LEO: Priming Grant: Part One.
Topic: Successful Application, Founding of my Company, and Achievement of Funding.
Several months after completing New Frontiers: Phase 2, it was time to start the official development of our game: Chaos Riders. To do this, however, I required funding. Given the success my friends/fellow New Frontiers participants had with the Local Enterprise Office’s (LEO) Priming Grant, I decided to pursue it. I focused on this grant in particular also, as I was told that the LEO looks favourably upon those who have participated in the New Frontiers’ programmes.
To be eligible for the Priming Grant, I first needed to officially set up my company. To set up the company, I reached out to a local Company Formation Agent. They were accommodating, and after three weeks of on-and-off paperwork, I had my company formed.
The company established, I continued with my application for the Priming Grant. The most challenging aspect of the application was how time-consuming it was. Even with the extensive market research work I had done over the last two – three years, there were still questions I needed to conduct new market research for. This, in addition to the company work, pitching, applications and other business work I needed to attend to at the time, made the application process a real challenge.
That said, I submitted my application on time while in Cologne, Germany, for Gamescom. Several weeks later, I was requested for a brief interview with the LEO, which I completed. A week or so afterwards, I was informed by the LEO that my application was successful, and that I had been awarded €28,000! It was not the full sum I had requested, but it was still a huge achievement, and one that made the further development of my company and video game possible.
However, while I had been awarded the Priming Grant, the process of drawing it down was a challenge in of itself. For further insight into the realties of drawing-down a priming grant, read my Priming Grant: Part Two post.
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It depends on your project, ambition and needs, but generally speaking, grants like these are worth applying for. If you’re successful, not only do you get financial assistance with your project/business, but you build upon your ‘CV’ for future applications. If unsuccessful, you’ll still have your application, which can be iterated upon and used for follow-up applications, where the likelihood you succeed increases.
Those behind these grants and their applications, generally look for individuals that are competent and determined. If you can demonstrate that you have a well-researched and realistic product/business idea, and that you’re willing to develop it further, the likelihood you succeed with your grant-based application increases substantially.
Of course, a good application needs to be well-researched and written also. That’s where we can help.
For Application Writing, Market Research (regarding Application Writing) and Pitch/Presentation Creation, please contact us (which can be done through our Contact section on our website). With regards to Application Writing, we primarily provide services for Irish and European-based applications. However, we also provide services for North American, UK, and Australian-based applications, as well as for applications elsewhere.
We offer consultations, as well as work-for-hire. Our pricing and offerings are listed in our Contact section on our website. We are also flexible with our pricing based on the project in question.
