Limerick
Autumn 2026 · By application · Fully funded
Find your focus.Build the capability.Grow.
Pathway to Innovate helps established Irish SMEs see where they stand, choose the change that will deliver growth, and connect them to practical support to fund that change. from a 3-minute application to a half-day workshop to a 10-week leadership programme.
Applications are selected on fit, not fee — every place is fully funded by Skillnet Ireland & the EU.
01
Start withA 3-minute application
90
Leave withA plan and access to support.
70 SME leaders took part
100% would recommend it
+65 net promoter score
70 committed 90-day plans, with access to funds and supports.
Spring 2026 participant feedback across Limerick, Cork and Galway.
Why Pathway to Innovate
From ambition to action
Ireland has a strong support ecosystem including Enterprise Ireland, the Local Enterprise Offices, Skillnet Business Networks and more. For an established SME, the pathway into it can feel complex and fragmented. Pathway to Innovate closes that gap: it helps you find the path that's right for your business, map your immediate support needs, and puts the right people around your table.
In the roomA working session not a conference.
Built around four questions
Every stage of the programme works on the answers.
01
Where is the business going — short and long term?
02
What's blocking you from getting there?
03
What support do you need to clear the blockers?
04
What will success look like in 90 days — and beyond?
Answer these with structure and the right people in the room, and the next step stops being a guess.
The Programme · September – December 2026
Ninety days. One pathway.
Five connected stages, delivered across three regions to help you connect, develop, access and grow. And when you're ready for more, a deeper ten-week track runs alongside.
1
Aug – Sep
Apply & Benchmark
A three-minute application, then a six-minute Growth & Innovation Snapshot. Your Innovation Snapshot shows where you stand before day one.
2
Day 1
Growth Workshop
A facilitated morning with 20-25 other SME leaders. Working from your Growth and Innovation Snapshot. Clarify your challenges, meet the support agencies and figure out what will help you.
3
Day 45
Lunch & Learn
The cohort reconvenes over lunch: progress on the plan, and funding supports in the room for one-to-ones. We'll do a quick pulse on progress: has the first action started, and what is in the way?
4
Across the autumn
Regional Support
Scheduled check-ins with your regional hub, introductions as you need them, and access to every event in the hub.
5
December
Cohort Close
The cohort and its partners come together to mark progress, share success stories and set up what's next.
Go deeper · From 22 September
Explore the programme → The Strategic Programme
For firms ready to build lasting innovation capability, the 10-week Strategic Innovation & Entrepreneurship Programme runs alongside and beyond your 90 days, with 1:1 mentoring, five days in person and five days online training and deep supports.
Find your route
Where are you right now?
Choose the statement that feels closest. Every route belongs to the same pathway — and each leads naturally to the next.
Start here · Six minutes
The Growth and Innovation Benchmark
An honest baseline across the capabilities that turn ideas into outcomes. Your Snapshot gives you a shared starting point for the workshop, start to identify your priorities and makes the next conversation far more useful.
Apply to start with the Benchmark- Time
- Six minutes
- Commitment
- One senior leader
- Outcome
- Your Innovation Snapshot
- Best fit
- Any established SME beginning the pathway
- ✓ Fast, practical and business-led
- ✓ Highlights strengths and growth blockers
- ✓ Unlocks the right next step
Act now · Half day
The Growth Workshop
A working session for leaders who want to move from competing priorities to one practical next move — resourced through the right supports.
Apply for an autumn workshop- Time
- Half day
- Commitment
- A senior decision-maker
- Outcome
- A 90-day action map
- Best fit
- Established trading SMEs, typically 5–25 people
- ✓ Work from your Snapshot with an expert facilitator
- ✓ A deliberately selected peer group
- ✓ Leave with owners, actions and a support route
Go deeper · 10 weeks
The Strategic Programme
The Strategic Programme. The 10-week Strategic Innovation & Entrepreneurship route from IRDG Innovation Skillnet helps leadership teams turn ambition into a repeatable system for innovation.
Explore the Strategic Programme- Time
- 10 weeks
- Commitment
- Two senior leaders
- Outcome
- A roadmap and live execution plan
- Best fit
- Selected Irish SMEs ready for deeper change
- ✓ In-person days, online masterclasses and mentoring
- ✓ Apply the learning to a live business project
- ✓ Build capability in design, AI and business-model innovation
Benchmark → Growth Workshop → Strategic Programme → Repeatable innovation
Where it starts
The Growth Workshop
One focused morning in your region, built around your business — not someone else's slides. You'll work at a table of peers with a lead facilitator, and leave with:
- Clarity on your strategic growth challenges
- A tailored 90-day action plan Two commitments: a first move for next week, and an upskilling pathway
- Peers and ecosystem partners around your table
- A defined pathway to regional and national supports
Why lunch matters: the support agencies join the room after your priorities are clear — so every conversation is directed at what your business actually needs.
The morning, hour by hour
Draft agenda — timing confirmed with each region
8:30
Registration, tea & coffee, networking
Meet the leaders at your table — the peer room is half the value.
9:00
Welcome & programme overview
What the morning delivers and how the 90 days work.
9:15
Objectives & strategy kick-off
Facilitated table discussion on barriers and challenges.
10:00
Innovation Action Canvas
Ideate opportunities and draft your 90-day canvas.
11:00
Tea & coffee break
11:15
Guest speaker — fireside chat
A founder's personal story you'll recognise.
11:40
Action plan development
Your immediate action for next week, and your upskilling pathway commitment.
12:45
Exit survey & Q&A
1:00
Lunch, networking & close
Support agencies in the room — directed conversations, not a leaflet stand.
Selection, not registration
Five steps. Most take minutes.
No fee and no open registration — a short application protects the quality of the room, and your Benchmark confirms your seat.
Step 1 · 3 minutes
Apply
Company, role, size, your preferred date — and one line on the priority you'd bring.
Step 2 · 5 working days
Decision
Reviewed against published criteria. A clear yes, a clear no, or a pointer to a better-suited support.
Step 3 · Instant
Accepted
Your place is held with a calendar invite, and your Innovation Benchmark unlocks.
Step 4 · 10 minutes
Benchmark
Complete it to confirm your seat — and get your Innovation Snapshot back before day one.
Step 5 · Day 1
Begin
Walk into the Growth Workshop already knowing where you stand.
Selection is on fit, not fee. Every place is fully funded by Skillnet Ireland and the European Union. You bring the honesty and the time. Our Strategic Programme is 90% funded for selected SMEs.
Proven this spring
Three regions. Universal enthusiasm.
We ran the workshop in Limerick, Cork and Galway in spring 2026. Here's what the room said on the way out.
"MThe workshop was excellent, with great information on supports and ways to drive innovation in our company. I particularly found the 90-day actional roadmap beheficial."
"If you want to thrive as an SME, you need to innovate. If you don't know what that means, you need to attend. I now know what I need to do to grow my business."
"Game changer if you're stuck in your journey. Accountability is great. A perfect overview of how to implement innovation effectively."
"Highly practical and full of actionable takeaways. Interesting, pertinent and well delivered in an ideal setting."
Source: combined exit-survey analysis, Limerick · Cork · Galway, spring 2026.
Autumn 2026
The key dates.
The dates below are the current autumn plan and remain subject to final partner confirmation. Apply once — pick your date.
Cork
Growth Workshop
Galway
Growth Workshop
Limerick
Growth Workshop
Every workshop includes: your Innovation Benchmark & Snapshot · a facilitated morning with peers · lunch with the support agencies · a committed 90-day action plan with followups including Lunch & Learn , regional support throughout, and the cohort close in December.
Is your business ready for the pathway?
- Established and trading — three years or more?
- Employing around 5–25 people? With room for the largers SME businesses up to 100. Your fit matters more than headcount
- A senior decision-maker who can act? CEO, MD, Founder or director someone who can make the call with what you lean.
- Ambitious to grow — in any sector? No turnover test, no export gate, we are sector agnostic
Not the right fit yet? If you're pre-startup or a sole trader, we'll say so quickly and point you to a better-suited supports, that's part of the deal.
Apply to Participate Delivered in your region
A hub that stays with you
Your regional hub recruits the cohort, hosts the workshop and stays involved across the 90 days — check-ins, introductions and an open door to every event in the building.
Cork Republic of Work
12 South Mall, Cork City
12 South Mall, Cork City
Galway Platform94
Galway Technology Park, Parkmore
Galway Technology Park, Parkmore
Limerick Engine
Cecil Street, Limerick City
Cecil Street, Limerick City
Go deeper · The Strategic Programme
Turn a 90-day move into a lasting innovation system.
The Strategic Programme — the 10-week Strategic Innovation & Entrepreneurship Programme from IRDG Innovation Skillnet — is for selected SMEs ready to build capability across the leadership team, not simply complete another project.
Next cohort: Limerick · 22 September 2026. Growth Workshop attendees get priority consideration.
Explore the Strategic Programme 01 Diagnose
Baseline the organisation and choose a live business challenge.
02 Roadmap
Build the strategy, tools and leadership alignment to deliver it.
03 Execute
Apply the learning with expert mentoring and peer challenge.
Two senior leaders per companyIn-person + online masterclassesExpert mentoring90% funded by Skillnet Ireland
Useful answers
Before you apply.
Is this for me or only for high-tech companies? +
No. The pathway is sector-agnostic. What matters is that you're an established trading SME, want to determine a real growth or innovation priority, and can bring a senior decision-maker into the room.
Which route should I choose? +
Choose the Growth Workshop if you need one priority and a 90-day map. Explore the Strategic Programme if two senior leaders are ready to build innovation capability across the business. BIgger committment, bigger outcome, fewer places.
What does fully funded mean? +
The Growth Workshop and regional work places carry no participant fee — they are fully funded by Skillnet Ireland and the European Union. The Strategic Programme is a deeper, subsidised ten-week route, 90% funded for selected SMEs. Commitment and fit are the entry requirements.
What does the Benchmark measure? +
Twelve statements across four area 1) growth focus, 2) innovation capability, 3) digital foundations, and 4) AI readiness and responsible use. And your principal growth priority, biggest blocker and likely support needs. You get back a one-page Growth & Innovation Snapshot: your profile, strongest area, principal constraint and one recommended 90-day focus. This can change in the Growth Workshop.
Who sees my results? +
You and the facilitation team.The data and used only to prepare the right examples and supports for the room. Results are never used to rank companies, and the Benchmark is not an audit, certification or due-diligence review. Your responses are compared against defined maturity stages, not a claimed national average
Do we need to be using AI already? +
No. Starting is a valid (and common) answer. The Benchmark identifies whether your next step is a use-case conversation, stronger data foundations or a controlled pilot. It does not assume every business needs AI immediately.
Find your focus. Build the capability. Grow.
Apply in three minutes. A decision within five working days. Ninety days of momentum, supported and fully funded by Skillnet Ireland and the European Union.
Applications close as each region fills · 25 places per region