Innovation Partnership Programme
Funds Irish company and research institute collaboration through partnership routes for staged innovation projects with staged assessments and shared project ownership.
The Innovation Partnership Programme (IPP) funds Irish manufacturing or internationally-traded-services companies to collaborate with one or more Irish research institutes on industrial research or experimental development. Phase 1 is an optional Outline Proposal (rolling, no funding) or a Feasibility Study (100% grant capped at €9,000). Phase 2 is a Full Proposal: up to 80% grant for Industrial Collaborative Research (small co.), 75% (medium), 65% (large); 60% / 50% / 40% for Experimental Collaborative Development. Up to 100% capital funding may be available where the project requires a large item of equipment. HPSU/early-stage company projects are capped at €100,000 unless commercial assessor justifies higher. Large multi-company projects can be funded up to €3m. Full Proposals are submitted on a monthly schedule (12 windows across 2026) and decided by the Industry Research and Commercialisation Committee (IRCC) within 6-8 weeks of receipt. The company partner must contribute a minimum 20% of total project cost in cash. Project duration is typically 6 months to 24 months. The academic partner owns foreground IP and licenses it to the company partner under a Heads of Agreement signed before project start. The Express Pilot variant streamlines projects seeking up to €150k.
Each grant below is a distinct funding opportunity with its own eligibility, scope, and deliverables.