InterTradeIreland Innovation Boost

What this scheme funds

Cross-border scheme that funds a graduate plus academic support to build AI capability inside your own team.

• Graduate salary contribution for the project period
• Academic partner input and technical oversight
• Graduate training relevant to the project
• Defined innovation project management support

What it does not fund

These costs are routinely ruled ineligible under this scheme.

• General recruitment for business-as-usual roles
• Capital equipment
• Projects with no genuine innovation or cross-border dimension

Who is eligible

Eligibility is decided by InterTradeIreland, not by Digital Bridge.

• Company based in Ireland or Northern Ireland
• A cross-border dimension to trade or to the project partnership
• A defined innovation project with a clear technical challenge
• Capacity to host, manage and mentor a graduate on site

How to apply

Typical end-to-end timeline: This is the slowest route on this page and the one with the highest capability payoff: expect several months to define the project, secure a partner, gain approval and recruit, then a project running over roughly twelve to eighteen months.

• Define the innovation project and the technical challenge it addresses
• Contact InterTradeIreland to confirm current scheme parameters and fit
• Secure an academic partner with relevant expertise
• Apply with the project definition and partnership detail
• On approval, recruit the graduate through the scheme process and begin

Evidence you will need

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

• Project definition with technical objectives
• Academic partner commitment
• Company capacity to host and mentor
• Financial information as requested

Why applications get rejected

The recurring reasons assessors give under this scheme.

• No genuine cross-border dimension
• The role is ordinary recruitment rather than innovation
• No academic partner secured
• The company cannot evidence mentoring capacity

What Digital Bridge delivers under this scheme

Illustrative net cost applies the published rate (Substantial co-funding of a graduate-led innovation project) to our published engagement bands. It is arithmetic, not an offer of funding.

• Technical architecture & engineering mentoring alongside the graduate — list From €15,000, illustrative net cost Complements the scheme; the scheme funds the graduate, not the supplier

Who decides this grant, and what we are responsible for

InterTradeIreland 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 ITI Innovation Boost works in practice

Innovation Boost is a cross-border programme, and the cross-border element is a condition, not a bonus. The company and the knowledge partner must sit on opposite sides of the border, and the project must be a genuine innovation project with a graduate or specialist embedded for a defined period. It suits businesses that need capability they cannot recruit for permanently — data engineering, applied research, product development — and are prepared to host and manage a person, not just receive a deliverable. Applications fail most often on project definition: an innovation project needs a technical or commercial uncertainty at its centre. Routine implementation of proven technology usually falls outside what the programme is for.

What we do as the supplier on the quote

Where we are involved it is normally alongside an embedded resource rather than instead of one, handling the parts that need production discipline: environments, deployment, security review, integration with live systems. We are clear about the boundary in writing, because a programme built around capability transfer is undermined if a supplier quietly does the work. We also flag the practical constraint that an embedded placement takes internal management time, and a company that cannot commit that time will struggle regardless of funding. Cross-border administration adds paperwork; budget for it in the timeline.

Can Digital Bridge work alongside an Innovation Boost project?

Yes, and it is a good combination. The graduate builds internal knowledge while we handle the parts that need production engineering discipline — integration with live systems, security review, deployment and observability. The company keeps the capability after we finish.

Is a cross-border element really required?

It is central to InterTradeIreland's remit, so yes. If your business has no cross-border dimension, the Enterprise Ireland or LEO routes are the honest recommendation instead.

Does the knowledge partner have to be a university?

Not necessarily — the programme recognises a range of knowledge providers, and placements are commonly graduates or specialists. Check the current partner definition with InterTradeIreland before assuming a particular arrangement qualifies, as programme rules are periodically revised.

Source and last review

Scheme parameters checked against InterTradeIreland — funding and support (https://intertradeireland.com/) 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.

Who is Innovation Boost actually built for?

Innovation Boost is a cross-border programme where the cross-border condition is not optional: the company and the knowledge partner must be on opposite sides of the border, and the work centres on a genuine innovation project with a graduate or specialist embedded for a defined period. It suits businesses that need capability they cannot recruit for permanently — data engineering, applied research, product development — and that are prepared to host and manage a person day to day, not simply receive a finished deliverable. It is not aimed at implementing proven, off-the-shelf technology, since that lacks the technical or commercial uncertainty the programme requires at its centre. The most common reason applications fail is a weak project definition: routine implementation work described as innovation does not pass assessment. Before applying, define the specific uncertainty the placement will address and confirm a knowledge partner is genuinely willing and able to take part, since neither element can be improvised after submission.

How does supplier work like ours sit alongside the embedded placement?

Where Digital Bridge is involved in an Innovation Boost project, it is normally alongside the embedded graduate or specialist rather than instead of them, handling production-discipline work such as environments, deployment, security review and integration with live systems that sits outside what a placement is there to do. We set that boundary out explicitly in our scope of work, because a programme built around capability transfer to the company is undermined if a supplier quietly absorbs the substantive work the placement was meant to carry out. It is also worth planning for the practical reality that hosting an embedded placement takes real internal management time on the company's side, separate from any supplier relationship, and a business that cannot commit that time will struggle regardless of how well the application is written. Cross-border administration adds paperwork to the timeline, so budget time for it rather than assuming a domestic-scheme pace. Confirm current partner definitions and eligibility with InterTradeIreland; funding decisions are theirs alone.