Can you use the Grow Digital Voucher for a Shopify store?

Last checked against LEO guidance: October 2026

The short answer: yes, partly. The Grow Digital Voucher can cover half the cost of a Shopify subscription that's new to your business, plus half the cost of expert setup and training, up to a €5,000 grant. It won't pay for a bespoke, custom-built website, and you have to apply before you spend anything.

That last part catches people out, so it's worth reading the order of steps below before you sign up to anything.

What is the Grow Digital Voucher, and who can get it?

It's a grant from your Local Enterprise Office (LEO) that pays 50% of eligible costs, from a minimum grant of €500 up to a maximum of €5,000. You can have up to two voucher projects, but the €5,000 is a combined limit across both.

To be eligible, your business needs to:

• Have between 1 and 50 paid employees.

• Have been trading for at least six months, and be registered in your LEO's area.

• Not already be an Enterprise Ireland or IDA client.

• Have current tax clearance from Revenue.

• Have completed a Digital for Business project with your LEO in the last two years.

That last point is the one most people don't know about. Digital for Business is a separate LEO support where a digital consultant reviews your current systems and recommends what to improve. The voucher is meant to fund the next steps that review identifies, so you need the review first.

Source: LEO Grow Digital Voucher guidance

What does the voucher cover, and what doesn't it?

The voucher pays towards two kinds of cost: off-the-shelf software subscriptions that are new to your business, and expert help setting up and learning that software.

Two rules shape how a project gets put together:

• Setup and training are capped at half the project. Combined, they can't be more than 50% of the overall project cost. The rest has to be the software itself.

• The subscription has to be paid for the year. The business must pay the annual subscription cost before the grant is paid out, so a month-to-month plan won't work.

Source: LEO Grow Digital Voucher guidance

How does a Shopify project fit the rules?

Shopify fits well, because it's off-the-shelf e-commerce software sold as a subscription. A Shopify store built on a ready-made theme and set up properly is a very different thing from a bespoke website coded from scratch.

Where it fits most clearly:

• You're moving to Shopify for the first time. Coming from WooCommerce, Wix, Squarespace or no online store at all means Shopify is new to your business. Year one of the subscription, plus apps that are also new to you, can count as software.

• You need help setting it up. Configuring the store, setting up payments, shipping and tax, moving products across and training your team are the kind of setup and training the voucher describes.

• You're already on Shopify but adding new software. The Shopify plan itself won't qualify, but a new tool such as an email marketing platform or a booking app might, along with the help to set it up.

Where it doesn't fit: heavy custom development, a theme coded from scratch, or anything LEO would see as bespoke. Those may still be worth doing, but they'd sit outside the voucher.

A worked example (figures are illustrative, not quotes):

Any custom design or development on top of this would be paid separately, outside the voucher.

What order should you do things in?

The order matters more than anything else here. LEO says you mustn't commit to, order, buy, contract for or start any part of the project before your application goes in, or the project can be ruled ineligible.

1. Talk to your Local Enterprise Office. Every application starts with a conversation there. You can find your nearest office on localenterprise.ie.

2. Complete a Digital for Business project. A digital consultant reviews how your business runs now and recommends what to change. If moving to Shopify is the right next step, this is where it should be identified.

3. Get quotes, but don't sign anything yet. Ask for a quote that splits software from setup and training, so LEO can see the 50% cap is respected.

4. Submit your Grow Digital Voucher application. Have your tax reference number and tax clearance access number ready.

5. Wait for the go-ahead, then start. Only now sign up to the annual Shopify plan and begin the setup work.

6. Pay, keep the paperwork, and claim. The annual subscription has to be paid before the grant is paid out, so keep every invoice and receipt.

Sources: Grow Digital Voucher guidance · Digital for Business support

How Fig & Function can help

We're a small Shopify studio in Ireland, and a lot of our work comes through LEO mentors. We know how these projects need to be shaped, so we write quotes that keep software, setup and training clearly separate and inside the rules.

We can help you:

• Work out whether Shopify is the right move before you apply.

• Get a voucher-ready quote that LEO can assess easily.

• Set up your store, move your products across and train your team to run it yourselves.

Working with an LEO mentor already? See how we work within mentor hours on our LEO mentors page, or get in touch and we'll talk it through. No commitment, and nothing gets signed until your application is in.