Level of LEO funding - ACTUAL

barman linen

Hi,

I am meeting with the local LEO next week and wonder if anyone on here can quantify how much they actually received from an LEO ? I know the online vouchers are 'up to 5k' and they match funding 'up to 50%' but does anyone have any real numbers ?

I am investing funds in a new venture and will have about 50K for start up - what chance is there for a local LEO to invest up to 25k for a feasibility research / Priming grant..?

The business ticks all the boxes in internationally traded services and I can provide a detailed business plan.

Just wondering what the reality behind the scene really is....

Trojan

I work as an external consultant with one of the LEOs, and I've seen the online trading voucher scheme in great detail.

In the LEO in question, 13 companies applied in the first round of the scheme. Two withdrew for their own reasons - one was a change of plan, not sure what happened the other.

Of the rest, all of them were approved for funding by the LEO after due diligence which involved a meeting with an online business mentor to sanity check the planned spend.

All were funded to the level of funding that they had requested - six of them were asking for within €100 of the maximum, i.e. €2500, matching their own €2500 spend. The rest were looking for between €1300 and €1900 matched, and got it.

(I don't know if all or any of them actually carried out the work, and I don't know if they got the cheque afterwards, but I'll assume they did.)

Regarding the feasibility grant, I think you can get €20,000 matched at either 50% or 60% depending on your location, but I don't know the details. Before you starting filling in massive forms to see if you're eligible, ring your LEO and ask to speak to someone about the grants, and try to figure out if they'll support the business idea in principle.

For the larger grants, just bear in mind that the time costs of paperwork, restrictions and requirements can sometimes have a higher opportunity cost than not applying for the grant and just going alone.

NotaSheep

This blog gives some insight on what you might expect from the application process... http://www.smallbusinesscan.com/business-grants-the-10-commandments/