Business Grants in Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland offers unique business funding opportunities through Invest NI, local councils, and cross-border programmes with the Republic of Ireland. Belfast and other NI businesses can access support for innovation, exports, and growth.
Invest NI Funding
Invest Northern Ireland is the main business development agency for NI. They provide grants, loans, and support for businesses looking to grow, innovate, or export. Their programmes cover R&D, capital investment, skills development, and market entry.
Local Council Support
Northern Ireland's 11 councils offer their own business support programmes. Belfast City Council, Derry City and Strabane, and other councils run grant schemes for local businesses, particularly SMEs and startups.
Cross-Border Programmes
NI businesses can also access cross-border funding programmes with the Republic of Ireland and EU-funded initiatives. InterTradeIreland supports cross-border trade and innovation projects.
Northern Ireland Business Grants
225 grants found
Bioinformatics and Biological Resources Fund (26BBR)
Apply for funding to implement, improve or consolidate bioinformatics or biological resources in support of UK bioscience, helping to drive forwards progress in bioscience research and innovation. Your project must focus on the delivery of a community resource that addresses a significant demand or supports an established user base in the biosciences.
Funding opportunity: Economic research on the returns to R&D investment
Apply for funding to support research that can help develop new measurements of the return on investments in research and development (R&D).
Holiday Grants
Offers one-off grants for schools, youth groups, and non-profit organisations to take children aged 13 and under on recreational day trips or short residential trips. Supports fun, enriching experiences for children facing financial hardship, systemic inequity, or disability.
UK Obesity Research Institute
Director-led applications to investigate mechanistic biomedical drivers of obesity and related cardiometabolic disease and deliver transformative impact in obesity research. The director, supported by a leadership team, will lead the design and delivery of a collaborative institute focusing on key barriers to unlock understanding of the causes and consequences of obesity to enable targeted prevention and treatment.
Youth Music Trailblazer Fund
Funding for organisations in England to run projects for children and young people (25 or under) to make, learn and earn in music. Projects should trial work, test a new way of working, sustain a grassroots programme, or disrupt the status quo.
Aldi Sports Fund
A grant scheme supporting community and grassroots sports organisations across Great Britain to help cover essential costs such as equipment, coaching, kit, and facility hire.
Data for metascience sandpit 2027
Apply to attend a five-day interactive sandpit to develop novel projects that can address multi-faceted metascience questions related to research and development (R&D) funding and inform R&D policymaking.
NQS Mission 2 Coordination Network
Apply for funding to establish a coordination network supporting Mission 2 of the UK National Quantum Strategy. The network will bring together researchers, industry partners, and network operators to strengthen collaboration, maximise the impact of Mission 2 investments, accelerate progress towards secure, scalable quantum communications and the quantum internet.
NQS Mission 2: Components, systems and architectures
Apply for funding to advance the research capabilities required to deliver the UK National Quantum Strategy Mission 2, strengthening the UK’s leadership in quantum networking and communications and accelerating progress towards the deployment of the world’s most advanced quantum network and the future quantum internet.
Expression of interest: Small-satellite missions sandpit
Apply to attend a sandpit to develop small satellite Earth observation mission concepts using innovative sensors and data streams enabled by other transversal technologies. Projects should deliver sovereign capability for national security and defence, societal benefit, and economic growth.
Investor Partnerships – Battery Innovation Programme
UK registered SMEs can apply for grant funding alongside private investment from selected investor partners to support research and development and access capital investment needed to develop and commercialise innovations in battery technology.
Battery Innovation Programme: investor partnerships
UK registered small or medium sized businesses can apply for grant funding alongside private investment from selected investor partners.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about business grants in Northern Ireland