The scheme is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and delivered through local Councils, as part of a wider effort to support the sustainability and growth of rural micro-businesses. It’s a genuinely useful pot of funding — but it’s competitive, retrospective, and comes with a fair amount of process to get right.
Is your business likely to qualify?
In broad terms, the scheme is aimed at small, already-trading businesses based in rural areas of Northern Ireland — generally those with fewer than 10 employees. Both product and service businesses can apply, including sole traders, partnerships, and limited companies, provided the funding is used for eligible capital items such as new equipment, machinery, or a transactional e-commerce website.
There are specific eligibility rules around business location, trading history, VAT status, and what the grant can and can’t be spent on — and a mandatory workshop you must attend before applying. Given how detailed the criteria are, it’s worth a quick conversation before assuming either way.
Not sure if you qualify?
We can check your eligibility against the full scheme criteria in a short call, and tell you honestly whether it’s worth applying.
Check my eligibility →Why these applications are harder than they look
RBDGS is scored competitively — applications need to hit a minimum threshold just to be considered, and funding goes to the highest-ranking projects, not simply the first submitted. On top of that, there’s a strict procurement process (multiple comparable quotes, correct documentation, specific formatting), tight deadlines for project completion and claims, and a retrospective payment structure that means you fund the project upfront and claim back afterwards.
Missing a documentation requirement, misjudging the scoring criteria, or getting the procurement paperwork wrong are the most common reasons good applications don’t succeed — not the business idea itself.
How Proactive can help
What we manage for you
Applications close 30 July 2026
If you think your business could benefit from this grant, get in touch now — the mandatory pre-funding workshop and account verification steps take time, and the closing date won’t move.
Talk to Proactive about your application →This article is a general summary. Full eligibility criteria and guidance are published by DAERA on the official RBDGS guidance page.