Northern Ireland’s digital-adoption support is, on its headline rate, among the more generous in the UK. Here’s a 2026 guide for AI and digital funding in NI, cited to official sources. (dgm implements osFoundry as an independent partner.)
The Digital Transformation Flexible Fund
Invest NI’s Digital Transformation Flexible Fund (DTFF) offers grants of £5,000–£20,000 covering up to 70% of eligible project costs for small and micro businesses adopting advanced digital technology. That 70% rate is notably higher than the typical 50% match on many English adoption grants — a real NI advantage. More detail is on the DTFF site.
Innovation Vouchers
Northern Ireland Innovation Vouchers are worth £5,000 and let a business buy specialist knowledge from universities, colleges or research organisations across NI and the Republic of Ireland. For an AI or data project, that’s a low-friction way to access expertise — for example, to validate an approach or scope a model.
The Digital Transformation Programme
Invest NI also runs a Digital Transformation Programme intended to support 1,000+ businesses across NI. Its digitalisation pages are the entry point for current support.
UK-wide routes also apply
NI businesses also have R&D tax relief, KTPs (with NI universities), BridgeAI adoption support, and British Business Bank finance (note the £1m GGS cap for Northern Ireland Protocol borrowers).
Where osFoundry and dgm fit
These routes fund or support a project that still needs building. dgm scopes and implements AI projects on osFoundry: usage-priced, bring-your-own-key, and self-hostable in your own cloud or an EU region for UK data-sensitive work (osFoundry publishes US/EU/JP regions, not a UK one).
dgm is an independent integration partner with zero integrations so far, and not a grant-writing service. Applications go through Invest NI or the relevant UK body. To scope a fundable AI project, book a consultation with dgm. General information; confirm current Invest NI terms before relying on figures.