream. Projects shall be administered in accordance with the EU Commission State Aid De Minimis Regulation.

Scheme Impact

• The Smart Regions Scheme will be aligned to the priorities outlined in Ireland’s strategic policy frameworks such as Smart Specialisation Strategy for Innovation 2022–2027 (S3), Enterprise White Paper 2022-2030, Regional Enterprise Plans (REPs) and the Regional Spatial and Economic Strategy (RSES). Successfully funded projects will develop regional strengths and opportunities through enterprise development.
• Applicants will be required to demonstrate via their proposals and ongoing reporting to EI over the duration of the scheme, how they are working to support the regional priorities as set out in Irelands Smart Specialisation Strategy (S3).
• Enterprise Ireland takes a performance-based approach to the dispersal of funding, therefore, allocations and continued inclusion in the scheme is dependent on performance delivery, continued eligibility, and compliance with management and control systems.

Profile of Applicants

• Eligible applicants for Streams One, Two, Three and Four must be registered as a Not-forProfit (DAC) or a Not-for-Profit Company Limited by Guarantee (CLG) under the Companies Act 2014 prior to submission of their applications.
• Applicants for Stream Four (Feasibility) must either be a Not-for-Profit DAC or Not-for-Profit CLG, or be a public body, such as Local Authority, Institute of Technology/ HEI (for Priming Grant), that is involved in a collaborative proposal with enterprise and other local and regional stakeholders. Please note where a project is led by a public body, the submitted project must be additional to the public body’s existing work programme.

For more information, visit Enterprise Ireland.