Digital Transformation Flexible Fund encourages growth
Tuesday 16 September 2025
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council are encouraging small and micro businesses and social enterprises, particularly in the Larne area to learn more about the benefits of funding to help accelerate their digital transformation ambitions.
The Digital Transformation Flexible Fund (DTFF) is a scheme to stimulate digital innovation and remove the financial obstacles that prevent small and microbusinesses from implementing cutting-edge digital technology to transform their operations.
It is part funded by the NI Executive, UK Government, Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (DAERA) and all local authorities in Northern Ireland and supported by Invest NI.
The DTFF offers businesses and social enterprises the opportunity to improve their resilience, develop new digital capability and to drive up levels of digital engagement and innovation.
This in turn can help drive productivity and competitiveness, delivering tangible benefits for the business itself, and for the local economy.
Mayor of Mid and East Antrim, Councillor Jackson Minford, said: "It is important that smaller business enterprises mustn’t be left behind in the fast-paced shift in customer expectations and business innovation.
“Staying competitive means businesses embracing digital transformation—and that’s where this funding comes in.
“This briefing for Call 6 is designed to break down barriers and support businesses in building strong, future-ready digital transformation strategies."
The DTFF grants are worth between £5,000 and £20,000 and are designed to help small and micro businesses accelerate their digital transformation ambitions.
If eligible, the grant can fund up to 70% of the cost of a project with 30% match funding from the applicant.
Mid and East Antrim Borough Council are inviting businesses and social enterprises to attend the In Person Briefing session for Call 6, hosted by Queens University, Belfast, which will explore the next round of the DTFF:
- Thursday, 9 October 2025 from 2pm to 4pm at LEDCOM, Larne.
The workshop will help attendees understand:
- What is Digital Transformation (digital transformation vs digitisation)
- What the Digital Transformation Flexible Fund is, and who is eligible
- The type of technologies it can support
- The application process and key timelines
The DTFF programme is a competitive process where proposals are compared to each other to determine those that offer the biggest potential for business growth and digital transformation.
Eligible businesses and social enterprises are encouraged to confirm their place by registering as soon as possible online through the DTFF website's pre-briefng page.
Eligibility criteria can be viewed on the DTFF website.