Deadline: October 24, 2025
The Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women programme helps Northern Ireland businesses create new employment, innovate processes, and expand into new markets.
Focus areas include encouraging applications from Northern Ireland’s most innovative and ambitious micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises, increasing employment within the business, innovating processes, selling outside Northern Ireland, and building valuable connections with other like-minded business owners.
Through this programme, eligible businesses can compete for up to £30,000 in funding to accelerate growth. This support includes £15,000 for new employment within the business, £10,000 for business development related to market, product, or skills development, and £5,000 upon completion of an Export Health Check, Innovate NI Self-Assessment, and participation in a series of leadership development workshops. This project is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
To qualify, businesses must have a suitable product or service for selling outside Northern Ireland, demonstrate the potential to increase new employment, show a need for government support, and have an annual turnover under £1 million or sales outside Northern Ireland less than £300,000.
The programme is open to businesses currently based in Northern Ireland with at least one director, proprietor, or partner residing there, and with fewer than 250 full-time equivalent staff. Interested applicants can use the eligibility checker to confirm if they qualify.
For more information, visit Invest Northern Ireland.
