Digital Process Innovation Grant

What this scheme funds

The scheme that turns a fixed quote AI programme into a fixed quote decision. Aimed at genuine process transformation, not maintenance.

• External technical development of the digital or AI system
• Specialist consultancy and technical architecture
• Integration with existing ERP, finance and operational systems
• Data preparation, migration and quality work required by the project
• Directly attributable internal project resource, subject to approval
• Training required to operate the new process

What it does not fund

These costs are routinely ruled ineligible under this scheme.

• Routine IT replacement or like-for-like upgrades
• General website work and marketing activity
• Ongoing software subscription beyond the approved project period
• Maintenance of existing systems
• Expenditure incurred before approval

Who is eligible

Eligibility is decided by Enterprise Ireland, not by Digital Bridge.

• An Enterprise Ireland client company, or a company eligible to become one
• The project changes how a core business process runs — transformation, not upkeep
• Clear, measurable operational outcomes are defined up front
• The company can fund its own share of the project
• A named internal project sponsor is accountable for delivery

How to apply

Typical end-to-end timeline: Realistically three to six months from first scoping conversation to approval on a project of this size, with larger applications taking longer because the business case is scrutinised properly. Delivery of a fixed quote to a fixed quote programme then runs twelve to twenty-four weeks depending on how many live systems are involved.

• Define the process being transformed and the measurable outcome in operational terms
• Commission or reuse a feasibility assessment that evidences the opportunity
• Obtain a fixed-scope technical proposal with a work-package breakdown and quotation
• Build the business case: baseline cost of the current process, projected cost after, payback period
• Submit through your Enterprise Ireland adviser with the proposal and business case attached
• Await written approval, then contract and begin delivery against the approved work packages

Evidence you will need

Applications are usually delayed by missing paperwork rather than by weak projects.

• Business case with a quantified baseline and target
• Fixed-scope supplier proposal broken into work packages with costs
• Evidence of the company's ability to co-fund
• Project plan with milestones and a named sponsor
• Financial statements and tax clearance

Why applications get rejected

The recurring reasons assessors give under this scheme.

• The application describes buying software rather than transforming a process
• No credible baseline, so the claimed improvement cannot be measured
• The supplier proposal is an estimate rather than a scoped, costed plan
• The project is really maintenance of an existing system
• Delivery capability is not evidenced on either the company or the supplier side

What Digital Bridge delivers under this scheme

Illustrative net cost applies the published rate (Typically up to 50% of eligible project cost) to our published engagement bands. It is arithmetic, not an offer of funding.

• Multi-system agent workflow build — list a fixed quote, illustrative net cost ≈ a fixed quote at 50% co-funding
• Enterprise / multi-department AI programme — list a fixed quote, illustrative net cost ≈ a fixed quote at 50% co-funding

Who decides this grant, and what we are responsible for

Enterprise Ireland decides eligibility, approval and payment under this scheme. Digital Bridge supplies the work and the documentation an assessor asks for from the supplier side.

• Digital Bridge does not administer, assess, approve, pay or appeal any grant. Every decision is made by the funding body named on the scheme, under its own published rules.
• This section is general information, not financial, tax, legal or grant-writing advice. It is not an application, a pre-approval, or any form of assurance that you will be funded.
• Scheme rates, ceilings and eligibility change without notice and several supports are administered locally, so your Local Enterprise Office or agency may apply different rules to the ones published here. Confirm everything with the funder in writing before you commit.
• Our questionnaire is a deterministic guide based only on the answers you give. It cannot see your accounts, your sector classification, your state-aid position or your previous awards, so it can suggest a scheme you are ultimately found ineligible for.
• If an application is refused, delayed, reduced or clawed back, our fees for work you have instructed remain payable. We recommend you do not instruct chargeable work until your funder confirms in writing what it will support.
• Costs incurred before a funder receives your application are almost always ineligible. Timing is your responsibility, and we will always tell you when we think you should wait.

How the Digital Process Innovation works in practice

The digital process innovation route is aimed at companies changing how work is done, not at companies buying software. The distinction shows up in assessment: a project that replaces a manual approval chain with an automated one, and can describe the before and after in hours or error rates, presents very differently from a project described as "upgrading our systems". Baselines are the recurring weakness. Many applicants know their process is slow but have never measured it, so the application asserts an improvement it cannot evidence. Spending an afternoon timing the current process, counting the handoffs and recording the rework rate produces the numbers an evaluator needs and usually sharpens the scope at the same time.

What we do as the supplier on the quote

Our quotes for process work are broken down by process, not by technology. An assessor reading "workflow automation — €X" has nothing to evaluate; reading "quote-to-invoice handoff, four steps removed, integration with existing accounts package" gives them something concrete. We also state what stays manual, because a scope that claims to automate everything is rarely believed and rarely true. Where the work touches personal data we set out the lawful basis and the retention position in the scope itself, since data-protection questions surface late otherwise. Finally we put the measurement method in writing, so the company can report the outcome the funder will eventually ask about.

How much of a €60,000 AI build could realistically be grant-funded?

At the published rate of up to 50% of eligible cost, a fixed quote multi-system build could attract in the region of a fixed quote, subject to approval and to which cost lines are accepted as eligible. That is the arithmetic, not a promise: Enterprise Ireland decides both the eligible cost base and the rate applied to your specific project.

What makes an AI application succeed under this scheme?

A quantified baseline. In our experience the applications that succeed can say what the current process costs in hours and euro today, what it will cost after, and how that will be measured. The applications that fail describe the technology instead of the process.

Can the same project use more than one scheme?

Frequently yes, in sequence rather than in parallel on the same cost line. A common Irish pathway is a Digital Discovery-funded assessment first, then a Digital Process Innovation application for the build the assessment recommends. Double-funding the same euro of cost is not permitted.

Does the system have to be built in Ireland?

The scheme is concerned with the impact on your Irish operation rather than the supplier's postcode, but Irish delivery makes the practical parts easier — site visits during discovery, on-premise integration work, and the same time zone during go-live. We build and host in the EU, and you own the source code and prompts outright.

Does the process have to be fully automated to qualify?

Not usually. Removing steps, eliminating rekeying or shortening a cycle time counts as process innovation. What matters to an assessor is a measurable change to how the work is done, evidenced against a baseline you recorded before the project started.

Source and last review

Scheme parameters checked against Enterprise Ireland — supports and funding (https://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/supports) on 2026-08-18. Reviewed quarterly. Next scheduled review: November 2026. Digital Bridge is a supplier, not the awarding body. Eligibility, approval and payment are decided solely by the funding body named on each scheme. Figures below are the published scheme parameters as at the review date shown, and net costs are arithmetic illustrations of the published rate applied to our published prices. Always confirm current rules with the funder before you commit to any spend, because expenditure incurred before an application is received is almost always ineligible.