Want to apply for Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women programme?

Check your eligibility

About the Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women programme

Are you, or does your business have, a woman in a key decision-making role?

Our Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women programme, supported by Women in Business NI, is looking for Northern Ireland’s most innovative and ambitious woman-led start-ups and established micro, small, and medium enterprises to take part in a competition to receive up to £30,000 in funding. 

Designed to help businesses increase employment, innovate processes, and sell outside Northern Ireland, participants on the programme will be able to build valuable connections with other like-minded businesswomen.

This project is funded by the UK government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

How can my business benefit from the Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women programme?

Participants in the Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women programme can receive up to £30,000 in financial support.

This support is broken down as follows:

Full criteria and stipulations on the above support can be found in our Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women – Guidance Notes (PDF).

The best thing about starting my own business has been the opportunity to turn my passion for healthy, ready-to-heat meals into a reality. The freedom to innovate, make decisions and see the direct impact of my efforts has been truly rewarding.

Karri Kitchens

Who can apply for the Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women programme?

The Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women programme is open to all businesses in Northern Ireland who meet the eligibility criteria.

Who is eligible for the Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women programme?

The programme is designed for businesses with:

  • A suitable product or service for selling outside Northern Ireland
  • The potential to increase new employment within the business
  • The ability to demonstrate the need for government support
  • Annual turnover under £1m or sales outside Northern Ireland less than £300,000

How to apply?

To find out if your business is eligible for Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women, complete our eligibility checker. Closing date for applications is 12 noon on Friday 8 November 2024

Answer the following questions to find out if you can apply.

Q1 - Is your woman-led business currently based in Northern Ireland with at least 1 director/proprietor/partner residing here, and have less than 250 full-time equivalent staff?
Q2 - Is your business currently trading?
Q3 - Does your business have either annual turnover under £1m or annual sales to customers outside Northern Ireland of less than £300,000?
Q4 - Does your business manufacture a product or provide a tradeable service?
Q5 - Are any of the following the main activity of your business?
  • Agricultural Production
  • Fisheries & Aquaculture Sectors (Production and Processing)
  • Steel
  • Coal
  • Shipbuilding
  • Synthetic fibres
  • Transport and its infrastructure
  • Energy generation, distribution & its infrastructure
  • Infrastructure
  • Tourism accommodation
  • Visitor attractions
  • Healthcare services (in-person)
  • Wholesale
  • Retail (including online)
  • Distribution
Q6 - Has your business received an offer or payment of grant support from Invest NI within the last 5 years?

If your business has received a payment of grant support from Invest NI within the last 5 years, please contact your Client Executive or our Business Support Team to check if it will impact your ability to make an application for Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women.

This does not include Covid-19 Emergency Funds, Innovation Vouchers, Economic Recovery Innovation Grant or Access to Finance funding.

Q7 - Can your business commit to creating new employment and generating new sales directly to customers outside Northern Ireland over the next 2 years?

Commit to creating at least two new full-time equivalent positions (excluding the promoter) within your business. This can consist of full-time or part-time positions provided the two new full-time equivalent roles are proposed. A role contracted for a minimum of 30 hours per week is considered full time and equivalent to 1.0 full-time position, roles contracted for between 15-30 hours per week are considered part-time and equivalent to 0.5 full-time positions. Four part-time roles, or two part-time and one full-time role would each be equivalent to two full-time positions.

Based on your answers your business is eligible to apply for Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women.

Please click on the below link to start your online application. If you do not already have an account on Invest NI’s customer portal you will be asked to complete that registration process before you can complete the Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women application form.

Apply now

You can save your application and return to it at any time, before the closing date of 12:00 noon Friday 8 November 2024.

Sorry, from your answers your business does not meet the eligibility criteria for Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women.

If you feel you meet all the criteria except for having received Invest NI support within the last five years, you can contact your Invest NI Client Executive to discuss if Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women is an option for your business at this time.

Outside of Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women, there is a wide range of support available to help grow your business in the form of advice, guidance and funding.

Please visit our website for further details on available support or contact us.

Find out more in our Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women FAQs (PDF).

Discover more

Hear how the Ambition to Grow | Supporting Women programme helped Green Fingers Family grow their business.

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