The Irish Times and AIB are on the hunt for the next wave of start-ups and entrepreneurs, to participate in an eight-week start-up academy.

The AIB Start-up Academy will begin in January 2015 and aims to provide entrepreneurs with the skills and information needed to grow their business. Participants will leave with tailored business plans, robust financials, an overview of appropriate legal documents, a blueprint internet marketing plan and a guideline sales plan.

One winner will be selected by the judging panel of industry experts at the end of the programme and awarded the ultimate start-up package. The prize will include €50,000 worth of print and online advertising with The Irish Times, a €90,000 advertising spend across Joe.ie and Her.ie, digital and social mentoring with AIB's head of digital and innovation, and a PR crash course.

The academy will begin its search to find the country’s best and brightest start-up today, with 10 finalists shortlisted in November to participate in the programme.

Applicants must be over the age of 18, resident in the Republic of Ireland and have a business with revenue of less than €400,000 per annum that has been in operation for less than 36 months.

"The AIB Start-up Academy competition is a fantastic opportunity for Irish start-ups to develop and promote their businesses and I would encourage start-ups at any stage to apply," said Ken Burke, head of business banking at AIB.

"We understand that entrepreneurship is vital to the Irish economy and the AIB Start up Academy is part of our on-going work to foster and cultivate start ups across the country," he added.

Irish Times managing director Liam Kavanagh said start-ups often need a helping hand to get them off the ground and on the road to success.

He said billion dollar start-ups such as Airbnb, Dropbox and Stripe went through accelerator programmes, while companies such as Instagram and Intercom availed of incubators.

“But start-ups shouldn’t be all about technology. The Irish Times and AIB are teaming up to help start-ups of all kinds, in areas as diverse as food, fashion and fitness”.

“The Irish Times, an organisation that is over 150 years old, is also a start-up in many ways as it enters the new digital era,” he added.

The closing date for entries is midnight, Friday, October 24th. Start-ups can apply to the academy at www.irishtimes.com/business/aib-start-up-academy