The Trading Online Voucher closed to new applications at 5pm on 13 December 2024, so if someone has told you it will pay for half of a new website, that advice is out of date. Its replacement, the Grow Digital Voucher, still runs through your Local Enterprise Office, but it funds a different kind of project, and knowing exactly what it covers will save you planning a website around money that isn’t there.
Is the Trading Online Voucher Still Available?
No. The Trading Online Voucher (TOV) stopped taking applications at 5pm on 13 December 2024. For years it matched 50% of approved costs up to €2,500, and plenty of Irish small businesses used it to part-fund a website or an online shop. That option is gone, and no Local Enterprise Office is accepting new Trading Online Voucher applications.
In September 2024 the Department of Enterprise announced the Grow Digital Voucher as the scheme that replaces the Trading Online Voucher. It is a bigger grant on paper, but it is aimed at a narrower thing, which is getting small businesses onto new off-the-shelf digital tools rather than paying for a website to be built.
What Is the Grow Digital Voucher?
The Grow Digital Voucher is a grant from your Local Enterprise Office (LEO) that covers 50% of eligible costs, with a minimum grant of €500 and a maximum of €5,000 per application. A business can receive up to two vouchers for two separate projects, but the combined total is capped at €5,000.
It is a grant rather than a loan, and like the Trading Online Voucher before it, you apply through the LEO for the area where your business is based. The full terms are on the official Grow Digital Voucher page, which is the place to check before you rely on any figure, because scheme rules can change.
What the Grow Digital Voucher Funds
The Grow Digital Voucher pays toward a subscription to new, off-the-shelf software for up to one year. The software has to be new to your business, so topping up licences you already pay for doesn’t count. The categories the LEO lists include:
- E-commerce platforms, for selling online
- Online booking and payment systems
- Customer relationship management (CRM) tools
- Invoicing, accounting and payroll software
- Job tracking, stock control and workflow management
- Cyber security software
- Analytics and AI tools
- Subscription-based website platforms
Training and configuration to get the new software set up and your staff using it can also be included, as long as it makes up no more than half of the project cost.
What the Grow Digital Voucher Does Not Fund
The official page puts it plainly, “The Grow Digital Voucher does not support bespoke website development.” Custom or bespoke software is not eligible either, and neither is hardware or software for regulatory compliance.
That is the single biggest difference from the old Trading Online Voucher. A website designed and built for your business, which is what most web designers and developers in Ireland produce, falls outside the Grow Digital Voucher. The only website spend it can touch is a subscription to an off-the-shelf website platform.
Who Qualifies for the Grow Digital Voucher
The Grow Digital Voucher is for small businesses, and the LEO sets out a clear list of conditions. Your business needs to:
- Have between 1 and 50 paid employees
- Have a turnover or balance sheet of €10 million or less
- Have been trading for at least six months
- Be solvent and hold current tax clearance
- Be based and operating in the area of the LEO you apply to
- Not be an existing Enterprise Ireland or IDA client
Some sectors are excluded outright, including primary agriculture, fisheries and aquaculture, coal and steel, gambling, and tobacco. Sole traders, partnerships and limited companies can all qualify if they meet the rest of the criteria.
The Digital for Business Prerequisite
One condition catches a lot of people out. To apply for the Grow Digital Voucher, you must have completed a Digital for Business project with your LEO within the previous two years. Digital for Business is the LEO’s own digital planning support, and it comes first.
If you haven’t done one, the Grow Digital Voucher is not available to you yet, so the first conversation with your LEO should be about getting onto Digital for Business rather than about the voucher itself.
How to Approach Your Local Enterprise Office About Grow Digital
The order matters here, because buying first and applying later can cost you the grant.
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1
Contact Your Local Enterprise Office
Get in touch with the LEO for the area your business operates in. Tell them what you are trying to do, whether that is taking bookings online, selling online or getting on top of invoicing, and ask them to confirm you meet the conditions.
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2
Complete Digital for Business If You Haven't Already
If you haven't finished a Digital for Business project with the LEO in the last two years, that comes before anything else. It is also a useful way to work out which tools your business actually needs.
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3
Choose the Software and Get the Costs in Writing
Pick the off-the-shelf product you want and get a clear written breakdown of the subscription and any setup or training costs. Check that it is new to your business and that it isn't custom-built.
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4
Apply Before You Buy Anything
Submit your application to the LEO before you commit to or pay for any part of the project. Your LEO will explain how and when to claim once you are approved.
Costs you take on before applying can be ruled ineligible.
Funding a New Website Now the Trading Online Voucher Has Closed
If you were counting on the Trading Online Voucher to pay for half of a custom website, the honest position is that no LEO grant now does that. It is better to know that before you get quotes than after. There are still sensible ways to approach it.
Use Grow Digital for the Tools Your Website Connects To
Many businesses don’t need a grant for the website itself as much as for the system behind it, such as the booking calendar, the online shop or the invoicing. Those are exactly what the Grow Digital Voucher is built for. A year’s subscription to an off-the-shelf booking or e-commerce platform may be part-funded, and your website can link to it or connect with it so customers book or buy straight from your site.
Weigh Up a Subscription Website Platform Honestly
A subscription-based website platform can fall within the Grow Digital Voucher, which makes it tempting. The trade-off is that you are renting rather than owning, the subscription keeps going after the grant year ends, and you are limited to what the platform allows. For some businesses that is the right call, and for others a site they own outright pays for itself over a few years. Compare the total cost over three to five years, not just the first year.
Ask Your LEO About Other Supports
Local Enterprise Offices run more than one scheme, including training, mentoring and other grants, and what is on offer changes over time. Ask your LEO directly what your business qualifies for at the moment rather than relying on an article or a supplier’s sales pitch, including this one.
Spend Your Own Budget on What Brings in Customers
Without a grant, every euro of a website budget is your own, which makes it more important to spend it well. A website nobody finds is money gone, whatever it cost. Put the budget into the things that bring in enquiries, which means pages for the services you offer and the towns you serve, fast loading on mobile, clear ways to get in touch, and a build that is set up properly for local search from the start. You don’t need an expensive brand refresh to get those right.
Where to Find Your Local Enterprise Office
There are 31 Local Enterprise Offices, one for each local authority area, and you deal with the one where your business is based. Dublin has four (Dublin City, Dublin South County, Fingal and Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown), and Cork has three (Cork City, Cork North and West, and South Cork).
You can find your office and its contact details at localenterprise.ie, and the current scheme terms are on the Grow Digital Voucher page.
Getting Started
The Trading Online Voucher has closed, and the Grow Digital Voucher that replaced it won’t pay for a custom website, but it can still help with the software your business runs on. If you are planning a new website and want a straight answer on what it would cost and whether it is your best move right now, get in touch. No obligation, and no pressure to use me for the work.
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