LEO TAME Grant for Develop: Brighton 2024.
Topic: Successful Application & Grant draw-down.
Through IMIRT and Ardán (Irish gaming groups based in the Republic of Ireland), I had heard of Develop: Brighton. It seemed to be a well regarded gaming event, where the likelihood you could establish meetings with people in the Games’ Industry was higher than most. Interested, I made plans for attending, and attempted the Local Enterprise Offices (LEO) TAME Grant application. I did this, for if I was successful, I could cover some of the costs to Develop: Brighton with this grant. The Technical Assistance for Micro Exporters (TAME) Grant is unfortunately unsupported now (as of 2025 (I’m not sure as to why)). When it was supported, however, its purpose was to help small enterprises with export potential to attend industry events both in Ireland and abroad.
With regards to the TAME Grant application, it was relatively straightforward. I needed to do a small bit of research and editing of previous application answers, but the most challenging aspect of the application was the gathering of receipts. For the TAME Grant, you had to book everything in advance, get the right receipts of everything you booked, and then insert those into your application. A little bit frustrating at times, but it wasn’t as complicated as it may sound.
Once I finished my application, I submitted it. Within a week or two, I was informed that my application had been accepted! This was great, as it made a relatively expensive trip less costly than what it otherwise would’ve been.
With my application successful, I prepared for my journey to Develop: Brighton in the UK. Between the 9th – 11th of July 2024, I met with various individuals I arranged to have meetings with on Develops’ MeetToMatch system. During this time, I also networked with various (mostly UK/Irish) dame devs and industry professionals from across Europe, as well as attended various Develop: Brighton talks and parties, which were great.
Once I returned home, I needed to attend to my TAME Grant paperwork. The paperwork was relatively straightforward, as I just had to put in the correct dates, costs, etc, into their Excel Sheet. Again, the most challenging part of this was ensuring that I had the correct details and receipts. Once I submitted the paperwork, I got a total of €1084 back, which was much more than I had expected.
The TAME Grant was an excellent grant to apply for while it existed. While the time needed to deal with the application and paperwork for it could be a bit frustrating and time-consuming, the potential funding you could get in return made it worthwhile. It is unfortunate this grant is not available anymore, but hopefully it will return in one form or another in the near future.
Also, with regards to Develop: Brighton itself, it was a great Games’ Industry event to attend. Various game devs from Indie – Triple AAA attend, and the networking you can do, both through the event itself and the events occurring alongside are great. One thing to note is that the events occurring alongside the main event our important to attend, at least with regards to Networking. I was fortunate, as I knew someone who had an excel sheet which listed all of the events occurring alongside Develop itself. As such, I could plan my trip using this, and so got to attend many of the accompanying events happening at the time.
–
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.
