Scheme supporting returning Irish emigrants to develop their businesses looking for applicants
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Back for Business, a free programme aimed at supporting Irish emigrants returning home to start and develop a business in Ireland, is seeking new applicants.
The development programme, which is now in its eighth year, was created to support entrepreneurial activity among emigrants who recently returned to Ireland and is funded by the Irish Abroad Unit in the Department of Foreign Affairs.
The call for applications for the new cycle is now open and those eligible have until Thursday, January 16, to apply. The programme will run from February to June 2025, with the Launch Forum and first round table event taking place on February 11. Up to 50 places will be available on the programme.
Back for Business is for returned Irish emigrants who have lived abroad for at least a year and have returned to Ireland in the last three years, or for emigrants currently living abroad who are planning to return to Ireland in the near future.
Since launching in 2017, Back for Business has helped entrepreneurs who are returned emigrants to significantly grow sales and employment. It also addresses challenges that all early-stage entrepreneurs encounter, but also focuses on additional barriers faced by emigrants who have been living away from Ireland.
Participants will meet once a month on a peer-supported round table, facilitated by voluntary lead entrepreneurs, who have experience of successfully starting and growing a business. Many of them have also lived abroad before returning to Ireland to start their business.
This year’s lead entrepreneurs are: serial entrepreneur Hannah Wrixon; Morgan Browne, CEO of Milner Browne and Enterpryze; Paul Duggan of The Gardiner Group; Seamus Reilly, co-founder and formerly of Critical Healthcare; Sinead Doherty, founder and CEO of Fenero; and Thomas Ennis, founder of the Thomas Ennis Group.
Back for Business Lead Entrepreneur Thomas Ennis says: “I was lucky enough to receive excellent mentoring when I was starting out and it made all the difference. It is great to be in a position to give back and to support those at the start of their entrepreneurial journey.”
Back for Business past participant Aisling McVeigh, founder of the DANU Collective, says: "The Back for Business programme proved invaluable for me as I transitioned back to Ireland from the Middle East and established DANU Collective.
"The support and structure it provided were exactly what I needed to navigate this new chapter. The advice and expertise from some of Ireland's leading entrepreneurs gave me the confidence to tackle obstacles and seize opportunities. Back for Business truly sets you up for success."