WeScale Cohort 3: Your Questions Answered
Applications for WeScale Cohort 3 are open now, closing Monday 21 September 2026 at 12 noon. Whether you're a first-time applicant or you've been thinking about WeScale since we launched Cohort 1, here's everything you need to know before you apply. WeScale is a fully funded, multi-year scaling initiative for women founders across the island of Ireland, delivered by AwakenHub in collaboration with Cranfield University, and led by InterTradeIreland in partnership with Invest Northern Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, as part of the Shared Island Enterprise Scheme, funded by the Government of Ireland.
Are service-based businesses excluded?
No! WeScale does not automatically exclude any business or founder. We've had a wide range of founders from service and product-based businesses take part across our first two cohorts — meet the WeScale founders here.
WeScale is open to all businesses with a scalable, innovation-driven business model. Applications from all sectors will be considered if the business has developed a unique product, system or process that provides additional value to the core business activity.
To be eligible, you must:
Be a women-led or women-founded business
Be based on the island of Ireland
Be a registered business (pre-revenue applicants are eligible)
Have less than 250 employees and less than £40m (or euro equivalent) in annual turnover
Have strong potential for international market expansion
More on eligibility here.
Our advice: don't exclude yourself from this opportunity — join an info session, apply and get our feedback. There are many other opportunities we can share with you along the way.
Is there a revenue requirement?
No. There is no revenue requirement to apply for WeScale. We want to hear from pre-revenue businesses who are seeking investment to scale, as well as established businesses with revenue who are ready to switch up their growth plans. What matters is a scalable, innovation-driven business model and genuine ambition to grow — not what stage your turnover is at.
How is WeScale different from Enterprise Ireland's iHPSU?
WeScale is designed to complement support already available and is a great next step for founders who are ready to scale up.
iHPSU funding supports High Potential Start-Ups (HPSUs) — internationally focused businesses that have developed a minimum viable product (MVP) and demonstrated some commercial traction.
WeScale supports women founders who have a proven business model with demonstrated product-market fit in at least one market, and evidence of sustained growth. Earlier-stage, fast-growing companies with clear momentum will also be considered (pre-revenue applicants are eligible).
Wendy Slattery, who took part in our SheScales pilot, has spoken frankly about the value of moving from the HPSU Founders Forum into WeScale as a natural next step — and how much she valued the Cranfield University-accredited training and the ongoing support of a women-only community after the formal training ended.
How is WeScale different from an MBA?
WeScale and an MBA occupy very different spaces in the learning and development landscape, even though both can advance leadership capability.
WeScale is a practical acceleration programme for founders who want to scale a business now. Delivered by founders for founders it focuses on operational readiness, strategic clarity, market expansion, investment preparedness, and the lived realities of growth. It's cohort-driven and practice-led, involving mentors, industry experts and investor networks. WeScale has nine core modules delivered in a hybrid format, and each founder builds a unique pathway by choosing from optional Programme of Services elements and mentoring to match their own business needs. Learning is shaped by the pace and needs of scaling businesses, and it's accredited by Cranfield University based on in-person engagement and practical progress through the programme — not exams or graded coursework.
An MBA is an academic degree providing a wide-ranging theoretical foundation across management disciplines such as finance, operations, strategy, economics and organisational behaviour.
Should I apply if I'm not sure I'm ready?
Apply anyway. Take this opportunity to back yourself and your business.
Frances Duffy of 6D Dementia wasn't sure she was ready for the programme — she's since secured major contracts and is scaling her business into the UK market.
WeScale is running across multiple cohorts, and we can help guide you on readiness. If it's not the right fit right now, we have plenty of other support available to help get you into the best position for the next cohort.
How many women are in each cohort?
WeScale supports 18-20 participants per cohort per year, with intakes continuing through 2026, 2027 and 2028. Alongside each cohort, we're building an integrated alumni community for ongoing growth, visibility and support — Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 graduated 33 founders between them in June 2026, joining 16 SheScales graduates from 2025 and that community is still going strong. Join a community of ambitious women founders and unlock the potential to thrive on a global scale.
When will we know the outcome of our application?
Lock the dates into your calendar now. When applying assume you are already a WeScaler because full attendance is required to accept the funded place. The approval and onboarding process will happen quickly:
Applications close: Monday 21 September 2026, 12 noon
Onboarding / kick-off: Tuesday 13 October 2026, Dublin (mandatory, in-person)
All key programme dates are available on the InterTradeIreland website here.
What counts as State Aid on the application?
For the purposes of the WeScale application, State Aid refers to any state support your company has received in the past three fiscal years. This applies to both manufacturing and services businesses — a SaaS platform is considered a service in this context.
New Frontiers payments and the Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF) are both considered State Aid and should be declared.
If you've received funding or support from another agency and you're not sure how it should be classified, please check with your own agency client advisor (for example, your Enterprise Ireland or Invest NI advisor) to confirm whether it should be declared as State Aid before you submit.
I have a technical problem submitting my application!
Email InterTradeIreland at we@intertradeireland.com and copy us in at hello@awakenhub.com. Please try to submit your application ahead of the deadline where possible, to give us time to help if something goes wrong.
Ready to apply? Applications for WeScale Cohort 3 close Monday 21 September 2026 at 12 noon.
The WeScale programme, led by InterTradeIreland in partnership with Invest Northern Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, is supported under the Shared Island Enterprise Scheme, funded by the Government of Ireland. The delivery partner for WeScale is AwakenHub.
