What We Do

We provide small loans through the Government’s Microenterprise Loan Fund.The purpose of the fund is to help start ups and established businesses to get the finance they need for their business

What is a micro-enterprise? It is simply a small business (including a self-employed person) with fewer than 10 employees and an annual turnover of less than €2m. We help these businesses by providing unsecured business loans of €2,000 to €25,000 for commercially viable proposals. Sole Traders, Partnerships & Limited Companies are all eligible to apply.

We can consider applications from businesses that may have been declined a loan from their Bank. We look at each application and base our decision on the viability of the business and your ability to repay the loan.

We work closely with all our partners, including Local Enterprise Offices (LEOs), the Irish Local Development Network (Local Development Companies and Area Partnerships – LDCs for short), as well as all the major Banks to provide viable businesses with the support they need to get started or to grow their business and create jobs.

The Local Enterprise Offices and Local Development Companies can help you to prepare the documents you need to apply for a loan from us. You can also get a 1% reduction in the interest rate when you submit your application through them, so it is worth talking to them if you need some help with your application.

If you have already received loan funding (a grant, Bank loan, etc.) but require additional funding to meet a funding shortfall, we can also consider an application for co-funding provided you do not exceed the maximum loan threshold of €25,000 from Microfinance Ireland*.

Once your loan is approved, we can also provide you with mentoring support from an experienced business mentor on the LEO Mentor Panel. Mentoring is a vital extra support tool to help our customers establish and grow their business in the longer term.

Take a look at the Success Stories section for real life case studies of people just like you that have been helped by a Small Business Loan.

 

*Loans are provided and underwritten by Microfinance Ireland and are repayable according to the terms and conditions laid out by Microfinance Ireland.