New fund to support up to 10 entrepreneurial young farmers
Macra president, John Keane; Niall Beirne, NBI; and Mick Curran, CEO of Macra, launching the Rise Community Fund partnership with Macra.
Up to 10 young farmers could benefit from a new fund offering cash grants to help them use technology in innovative ways in their businesses.
The RISE Community Fund is supported by National Broadband Ireland (NBI) with the partnership with Macra Na Feirme launched at the organisation's Annual Conference Rally.
Established by NBI Chairman and technology entrepreneur, David McCourt, RISE commenced its Community Fund earlier this year, providing monthly grants across the country to give an immediate cash injection into local communities seeking to boost their digital ecosystems.
As part of the partnership with Macra, 10 grants of €1000 each will be offered specifically to the best ideas from the farming community.
Commenting on the announcement, David McCourt, chairman of NBI and founder of RISE, said: “The RISE Community Fund supported by NBI is calling on young farmers who have ideas about how they can use technology to scale their ambition and improve the operations and output of their farm.
A recent report from Ifac showed that over 80% of Irish farmers now use some form of agri-tech to accelerate operations. In particular, Ireland's many small, family farms are turning to technology to improve their yields and profitability.
Mick Curran, chief executive of Macra na Feirma, commented: “Last year we were delighted to announce a partnership agreement with NBI, endorsing its role in delivering the country’s National Broadband Plan, which is set to connect over 65,000 farms in the country to high-speed fibre broadband.
"We’re thrilled to now be taking this to the next level, partnering with RISE and NBI to offer our members the opportunity to receive cash grants to empower young farmers with their plans to use technology. We recognise that technology can have a transformational impact on farming here in Ireland, enabling efficiencies in so many ways.
This is really going to accelerate these exciting use cases.”
Applications for the cash grants open on November 1, 2022, and close on November 30, 2022.
“The application process has been made incredibly quick and easy, and successful applicants will be notified by early December, with money following in quick succession. We can’t wait to see the entrepreneurial ideas from Macra’s young farmers,” said Orla O’Malley, Programme Director at RISE.
The RISE Community Fund is a partnership between National Broadband Ireland, the company delivering Ireland’s National Broadband Plan, and RISE Global Foundation, a privately funded charity, with the aim of tackling the rural/urban digital divide and using technology and entrepreneurship to create opportunities and jobs in rural Ireland.
No state funding is used in the provision of grant funding used by RISE Global Foundation. All grants provided by the RISE Community Fund are privately funded by NBI shareholders and private donations.
More information can be found online at: https://riseglobalfoundation.com/programs/rise-community-fund/
