Business Challenger scores your plan, teaser or Pre-Seed Start Fund application the way an investor — or an Enterprise Ireland assessor — reads it. A clear readiness score, the exact gaps, and precisely what to fix.
You're too close to it. An investor or assessor isn't — and they decide fast.
You've poured months into your plan. An investor forms a view in minutes — and rarely tells you why.
"Looks good" or "needs work" won't get you funded. You need to know exactly what's missing, and what to do about it.
Investors and Enterprise Ireland assessors read hundreds of plans. Yours is competing with every one of them.
One number, benchmarked against what investors expect. You know exactly where you stand.
Up to 70 checks across nine areas, each with a factual assessment and a specific suggested action.
An estimate of the work to reach an investor-ready standard — so you can plan your time before you submit.
We walk through the findings together and agree the priorities that matter most.
The same three documents Enterprise Ireland programmes ask for — each with its own scored review.
Your full plan, scored against 70 investor criteria across nine Enterprise-Ireland-aligned dimensions — with a readiness radar and an effort-to-fix estimate.
Your 1-page / 2-page investor summary: is it consistent with your plan, sharp enough to grab attention, and does it actually show the investor return?
Your Pre-Seed Start Fund application, with a predicted score out of 100 against Enterprise Ireland's six criteria and a minimum-requirements check.
Email your plan, teaser or PSSF application as Word or PDF. A short intake tells us the essentials.
An independent, factual review against the framework — delivered as a Bridgewater-branded report and dashboard, in days.
A prioritised action list and a readout call. Optional hands-on rework to close the gaps before you submit.
No false comfort. Just the truth, scored.
Most feedback is polite. Polite doesn't get you funded. Business Challenger is deliberately harsh and strictly factual — it tells you what an investor will see, so nothing on the day is a surprise. It's built on the principle behind Bridgewater: reliable information, honestly shared.
A branded report with your readiness score and dashboard, a factual assessment of every item with a suggested action, a section-by-section review, and the estimated effort to reach an investor-ready standard.
Every review closes with a plain statement: this is an independent assessment of investor-readiness — not a prediction of funding.
Ask for a sample reportBridgewater is a professional services firm — accountancy, strategic planning, research, training and facilitation — working with entrepreneurs and growing businesses, many of them on Enterprise Ireland and Local Enterprise Office programmes.
Bridgewater helps founders plan and execute — not just dream. Business Challenger distils years of reviewing founders’ plans into one structured, scored assessment, built on the principle behind the brand: gather reliable information and share it honestly. That’s why the reviews are factual rather than flattering.
Visit bridgewater.ie →Business Challenger works for a whole cohort — an independent, scored report for each founder, and a single dashboard of the common gaps for you. It's delivered as a training-day package, so it fits how programmes commission support.
Talk about a cohort →Cohort reviews for New Frontiers, Enterprise Ireland and LEO programmes are tailored to your cohort and delivered as a training-day package.
Founder pricing is indicative and exclusive of VAT. A short readout call is included with every review. Cohort and programme pricing is available on request.
Your plan, teaser or PSSF application as a Word or PDF file — the latest version. That's it to get started.
Two to three working days for a teaser, and three to five for a full plan or PSSF application, from the time we receive your documents.
Yes. Everything you send is treated as strictly confidential and used only to prepare your review. A formal mutual NDA can be signed on request.
No. It's an independent assessment of investor-readiness — what a funder or assessor will see — not a forecast of the outcome. It's designed to make your submission as strong as it can be.
Alan Carey and the Bridgewater team. Alan is a serial entrepreneur, business strategist, and investor and adviser to investors.
Send it over and get an honest, scored read back in days.
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