550 female entrepreneurs in rural Ireland boost revenue by €10m through ACORNS programme.
A new study from DCU Business School has revealed that 550 female entrepreneurs from rural Ireland increased their collective revenue by nearly €10m during their participation in the ACORNS business development programme.
The ACORNS initiative, which is now entering its 11th cycle, is a free six-month programme designed for early-stage female entrepreneurs living in rural Ireland. It is funded by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine through the Rural Innovation and Development Fund.
“While female entrepreneurs in rural areas face challenges in starting and growing new businesses, the women that have completed ACORNS report that participation has had a transformative impact for them and for their businesses”
The DCU analysis found that participants experienced an average revenue increase of 51 percent during the programme. Combined end-of-cycle revenues reached €29 million, representing a €9.8 million increase across all ten cycles.
Employment also rose, with participant companies adding 201 jobs, bringing total employment from 822 to 1,023. Exporting activity increased, with 29 percent of participants reporting export experience after completing the programme.
Transformative impact
Professor Colm O’Gorman, co-author of the study, said the programme had a transformative impact.
“While female entrepreneurs in rural areas face challenges in starting and growing new businesses, the women that have completed ACORNS report that participation has had a transformative impact for them and for their businesses. They speak of a sense of solidarity that develops through the roundtable interactions, through sharing business challenges, successes and setbacks, and through participation with the broader ACORNS community,” O’Gorman said.
Applications for ACORNS 11 are open until midnight on September 22. The programme will run from October 2025 to April 2026 and includes monthly roundtable sessions, agency briefings, and a final celebration event. Up to 50 places are available, and there is no cost to participants.
The Lead Entrepreneurs for ACORNS 11 include Alison Ritchie (Polar Ice), Caroline Reidy (The HR Suite), Eimer Hannon (Hannon Travel), Geraldine Jones (Skin Formulas), Karen Kerrigan (Kerrigan Mushrooms), Mary B Walsh (Ire Wel Pallets), and Triona MacGiolla Rí (Aró Digital Strategies). Clare Duignan and Geraldine Kelly will facilitate ACORNS Plus roundtables for previous participants.
ACORNS was recently selected as Ireland’s national entry for the European Enterprise Promotion Awards in the Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills category and was named a good practice on the EU’s INTERREG Learning Platform.
Paula Fitzsimons, Director of ACORNS, welcomed the findings. “The research from DCU Business School highlights the positive impact that the ACORNS programme has had for past participants in terms of revenue, employment, and growth into new markets.
“That ACORNS has helped female entrepreneurs from rural Ireland increase their collective revenue by €9.75 million since our pilot programme in 2014 is testament to the quality of the programme, its participants and its Lead Entrepreneurs,” she said.
How to join ACORNS
ACORNS, which stands for Accelerating the Creation Of Rural Nascent Start-ups, is in its 11th year. It is funded through the Rural Innovation and Development Fund by the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). ACORNS has been nominated to represent Ireland in the 2025 European Enterprise Promotion Awards, Investing in Entrepreneurial Skills. The programme was developed by Fitzsimons Consulting.
Eligibility Criteria for participation on ACORNS
To be considered for ACORNS, applicants must:
- Have set up a new business which has generated sales no earlier than the end of June 2022 or be actively planning a new venture and have made good progress towards getting the new venture off the ground. Indicators of actively planning a business would include organising the start-up team, sourcing equipment / facilities, money saved for the start-up, writing the business plan, etc.
- They must own or part-own the business and be living in a rural area, that is in an area outside the administrative city boundaries of Dublin, Cork, Galway, Limerick and Waterford.
- If selected, applicants must be available to attend the launch Forum and first round table session on October 20 and 21, 2025.
- They must expect to become an employer within three years.
- To apply, click here
Top image: Dr Colm O’Gorman, Professor of Entrepreneurship at DCU, addresses the ACORNS Community Forum and ACORNS 10 Celebration Programme. Photo: Orla Murray/Coalesce
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