Five Donegal businesses recently secured grant investments of €25k under the new Local Enterprise Office Innovation Investment Fund. In the picture are Andrew McElhinney from O’Donnell’s Bakery from Laghy; Rick LeVert from Kinnegar Brewing, Letterkenny; Joe Doherty of Simply Inish in Malin; John McNamara of Sendmode.ie in Letterkenny and Michael MacGinty, Mean IT from Letterkenny with Ursula Donnelly Deputy Head of Enterprise, Local Enterprise Office Donegal; Liam Ward, Director of Service, Community, Enterprise and Planning Control, Donegal County Council; Chief Executive of Donegal County Council, Seamus Neely; Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council, Cllr. Gerry McMonagle and Head of Enterprise in Donegal, Michael Tunney.
FIVE Donegal businesses determined to bring their enterprises to new levels, have received a significant boost following confirmation that they have successfully secured grant investments of €25k to help fund their innovative growth plans.
O’Donnell’s Bakery from Laghy; Kinnegar Brewing, Letterkenny; Simply Inish in Malin; Sendmode.ie in Letterkenny and Mean IT from Letterkenny all successfully made formal pitches to an investment panel in Sligo recently.
The funding was made available under the new Local Enterprise Office Innovation Investment Fund, a programme designed to help small businesses hoping to move to a new level.
“The LEO Innovation Investment Fund had an overall investment fund of €1.5 million across the network of 31 Local Enterprise Offices and had as its target, investor ready LEO clients who wish to start, grow or develop innovative micro enterprises,” said Head of Enterprise in Donegal, Michael Tunney.
He explained that applicants to the programme initially applied online, with those selected chosen to participate on a short, but highly focused Investor Ready Programme.
“The programme incorporated 1+1 mentoring to assist the businesses prepare an investor ready plan. At the conclusion of the programme, participants had to make a formal pitch to an Investor Panel to potentially secure a LEO Grant Investment of €25k to fund their innovative business.”
Those pitches took place in Sligo recently and having come through the earlier phases of the programme, there was delight in Donegal when the five businesses successfully secured investments.
“To have five businesses go through the programme and each receive €25,000 is a significant boost for the county. It speaks volumes, not just for the level of work the businesses themselves put into the process, but also for the level of preparation and assistance offered to them by staff at the Local Enterprise Office in Donegal,” Mr. Tunney added.
“As we launched our Local Development Plan, I stressed that our mission here in the Local Enterprise Office is to provide high quality supports and services that promote entrepreneurship, fosters start-ups and drives the development of businesses and our local economy.
The fantastic success of these five local businesses in securing these investments through the help of the Local Enterprise Office, is just another indication of how we are working with small enterprises here to help build a sustainable economy,” Mr Tunney concluded.
Receive quality journalism wherever you are, on any device. Keep up to date from the comfort of your own home with a digital subscription.
Any time | Any place | Anywhere
SUBSCRIBE TO CURRENT EDITION TODAY
and get access to our archive editions dating back to 2007(CLICK ON THE TITLE BELOW TO SUBSCRIBE)