Competitive Start Fund (CSF) - Enterprise Ireland

Shocking to hear about this from Hacker News. I'm an Irish citizen living in Oz, with a startup (www.dealpinch.com), and this is the first I've heard about it.<p>One thing strike me straight away. The only reason I would accept equity would be for contacts and expertise. This program does not offer it, but it is a start!<p>Ireland is in a bad state right now, it's recovering from an inept government and crazy policy when it came to small startups. This will go a long way to starting up jobs in the country, they need to go much further.<p>The country has the talent to make an impact on the world stage, we have a highly educated, motivated workforce. It is exceptionally difficult for any startup to get a loan from the banks in Ireland right now.

You get much better deals in other countries.<p>For instance, in Luxembourg, the state is going to double your investment (up to a million €) while not taking any parts in the company. But you must pass a comittee which decides on whether you get the funding or not. (<a href="http://www.eco.public.lu/salle_de_presse/com_presse_et_art_actu/2010/07/Signature_jeunes_entreprises_innovantes/index.html" rel="nofollow">http://www.eco.public.lu/salle_de_presse/com_presse_et_art_a...</a>)<p>There is still much more: E.g. reimbursement of fair costs, 40% salary takeover by the state if you hire university graduates which haven't yet found a job, etc...

Dublin is a great place to live and good place for tech companies. I recently had to hire a developer and got plenty of good resumes and was really happy with the eventual hire. Google, PayPal, Facebook are here and loads of online gaming/gambling companies too.<p>Plus you can't beat the Guiness.<p>That being said, I'd say that if you aren't already in Ireland--the funding above would probably not be an option. Getting a visa is not a trivial matter (especially without an actual employer) and Enterprise Ireland will make you jump through alot of hoops for that money. Pretty great idea tho'--Ireland needs programs like that to get the economy back on track.

It is not a bribe, they are taking an equity stake.<p>"The maximum support available is €50,000 for a 10% ordinary equity stake in the start-up company. "

"Must be capable of creating 10 jobs in Ireland and realising sales of €1m within 3 to 4 years of starting up."<p>They are asking a fair bit, what do they do, kick you out of Ireland if your not quickly successful?

You might get a better deal in other countries but 12.5% corporate tax is hard to beat. Also the fact that just about every silicon valley heavyweight has significant operations (dev, marketing &#38; support) in Ireland is an indicator something is being done right over there.<p>Cheap, regular flights from Dublin to just about anywhere in Europe make those trips to London, Paris, Amsterdam and Germany into just day trips. I found it was a pretty good hub.

For 50k they take 10% equity, valuing your startup at a tiny 500k, plus you have to leave the country. You give up a lot.<p>Why not just pitch to Dave McClure's 500Startups? You can get started with $10k for 1% equity, valuing your startup at $1M. More funding is possible, plus space, mentors, ...<p><a href="http://500startups.com/" rel="nofollow">http://500startups.com/</a>

As an Irish software engineer/wantrapreneur working in San Francisco here is my take on some of the comments around this article.<p>-Ireland is incredibly expensive for what you get, food/drink/eating out is on par or more expensive than San Francisco. The only thing thats cheaper is rent.<p>-Couple the previous point with the fact that Software Engineers in Ireland get paid roughly 1/3 of what they earn in the valley.<p>-Most good Software engineers leave the country so the ecosystem in Ireland is not so hot for finding top talent.<p>-Most big companies in Ireland do localization, sales/marketing, IT stuff. Very little real development is done there by big companies (i.e facebook/google/amazon).<p>-Infrastructure in Ireland is shit. Its a right pain in the ass to get decent broadband setup and the roads here are a joke.<p>If I wanted to do a lean startup in Europe I would incorporate in Ireland for the tax rate and setup shop somewhere sane like Berlin where rent and cost of living is cheap.

I heard about it through this really good podcast, where a rep from the David Smith, Senor Vice President of Enterprise Ireland (and I believe is based in Silicon Alley) explains the stake they take and why. Very informative:<p>Blog Post on Startup Success Podcast:<p><a href="http://startupsuccesspodcast.com/2011/01/show-96-david-smith-enterprise-ireland/" rel="nofollow">http://startupsuccesspodcast.com/2011/01/show-96-david-smith...</a><p>Direct Link to MP3:<p><a href="http://media.startupsuccesspodcast.com/StartupSuccess096.mp3" rel="nofollow">http://media.startupsuccesspodcast.com/StartupSuccess096.mp3</a><p>You can still work in the US but you just have to have your company HQ etc in Ireland.<p>As I'm from Ireland myself, but live and work in NYC, I can attest to the talented developers and modern infrastructure in Ireland. Its not for everyone, but worth a look.

My pal, Robert Shedd, took his company overseas to Ireland after participating in Philadelphia's DreamIt Ventures. He's written a tiny bit about the experience thus far: <a href="http://blog.shedd.us/greetings-from-ireland%e2%80%a6/" rel="nofollow">http://blog.shedd.us/greetings-from-ireland%e2%80%a6/</a><p>He's definitely someone who could tell you about the culture and ecosystem from a US background if you're considering applying to the program.

This seems like a weird requirement:<p>"The first tranche will be released when the company provides confirmation of an additional investment of €5,000 in the company"<p>So you have to get approval not only from them, but also some other funding organization (and one that invests such a small amount). I wonder if self-funding counts.

Jesus, deadline for applications is March 11th. Interesting though.

Strange to find this on Hacker News, considering I was only discussing the EI programs with my entrepreneurship lecturer last week! The March 11th deadline may be a bit too close at this stage, but I'm always willing to plot and scheme with Irish hackers! I will shortly complete my business management degree, and as part of this I am consulting with a local online marketing/SEO firm. I've dabbled with learning programming to do my own startup, or maybe even starting my own marketing shop, but for the time being I have been lurking here for ages, absorbing all the business advice I can get my hands on.<p>If any Irish hackers want to have a chat, to let me know what you're working on, or need a business-head to compliment their hacking skills drop me a line (email in profile).

To my knowledge, this is actually the second such fund being made available since late last year. I guess the first one was oversubscribed, which (I hope at least) augurs well. If you're in Ireland and you didn't hear about the first round or this round, they were certainly advertised in the Sunday Business Post newspaper (and I assume others), as well as online. Announcements appear to generally be posted here <a href="http://bestconnected.enterprise-ireland.com/" rel="nofollow">http://bestconnected.enterprise-ireland.com/</a><p>I have no association aside from being an interested observer, FWIW.

&#62; Must be capable of creating 10 jobs in Ireland and realising sales of €1m within 3 to 4 years of starting up.<p>What actually happens if the startup fails to do this?<p>And, what is ordinary equity? As you can tell by that question, I'm a newbie when it comes to this. Any background reading recommendations would be appreciated.

Might be of related interest: a recent podcast with David Smith of Enterprise Ireland. <a href="http://startupsuccesspodcast.com/2011/01/show-96-david-smith-enterprise-ireland/" rel="nofollow">http://startupsuccesspodcast.com/2011/01/show-96-david-smith...</a>

I guess a lot of Europe's investors are sweating bricks just thinking of the length of time it will take for Ireland to pay back the money. 50k for equity now, in exchange for having up-to 10 additional tax payers is a good deal.

There actually is a scene slowly building in dublin. Some encouraging stuff going on. Can read about the dublin web summit here... <a href="http://www.dublinwebsummit.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.dublinwebsummit.com/</a>

For many who apply to YC, this isn't really an alternative.<p><i>"Please note applicants must be eligible to live and work in Ireland."</i>

i'm in dublin, but ironically I'm looking for a US visa. Swap passports anyone? &#60;-- I'm JOKING!!!

another bummer:<p>"Please note applicants must be eligible to live and work in Ireland."

just in from the dublin web summit and there seems to be 6-7 startup accelerators/incubators<p>the scene in dublin is coming on leaps and bounds very quickly