EU funding for four Irish SMEs

Four Irish SMEs have been selected for funding in the latest round of the EU Research grants Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Phase 2 funding.

The three different projects involving SMEs from Tralee, Dundalk, Navan and Dublin/Galway will receive funding of between €500,000 and €2.5 million to bring products from pilot-phase to the market.

The announcement brings to 15 the total number of Irish SMEs to be selected for funding so far under the SME Instrument Phase 2 since 2014.

The Irish SMEs are:

Brandon Products Ltd, Tralee
Project: A blue biotechnology solution for the reduction of pod shatter in bio-oil producing crops. The project will receive EU funding of €900,468.

G & M Steel Fabricators Ltd, Dundalk
Project: An automatic scanner for determining lean meat distribution in pig carcasses. The project will receive EU funding of €1,090,443.

Hydro International Ltd, Navan and NVP Energy Ltd, Galway/Dublin/UK
Project: A low-temperature anaerobic digestion treatment of low-strength waste waters
The project will receive EU funding of €1,693,171.

Forty-five small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) from 19 countries have been selected in the latest round of Horizon 2020 SME Instrument Phase 2. The European Commission received 1,090 project proposals under Phase 2. British SMEs were the most successful with seven beneficiaries, who will receive €10 million in total, closely followed by six Italian SMEs who will share €4.3 million

The funding allows companies to invest in innovation activities such as demonstration, testing, scaling up and miniaturisation, in addition to developing a mature business plan for their product. The companies will also benefit from 12 days of business coaching. Most projects are proposed by a single SME but some companies team up in a project.