Millennium lure for entrepreneurs

Nearly 150 serious enquiries have been made by Irish people living abroad and hoping to receive up to £100,000 (€127,000) in seed capital to return home and set up new businesses in the Republic.

The financial assistance is being offered by Enterprise Ireland under the terms of the Millennium Entrepreneur Fund which was launched last year. It is open to those who submit a viable business plan for a technology company based in Ireland with high growth potential.

Mr Tony Shiels, executive director of the fund, says successful applicants are required to project annual sales of around £1.5 million within the first three years. An employment target of 10 people is the minimum.

Enterprise Ireland has publicised the fund in national and local press in Europe, the US, New Zealand and Australia. The Sydney Morning Her- ald gave the fund considerable coverage about six weeks ago. However there was some confusion there between the millennium fund and an Opportunity Ireland initiative encouraging talented Irish people to return to work within the existing industrial base. That project is solely information based and carries no cash incentive.

Though there is no entry deadline, eight business plans have so far reached the feasibility study phase. Enterprise Ireland has said it will fund 10 projects from the initial tranche of funding, and the current contenders are in the US, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, France and Italy.

Successful candidates will be entitled to receive Enterprise Ireland assistance and expertise, which includes a specialist focus on investment, research and development, marketing support and mentoring schemes.

Applicants to the scheme are also entitled to Enterprise Ireland feasibility funding if their business plans are deemed to have enough potential. Applicants will receive up to 50 per cent funding to outline their plans in detail, and clarify their needs. Mr Shiels says this type of funding will probably be offered to those most likely to eventually qualify for a Millennium Fund grant.

So far the business plans have centred around the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, healthcare biotechnology, IT and software development sectors.

"The Enterprise Ireland Development Programme focuses on people within Ireland with high growth business ideas, but we felt there were people outside Ireland with that same potential. The Millennium Fund is priming people who want to come back with a good idea, but need a bit of support to help them along the line," says Mr Shiels.

Grants under the Millennium Fund are targeted at Irish people, but Enterprise Ireland says it will consider any strong business team featuring international players, as long as there is one key Irish person within the team.