An initiative has been launched to assist small and medium-sized businesses access funding in Northern Ireland. The Finance Voucher initiative has been launched by Invest NI and will provide support for businesses to access professional help to prepare funding proposals.
Businesses will be able to use the voucher to cover up to 49 per cent of the costs involved in appointing professional help to prepare funding proposals. Enterprise minister Arlene Foster said: “Having a robust, well constructed and detailed funding proposal is vital when approaching lenders; be that banks, private investors or fund managers. The Finance Voucher initiative will help SMEs ensure they have the right support to develop good funding proposals, giving them the best chance possible to be successful in their application. Accessing finance remains a challenge for many small businesses, so I am especially pleased that Invest Northern Ireland is proactively addressing this by introducing yet more ways to help businesses raise the capital they need to develop and grow”.
To be eligible for a Finance Voucher businesses must demonstrate they currently export or are planning to, or have a turnover of £150,000 per year or are set to achieve this within the next three years.
