Business Innovation Grant for NI businesses
Funding to help you bring new ideas to market
The Business Innovation Grant (BIG) is a funding scheme for sole traders, micro-businesses and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Northern Ireland to help them develop and bring their innovation activities to market.
It offers grants between £5,000 and £20,000 at a support rate of up to 70% of project costs, and can cover activities like:
- market research
- product testing
- developing a minimum viable product
- market entry planning
- product launches and demonstrations
- attending trade fairs and more
Successful applicants will also join the Innovate NI programme for advice and support, and receive an Innovation Recognition Certificate from the Department for the Economy.
Who can apply
To be eligible for BIG, your business must:
- be based in Northern Ireland
- work in any sector except primary agriculture, forestry, fisheries or aquaculture
- not currently be an Invest Northern Ireland client
- not have received Invest NI grant support in the last five years (some exclusions apply)
Your project must involve creating something new or making a significant improvement to a product, service, process or business model that adds value.
Applications open from Monday 10 August to midday on Friday 4 September 2026.
Find out more and apply for the Business Innovation Grant.
BIG is delivered by Invest Northern Ireland in partnership with Innovate NI and is part-funded by the UK government.
First published 6 August 2026