Invest NI: Gordon Lyons hopes budget crisis will be resolved

Invest NI confirmed it had stopped funding two schemes to encourage business start-ups

Economy Minister Gordon Lyons has said he hopes the Invest NI budget crisis will be resolved this week.

Last week, Invest NI confirmed it had stopped funding two schemes to encourage business start-ups.

The Propel and Accelerator programmes provided grants and other support to entrepreneurs.

It said uncertainty about its budget meant it could not enter into any spending commitments for the new financial year.

As a result, it said it was not able to proceed with a new business case for Propel and Accelerator at this time.

On Monday, Mr Lyons said: "I hope that in the coming days I will be able to give that certainty to Invest NI and that clarity so that they can move forward and offer financial support.

"I believe that certainty can come before the election and I hope to be able to make an announcement in the coming days."

The schemes were run by an organisation called IgniteNI.

Propel helped early-stage technology companies launch their business.

It was open to 20 companies a year providing them with a £15,000 grant, office space and mentoring.

Accelerator was for established technology companies which needed help scaling and raising further investment.