On June 10th a delegation of 15 Enterprise Ireland clients travelled to Western Canada to take part in the Enterprise Ireland Trade Mission to the cities of Calgary and Edmonton. The mission was led by Joe Costello TD, Minister for Trade and Development. The mission targeted the Canada’s natural resources, oil & gas sectors.
The Natural Resources sector in Canada offers enormous potential for Irish companies. Canada is third to Saudi Arabia and Venezuela in crude oil reserves, the 6th largest oil producer in the world, the third largest producers of natural gas, and second in the world in hydro-electricity generation.
Participating companies were spread across a number of sectors, from Construction & Engineering, to Technology and recruitment firms. The mission spawned over four days, and included group meetings with corporations such as Shell, Stantec and Nexen. Participants also visited the Oil & Gas Expo, one of Canada’s leading events in this field.
A number of deals were announced during the mission, including Project Management Group’s partnership with Gas Liquids Engineering in Calgary and Combilift announcing sales with Imperial Oil for their engine powered 4-way directional forklift range, the leading machine of its kind globally.
Ross O’Colmain, Manager of Enterprise Ireland, Canada commented:
“Canada’s natural resources industry offers enormous potential for ambitious Irish companies to establish themselves and grow export sales. The 26% growth in exports to Canada by Enterprise Ireland client companies in 2012 clearly demonstrates that there are significant, tangible opportunities for increased trade and partnerships between Irish and Canadian companies.”
Enterprise Ireland trade mission targets Pennsylvania’s pharmaceutical and medical technologies industry
On June 19-21, Alex White TD, Irish Minister of State at the Department of Health led a delegation of 21 Irish companies on a 3-day trade mission in the greater Philadelphia area to explore business development and partnering opportunities in the life sciences industry.
The trade mission organized by Enterprise Ireland involved 2 key sector-focused events. On the pharmaceutical side, procurement experts from GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Shire Pharmaceuticals and Pennsylvania Bio met with the group to discuss the opportunities and challenges that Irish companies must consider when targeting the pharmaceutical cluster in Philadelphia. On the medical technology side, an event with key decision makers from companies such as B. Braun Medical Inc., Unilife, Intact Vascular and Sapheon shared their experience engaging with Irish medical technology companies.
Pennsylvania, though largely untapped by Irish lifesciences companies represents significant opportunities, as demonstrated by companies such as Zenith Technologies who have located their US headquarters in Blue Bell, PA. There are close to 80,000 employees directly employed in the Pennsylvania life sciences industry in 2279 establishments making it one of the top Life Science clusters not only in the US but also the world.
Speaking at the event, Eddie Goodwin of Enterprise Ireland noted that “opportunities for collaboration between Irish and Pennsylvania-based life sciences companies continue to grow along with the pharmaceutical and medical technology sectors in each of these regions. We are pleased to host these Philadelphia-area events and foster introductions to further business development and partnership goals for companies in both regions.”
Enterprise Ireland Client Company In Hand Guides who provide content and digital audio devices for the tourism industry, have partnered with the Freedom Trail Foundation to create the new Hear History audio guide of the Freedom Trail.
Enterprise Ireland Client Company In Hand Guides who provide content and digital audio devices for the tourism industry, have partnered with the Freedom Trail Foundation to create the new Hear History audio guide of the Freedom Trail.
Delivered on a pint-size MP3 player with robust sound the audio guide fits in your pocket and delivers two-and-a-half hours of compelling stories on the American Revolution, Hear History customized audio content educates, entertains and motivates visitors as they walk the historic Freedom Trail, making tourists feel that they are a part of the 18th century action.
“The Freedom Trail is a must-do in Boston,” said Freedom Trail Foundation executive director Suzanne Taylor. “We are giving new life to the stories for a media-savvy audience and more options of how to enjoy them. The Hear History audio guide allows adults and children alike to listen to these stories and to go at their own pace. ”
“In Hand Guides is a global company with customers all over the world. But working with the Freedom Trail is a special experience for our Irish technology company as we are proud of our connection with Boston,” says Trevor Winckworth, CEO of In Hand Guides. “The Freedom Trail is an iconic brand and we are in the right position to produce this high quality device and load it up with the best stories Boston has to offer. “
Dublin company Decisions [D4H] announced a lucrative five-year contract with the Government of Alberta, Canada for their innovative software which improves vital emergency response efforts. Details of the contract were announced during the Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Western Canada.
Decisions [D4H] whose mission it is to ‘Save Lives’ by improving how response teams are managed, will provide its software to 40 Canadian Search & Rescue (SAR) teams in Alberta. These SAR teams serve a population of almost four million across a landmass over seven times the size of Ireland. The software, allows SAR teams to manage their incidents, personnel and equipment, and submit reports to Alberta’s Provincial Government for the creation of shared statistics.
Robin Blandford, CEO for Decisions commented: ‘We are excited to begin the implementation of the [D4H] software across all the Canadian Search & Rescue teams in Alberta; we feel the software will greatly enhance the critical work they are doing. “
Welcoming the announcement Minister Costello said: ‘Decisions [D4H] is a great example of an innovative, export-focused Irish company with a world-class product offering. Their success in securing this contract with the Government of Alberta demonstrates the quality of their technology and underlines Decisions’ continued success in export markets around the world.’
Since its foundation in 2008 Decisions [D4H] has expanded into 11 countries managing responders in Petrochemical, Energy, Mining, Fire, Hazmat, Maritime, Pharmaceutical production and Public Safety. Interestingly, Decisions [D4H] is headquartered at the Baily Lighthouse, Howth. Showing their company’s commitment to saving lives and getting ‘really close’ to their customers, this famous landmark has been preventing loss of life in Dublin Bay for over 200 years.
PM Group announces significant partnership in Western Canada, Find out more Here
Irish app company Soundwave winning acclaim worldwide, Find out more Here and Here
Irish IT company DNM open new office in Toronto Find out more Here
Med in Ireland, a showcase of Ireland’s leading medical technology companies takes place on October 2013. For info on the North American delegation or the Irish companies showcasing please contact paul.breen@enterprise-ireland.com
L-R, Cathal Furey of 45 Sound and Max Shapiro, founder and CEO of PeopleConnect at the Enterprise Ireland Access Silicon Valley pitch event at RocketSpace San Francisco.
Access Silicon Valley is an Enterprise Ireland initiative designed to fast-track early-stage Irish tech companies who are targeting Silicon Valley and San Francisco – the leading start-up ecosystem for high-tech innovation and development in the world. The programme will start in September 2013.
Using Enterprise Ireland’s significant industry contacts in San Francisco, the objective of Access Silicon Valley is to accelerate innovative Irish tech companies’ entry to the US market.
The initiative, which aims to help Irish companies draw up strategies and sales plans which will enable them to break into the Silicon Valley/San Francisco market, has three phases:
Online assessment followed by video-conference with industry experts.
Three-day bootcamp in Dublin including one-to-one mentoring by industry experts.
Continued one-to-one mentoring and two-week tailored itinerary to Silicon Valley including introductions to potential partners, specialists and mentors
Making the announcement Minister Bruton said: “A central part of the Government’s plans for jobs and growth is creating a powerful engine of Irish enterprise. We must not only continue to support strong growth in our multinational sector, but also achieve greater levels of growth among Irish companies. A key part of this is targeting the sectors where we have attracted multinational companies and building strong Irish companies out of this base.
“Access Silicon Valley is a key part of our plans to accelerate our jobs growth among Irish ICT companies. This is a practical, hands-on programme designed to fast-track innovative and ambitious Irish companies into a highly competitive marketplace – ultimately resulting in the creation of more jobs in Ireland”.
For the full release and to find out more please click Here:
CleverCall have developed a first of its kind technology which solves the consumer’s dilemma; ‘Is it cheaper to place a phone call on the mobile or landline’? CleverCall selects the most cost effective route for your call automatically from your smartphone and allows you to make or receive calls on your smartphone via your land line without using the minutes on your mobile call plan.
This revolutionary new telecoms app and device will eliminate international roaming charges and future requirements for cordless phones in the home or business. It also provides significant savings for customers by choosing the lowest cost option for your voice calls, on either mobile, landline or via the internet.
Founder and CEO Ronan Murphy commented: ‘This is a great milestone for us, recognition that the team’s hard work over the past 18 months is being recognised by an international player like Kickstarter gives us a great boost'.
In July, eight Irish technology companies sponsored by Enterprise Ireland showcased innovative applications, technology tools and cloud based services during Microsoft’s annual Worldwide Partner Conference (WPC) in Houston, Texas. The event attracted over 16,000 technology leaders from 50 countries, and was a great opportunity for this Irish group of application developers and technology service providers to build alliances to expand global distribution channels. Keith Byrne, Trade Development Executive at Enterprise Ireland, described WPC as giving a tremendous opening for these Irish tech companies to reach out to Microsoft’s global reselling channel and demonstrate the value that Irish companies can deliver to their customers.
Enterprise Ireland’s previous participation in Microsoft’s WPC has fostered many global partnerships, contributing to Ireland’s strong position in the U.S. technology market. Software exports from Ireland grew by 19% in 2012 to €1.02 billion with the US now accounting for 35% of all software exported by Irish companies.
The Enterprise Ireland sponsored tech companies included:
accountsiQ – Cloud accounting software designed by accountants specifically to suit business environments where multiple entities (clients, franchisees, subsidiaries, branches) need access to a common platform.
AppQuik – Enterprise app platform that enables organizations of all sizes to design, build and deploy apps across iOS, Android and Windows Phone8 simultaneously.
CareWorks Software – The social care management platform, “CareDirector” transforms social services delivery with state-wide client directed service management.
CipherDocs– Cloud document collaboration services, including Office 365, provides secure and controlled access to hosted corporate data.
Global Business Register – Global Business Register provides a gateway to official, live data on over 55 million companies across the European Union and the United States, in 20 different languages.
HCS Business Solutions – Delivering software, infrastructure and IT services, including Office 365, SharePoint Online and Exchange Online, to businesses of all sizes in Ireland.
iQuate – Software license discovery to optimize licensing and reduce costs, especially in the datacenter.
Sam360 - Software asset management tools and services that help businesses manage software license compliance, eliminate software underutilization, and optimise software procurement.
The Minister of State at the Department of Health, Alex White TD, led a three-day Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Philadelphia USA in June targeting the significant Pennsylvanian Pharmaceutical and Medical Device clusters. The trade mission was organised with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Irish Consulate in New York.
21 Irish companies participated on the trade mission from the Pharmaceutical, Pharmaceutical Services, IT for Healthcare and Medical Device sectors. The objective of the trade mission was to create opportunities for new partnerships and linkages between Irish and Pennsylvanian Life Sciences companies, ultimately driving Irish sales and exports to the region.
The Pennsylvania life sciences industry employs over 79,000 people directly in over 2,000 establishments - making it one of the top life sciences clusters not only in the US but also the world.
The trade mission was timed to coincide with an important medical device manufacturing conference and exposition, Medical Device & Manufacturing (MD&M) East, which took place in Philadelphia from 17-20 June, at which a number of the Irish companies exhibited.
Pennsylvania and Ireland are already significant trading partners with approx. $1 billion in trade in each direction annually. This puts Ireland in the top 10 trading partners for Pennsylvania (number 9 with $941 million in exports to Ireland), while Pennsylvania is number 11 in terms of exports from Ireland with just over $1billion in 2012.
Gerry Murphy, Executive Director of Enterprise Ireland’s four offices in North America, who accompanied Minister White during the trade mission commented: ‘Pennsylvania’s Life Sciences industry offers enormous potential for ambitious Irish companies to grow export sales in sectors where Enterprise Ireland’s client companies are strong performers - Pharmaceuticals, Pharmaceutical Services, IT for Healthcare and Medical Devices. Enterprise Ireland client company exports to North America grew by 20% last year - including almost 50% growth rate for pharma and medtech companies. There are major changes occurring in the US healthcare sector which will create new opportunities for innovative Irish companies’.
The Minister for Trade and Development, Joe Costello TD, travelled to Alberta, Canada in June on an Enterprise Ireland trade mission targeting Canada’s natural resources (oil and gas) industry organised with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the Embassy of Ireland to Canada.
15 companies travelled with the Minister from the Engineering, Construction, Technology and Recruitment sectors. The objectives of the trade mission were to build on the strong trade links between Ireland and Canada, and promote the capabilities of Irish companies to the natural resources industry in Alberta.
Canada has the third largest known oil reserves in the world and is currently the sixth largest global oil producer. Aggregated numbers indicate that Canada is on track towards production of over five million barrels of oil per day by 2022 which would move the country from the world’s sixth largest producer to the fourth largest. To achieve these numbers over the next 10 years, owners will be investing significantly in capital projects – presenting major opportunities for innovative companies servicing all aspects of the sector.
During the three-day visit to Calgary and Edmonton, two Enterprise Ireland client companies announced details of significant wins: PM Group and Calgary-based company, Gas Liquids Engineering (GLE) signed a new international enterprise agreement which will help open new markets and develop new business in the gas processing industry in Europe and around the world. PM Group and GLE have been working together since 2012 when they signed an agreement to provide engineering services in the gas processing industry in Canada. The alliance has strengthened PM Group’s presence in a very important segment of the energy market.
Decisions [D4H] announced details of a lucrative five-year contract with the Government of Alberta, Canada for their innovative software which improves vital emergency response efforts. Decisions [D4H] whose mission it is to ‘Save Lives’ by improving how response teams are managed, will provide its software to 40 Canadian Search & Rescue (SAR) teams in Alberta. These SAR teams serve a population of almost four million across a landmass over seven times the size of Ireland. The software, which was created in Ireland, allows SAR teams to manage their incidents, personnel and equipment, and submit reports to Alberta’s Provincial Government for the creation of shared statistics. Brendan Flood, Divisional Manager with Enterprise Ireland, who accompanied Minister Costello on the trade mission commented:
‘Canada’s natural resources industry offers enormous potential for ambitious Irish companies to establish themselves and grow export sales. The opportunities for export growth are in sectors where Enterprise Ireland’s client companies are strong performers. The 26% growth in exports to Canada by Enterprise Ireland client companies in 2012 clearly demonstrates that there are significant, tangible opportunities for increased trade and partnerships between Irish and Canadian companies.’
On the 25th June, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD announced that €21m in funding will be available in order to support the commercialisation of research in 2013. The aim of the funding is to give researchers the platform and opportunity to turn their research into commercial products and services, allowing them to explore the possibility of commercialising their work. This funding is available through Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund.
Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD recently announced that €21m in funding will be available to support the commercialisation of research in 2013. The aim of the funding is to give researchers the platform and opportunity to turn their research into commercial products and services, allowing them to explore the possibility of commercialising their work. This funding is available through Enterprise Ireland's Commercialisation Fund.
The Fund is available to researchers in the third level sector to commercialise ideas and inventions at all stages of development. Not only will this give researchers the chance to look into possible commercialisation routes for themselves, it will also help on a national scale by creating jobs within Ireland. When announcing the fund, Richard Bruton said: “This fund will provide support for projects seeking to take innovations and develop them into commercial products and services that can sustain businesses and ultimately create jobs. This is a very positive initiative which focuses on bringing research projects to life. It provides the resources that allow research teams to move from concept to market”.
So far this year, Enterprise Ireland has funded 24 commercialisation projects valued at €5.3m across a wide range of areas including ICT, Lifesciences, Food, Manufacturing Engineering and Energy. The Commercialisation Fund is a component of the Governments research prioritisation policy and is one of a number of initiatives designed to deliver economic impact from the State’s investment in science and technology. As the year progresses, more and more research will receive funding in order to discover what prospects lie ahead for researchers in Universities and Institutes of Technology throughout Ireland.
Enterprise Ireland held an open day for researchers in July which educated and informed researchers about how the commercialisation fund can benefit them. At this event, researchers who have previously gone down this route spoke about their journey from research to commercialisation. They gave insight into their products and services, their experiences and where their commercialised research stands now. Dr Keith O Neill gave an informative overview about the Commercialisation Fund, providing detailed information for the researchers. Researchers also got the opportunity to speak with Enterprise Ireland’s commercialisation specialists one to one in order to discuss their own personal research and to gain advice as to what to do next.
Enterprise Ireland client companies achieved record levels of exports in 2012, breaking the €16bn point for the first time. They also created 12,861 new jobs in 2012 resulting in a net increase in full-time employment of 3,338, primarily driven by this record export performance. Despite a continued challenging economic environment in 2012 Enterprise Ireland supported companies crucially added to their employment base and now support more than 300,000 jobs in the Irish economy.
Enterprise Ireland client companies achieved record levels of exports in 2012, breaking the €16bn point for the first time. They also created 12,861 new jobs in 2012 resulting in a net increase in full-time employment of 3,338, primarily driven by this record export performance. The figures were revealed in Enterprise Ireland’s Annual Report and Accounts for 2012, published in July. Despite a continued challenging economic environment in 2012 Enterprise Ireland supported companies crucially added to their employment base and now support more than 300,000 jobs in the Irish economy.
Enterprise Ireland clients also continued to invest in research and development and continuous innovation. Almost 800 companies were involved in significant R&D projects greater than €100k and a record 134 companies engaged in R&D projects with more than €1m spend.
Under the Government’s ‘Action Plan for Jobs 2012’ Enterprise Ireland was directly involved in 105 of a total of 270 actions. Throughout the year the organisation delivered on these targets in areas such as Potential Exporters, Global Sourcing, Micro Enterprise, Diaspora Initiatives, International Entrepreneurs and Female Entrepreneurship.
While the external environment remains particularly challenging, Enterprise Ireland is increasing its activities to support clients win new export business and build international networks and partnerships. 2013 will see a record number of ministerial-led trade missions with an increased focus on high growth economies in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. This will be backed up by a wide range of inward buyer visits, study visits, trade fairs, Embassy events and knowledge seminars, all aimed at linking Irish companies to international buyers, leading to increased exports and jobs for Ireland.
To read more on Enterprise Ireland's Annual Report Please Click Here.
The Enterprise Ireland Seed & Venture Capital Programme 2012 Report published in July shows a rise in the level and value of activity in 2012 in venture capital funds supported under Enterprise Ireland Seed and Venture Capital Programmes. Advances in access to seed and venture funding coupled with a strong support environment go a long way to making Ireland a very attractive base to start and grow a business. The report shows that:
In 2012 these Funds made 135 investments with an investment value of €54 million in Irish-based companies, representing an increase of €11 million (26%) on the amount invested in 2011.
Overall, Irish venture capital firms supported by Enterprise Ireland made 159 investments in 105 companies with a value of €81 million in 2012.
The total funds under management by seed and venture funds under Enterprise Ireland’s Seed & Venture Capital Programmes reached €636 million by end 2012.
The venture capital sector plays a vital role in supporting innovative companies to grow, expand internationally and create jobs. A strong feature of the past 18 months has been the continuing increase in venture capital funding being made available to meet the urgent need for capital.
2012 saw the launch of the €150 million Development Capital Fund to assist in closing the ‘equity gap’ experienced by established SMEs seeking development capital in excess of €2 million.
The drive to bring additional capacity to the market continued with a €20 million call for expressions of interest under the 3rd Programme of the Seed and Venture Capital Programme and we expect to make announcements on this in Q3 2013. This is targeted to drive the total funds under management to €690m by the end of 2013.
In May of this year the new €175 million Seed and Venture Capital Programme 2013-2018 was launched, aimed at leveraging a total of €700million to provide additional funding for high-growth Irish companies with the potential to generate significant additional exports and grow jobs. The first call for expressions of interest has been announced and will see Enterprise Ireland committing up to €100 million to venture capital funds targeting investment in the wider information and communications technologies and life sciences sectors.
Other Government finance schemes for business put in place over the past two years include:
€850million through three SME funds from the NPRF
€450million credit guarantee scheme
€90million micro-finance scheme
€10million international start-up fund
€120million second call under Innovation Fund Ireland
Over the past 19 years the Government, through Enterprise Ireland, has committed approximately €320 million, as a limited partner, to 40 seed and venture capital funds (with a total size of €1.2 billion) that have been set-up in Ireland. This includes investing in ten VC funds under the 2007-2012 Seed & Venture Capital Programme.
The Seed & Venture Capital Programme Report 2012 is available on the Enterprise Ireland website Here
DCU spin-out company, Style-Eyes, has won the Enterprise Ireland's ‘One to Watch’ Award 2013 for developing first-of-its-kind technology – a smartphone, tablet and computer application which uses image recognition technology to make fashion more accessible. This app was developed by researchers Dr Mark Hughes and Bobby Pringle at CLARITY, the centre for Sensor Web Technologies Research in DCU and has jumped leaps and bounds since they first received their phase one proof of concept project funding.
DCU spin-out company, Style-Eyes, has won the Enterprise Ireland ‘One to Watch’ Award 2013 for developing first-of-its-kind technology – a smartphone, tablet and computer application which uses image recognition technology to make fashion more accessible. This app was developed by researchers Dr Mark Hughes and Bobby Pringle at CLARITY, the centre for Sensor Web Technologies Research in DCU and has jumped leaps and bounds since they first received their phase one proof of concept project funding
The powerful technology enables the fashion we see on the street, in a magazine or newspaper, on a website or even on Facebook or Twitter to effectively become a QR code linking the user to the retailer’s site for the product. This app allows the user to take a photo of a fashion item they desire, it then searches through a global retailer database to find out where you can buy the product. The user can then go directly to the retailer’s website and purchase the item. The app will also display a host of other similar alternatives that the user may be interested in.
Style-Eyes were presented with their award by Minister for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock at Enterprise Ireland’s Open Day for Researchers in July. Mark Hughes and Bobby Pringle have perfectly demonstrated how the transformation of research to commercial products and services is very possible for researchers. They discovered a gap in the market and developed Style-Eyes to address that gap.
The app has got a lot of media attention; Darren Kennedy, presenter of ITV’s This Morning ‘Style Squad’ has said “I am really looking forward to Style Eyes being rolled out. Today with fashion, be it on the street, in a magazine, wherever, you just want to know where it’s from. If I have a device that will allow me to quite simply take a picture of a garment and then it will automatically not only tell me where it’s from, how much it costs, but as well give me alternative options, then that’s going to make me buy”.
We can see a bright future ahead for Mark and Bobby with Style-Eyes- this new, exciting app is sure to be a must–have for every fashionista. Style Eyes will be released at Dublin Fashion Week (5 - 8September) in conjunction with Samsung.
We all know that the Internet has provided us with a wealth of information for free. But try getting in-depth market intelligence from the Internet and you will be up against the Deep Web – valuable reports containing the intelligence you need but only available at a cost – anything from €100 to €10,000+. Buying reports individually is prohibitively expensive – this is where Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre comes in.
Market Research Centre negotiate annual subscriptions from leading edge market research suppliers giving our clients access to a wide range of market intelligence reports. This year to date, we have worked with over 500 client companies assisting them to find the market intelligence they require to grow their companies.
What type of intelligence do we provide? We subscribe to publishers of market research produced by Analysts across all key sectors (Food, ICT, Construction, Medical Devises, etc.). We also subscribe to online directories listing global companies – a source of potential customers.
The best way to illustrate the strength of the intelligence/market research reports we can share with you is to list examples of queries we recently helped clients with. We have experienced information specialists who select the best publishers and know where to find the answers to your queries. Examples of queries we recently assisted clients with are as follows:
‘A list of colleges in the US – to target sports coaches for our product’
‘A list of planned shopping mall construction projects in the Middle East’
‘Statistics on the coffee market in Europe – looking at new product development’
‘Trends and company profiles for companies in global financial services’
‘Contact names for top executives of large multinationals in Europe (turnover €250m+)
‘A list of distributors of medical devises in Central and Eastern Europe’
‘Disruptive technologies as part of our planning process – looking to identify opportunities’
‘Online retail in various markets, value/volume breakdown, looking for new markets’
You can see the wealth of information we have access to via our website search tool: Here (click on All Databases).
Here you can search the publishers’ websites yourself for titles of interest and then contact us to read the full report either in the Market Research Centre at our office in East PointBusinessPark or by appointment in one of our regional offices.
What our regular users have to say:
“EnterpriseIreland’s Market Research Centre enabled us to understand our markets and successfully launch a new platform in over 10 countries worldwide in 2012”
“The ultimate goal is to provide market information that’s correct and verifiable in order to make better business decisions. The more knowledge we have, the better decisions we can make”
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD recently announced that three Irish companies will create more than 114 new jobs over the next three years in investments supported by the Department of Jobs through Enterprise Ireland. The companies are located in Dublin and Galway and operate in the technology and manufacturing sectors.
The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD recently announced that three Irish companies will create more than 114 new jobs over the next three years in investments supported by the Department of Jobs through Enterprise Ireland.
The companies are located in Dublin and Galway and operate in the technology and manufacturing sectors:
Cubic Telecom, a Dublin based company specialising in global mobile connectivity, has announced today that it has secured $5.2 million in funding from Enterprise Ireland, Qualcomm Incorporated, ACT Venture Capital and TPS Investments. With this round of financing, Cubic Telecom will further expand its operations globally and continue to invest in its unique software platform and mobile network. The company also announced that it will create more than 70 new jobs over the next 3 years as part of an investment by Enterprise Ireland, supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
VoiceSage, a company based in Dublin specialising in automated real-time customer conversations, will create 10 jobs over the next 2 years as part of a €1million investment from DJEI through Enterprise Ireland. This latest round of funding will enable VoiceSage to respond to the growing market demand for its cloud-based customer communication technologies with further investment in a range of R&D activities.
Advant Medical, a contract manufacturing company supplying the medical devices sector based in Galway, will create 34 jobs over the next three years as part of a €2.4million investment supported by DJEI through Enterprise Ireland. It will see the company expand its production capabilities and move to higher value products and services to meet increasing demand for its products, allowing it expand its existing international markets and enter new markets. The expansion will bring total employment in Advant Medical to over 130.
To mark the 2nd Birthday of CoderDojo in the Dail
James Whelton and Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD
It is just over two years since the first CoderDojo took place in Cork with founder James Whelton. Since then, the movement has grown to become a global phenomenon. On any given Saturday, between 10,000 and 20,000 children worldwide are taught to code in more than 120 dojos in 26 countries, including places such as Cork, Dublin, LA, Silicon Valley, Tokyo, Africa and the Caribbean – all on a voluntary basis. More than 70 children and their parents and mentors gathered at Leinster House in Dublin to demonstrate their computer coding skills to Oireachtas and Irish Government members to mark the 2nd Birthday of CoderDojo. CoderDojo has been supported by Enterprise Ireland. Find out more Here
Check out our video on the Cleaveland Clinic and Enterprise Ireland Clinical Innovation Award.
The Cleaveland Clinic and Enterprise Ireland Clinical Innovation Award aims to support clinicians in Ireland in the translation of their innovative ideas into benefits for the health care system and medical technologies sectors. Cleveland Clinic and Enterprise Ireland will recognise the importance of clinical innovation by presenting the ‘Clinical Innovation Award 2013’. The award recognises innovative technologies at all stages of development from concept, early stage research through to more advanced projects. Projects must address a gap or need in patient care. For successful projects, Enterprise Ireland can help identify engineers/scientists in the 3rd level sector to collaborate and drive the opportunity forward. Find out more Here:
Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union concluded on 30th June 2013. During each Presidency, the presiding Member State sets out its own programme and priorities for its six month term: the theme for the Irish Presidency was Stability, Jobs and Growth.
Focusing on the key drivers of growth for all economies – innovation and competitiveness - Enterprise Ireland hosted four major conferences during the Presidency over a four week period:
Ireland’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union concluded on 30th June 2013. During each Presidency, the presiding Member State sets out its own programme and priorities for its six month term: the theme for the Irish Presidency was Stability, Jobs and Growth.
Many of the objectives which the Government is pursuing under the Action Plan for Jobs mirror the objectives at EU level, including supporting SMEs, Research and Development, and boosting competitiveness.
Focusing on the key drivers of growth for all economies – innovation and competitiveness - Enterprise Ireland hosted four major conferences during the Presidency over a four week period:
Pictured L-R are Carl Klemm, President of the Board of Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Poland and Frank Ryan, CEO Enterprise Ireland at Enterprise Ireland's “Driving Competitiveness” Conference at Dublin Castle
Organised on behalf of the Government, these conferences attracted over 2,500 delegates from over 50 countries to Dublin and Cork. Each conference spotlighted the great work that is being done across the EU in the areas of innovation and competitiveness. This large gathering of international attendees also brought significant benefits to the Irish economy as a large number of the delegates extended their stay in Ireland for a couple of days.
The Driving Competitiveness Conference saw over 40 of the world’s leading companies, most of them household names, from Europe, Japan and Ireland come together to share their practical experiences of what does and doesn’t work in the drive to achieve competitiveness in global markets.
Over the last three years, Enterprise Ireland has supported almost 500 companies with Lean Business initiatives resulting in significant improvements across the board. These improvements have resulted in annual savings for client companies ranging from tens of thousands to millions of euro.
Pictured L-R are: Minister for Research & Innovation, Sean Sherlock, TD, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation & Science, Máire Geoghegan Quinn and Dr Imelda Lambkin, National Director of FP7, Enterprise Ireland at Enterprise Ireland's WIRE Conference in University College Cork.
WIRE (Week of Innovative Regions in Europe): The three day conference brought together 350 delegates from 20 European countries to Cork. The theme of the Conference was ‘Regions: leading the way’ and focused on the importance of each European region maximising their resources to reach their full potential. The conference brought together the business community, SMEs, multinational corporations, regional, national and European stakeholders. The aim of the conference was to work on developing regional ecosystems, particularly in the areas of research, technological development and innovation.
EuroSME 2013: Opened by the Minister for Research and Innovation, Sean Sherlock TD, EuroSME took a close look at what it takes to be a thriving entrepreneur in the 21st century. It concentrated on improving the competitiveness of small businesses along with maximizing benefits from both existing and future public and private support mechanisms.
Pictured at the opening of Enterprise Ireland's EuroSME Conference in Dublin Castle are L-R Minister for Research and Innovation Seán Sherlock TD, Keary Crawford, co-founder of The Growth Strategy Company and Sean Burke, Ireland’s National Contact Point for Research for the benefit of SMEs, FP7, Enterprise Ireland.
Euro-SME 2013 also provided an opportunity to help entrepreneurs influence and shape the EU’s Innovation agenda. Hundreds of entrepreneurs, policy makers, public and private SME support organisations shared ideas on how to improve the EU economy. The conference also introduced SME-specific measures within Horizon 2020 to this community, and threw light on the significance of SMEs not only in Ireland, where they account for 99% of Irish businesses, but throughout Europe.
EuroNanoForum 2013 was the largest nanotechnology conference ever held in Europe with a record-breaking 1,500 delegates from 50 countries in attendance. Held in the Convention Centre Dublin the conference coincided with Ireland’s annual Nanoweek event.
Pictured touring the NanoTechnology Europe Exhibition at Enterprise Ireland's EuroNanoForum are L-R Minister for Research & Innovation, Sean Sherlock, TD and Dr. Imelda Lambkin, National Director of FP7 in Ireland, Enterprise Ireland.
For three days, the Convention Centre was transformed into an innovation hub. Attendees focussed on the impact nanotechnology has in problem solving across key societal sectors such as health, energy and the environment. A Nanotech Europe Exhibition was organised which gave companies and research centres the opportunity to showcase and demonstrate their innovative products and technologies.
Nanotechnology has been earmarked as one of Europe’s Key Enabling Technologies and will feature prominently in the forthcoming EU funding programme Horizon 2020.
The Presidency put the spotlight on Ireland for six months and provided a great opportunity to promote Ireland as a dynamic and efficient place in which to invest and do business. The Government, through its individual Departments and State Agencies, showcased the very best Ireland has to offer across all sectors of business, tourism and culture.
Lithuania assumed the Presidency of the Council of the European Union on 1 July 2013.
