merrion street

Jobs Minister Richard Bruton today announced the establishment by Enterprise Ireland of a €250K Competitive Feasibility Fund aimed at stimulating high potential business start-ups by female entrepreneurs.

The fund is designed to assist female entrepreneurs to investigate the viability of a new growth orientated business that can succeed in global markets. The focus is on developing new businesses that can move beyond the domestic market and demonstrate real potential for internationalisation.

Making the announcement, Minister Bruton said:

In Ireland we currently have a relatively low level of female entrepreneurs, so by targeting a substantial increase in that number we can make a real difference to the overall level of entrepreneurial activity in Ireland. For example, Australia is often cited as an example of international best practice in this area – if we had the same level of female entrepreneurship in Ireland as in Australia, we would have over 34,000 extra entrepreneurs running businesses which they started in Ireland.

Further Enterprise Ireland initiatives and supports for emerging female led enterprises will be announced via a national awareness campaign over the coming months.

Full details of the Fund including the Application Form are available on the Enterprise Ireland web site: www.enterprise-ireland.com/femaleentrepreneurship

Today’s announcement marks the delivery of a key measure under the Action Plan for Jobs 2012, and is aimed at supporting growth in female entrepreneurship.

The fund will be open for applications from Tuesday 17th of July 2012 until 4th of September 2012.