Enterprise Ireland opens up €1m Competitive Start Fund Jenny Melia, divisional manager of high-potential start-ups, Enterprise Ireland. Image: Enterprise Ireland The programme will award up to €50,000 in equity to successful applicants developing new innovative products and services. Enterprise Ireland has opened up applications for the latest round of its €1m Competitive Start Fund for early-stage founders and start-ups. The State agency will award up to €50,000 in equity to 20 young companies that are in the early stages of developing a product or service that has the potential to be scaled internationally. Applications close on 25 May. The programme aims to find the next innovative technologies coming out of Ireland and potentially add to the agency’s pipeline of high-potential start-ups.