A major expansion of the Rural focused female entrepreneur support programme has been announced by the government.
The ACORNS programme has been hugely successful to date as it enters it’s 8th year. Firms in the last round report increased turnover up 100% and an 19% increase in employment.
50 new early stage female entrepreneurs living in rural areas will be selected for the six-month programme which will run from October 2022 to April 2023. Places will be filled on a competitive basis as there are usually over 250 applications. Rural” for the purposes of the scheme is an area outside the administrative city boundaries of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.There is no charge for those participating in ACORNS, The scheme is open to women based in rural Ireland who are at an advanced stage of starting a new business or who want to develop a recently-established existing venture. The intention of the programme is to provide them with the knowledge, support and networking opportunities to meet and exceed their current aspirations. ACORNS stands for Accelerating the Creation Of Rural Nascent Start-ups. The deadline for applications is midnight on Friday, September 23rd 2022. Full details can be found at www.acorns.ie
