As demand for mobile data continues to accelerate worldwide, the telecom industry is increasingly trying to meet the challenge of connecting disparate networks. At the center of this movement, Accuris Networks, leader in cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity, completed a $15 million equity funding round. Key new investors in this privately held company are the Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund and the China Ireland Growth Technology Fund. In addition, Accuris Networks announced the appointment of seasoned U.S.-based wireless executive Jeff Brown as CEO.
As demand for mobile data continues to accelerate worldwide, the telecom industry is increasingly trying to meet the challenge of connecting disparate networks. At the center of this movement, Accuris Networks, leader in cellular and Wi-Fi connectivity, completed a $15 million equity funding round. Key new investors in this privately held company are the Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund and the China Ireland Growth Technology Fund. In addition, Accuris Networks announced the appointment of seasoned U.S.-based wireless executive Jeff Brown as CEO.
According to Accuris Networks Chairman Larry Quinn, "Our established industry customer base, our significant pipeline and our industry-leading technology were all factors that attracted this investment. We intend to use this funding to invest in future product development in our AccuROAM™ platform, to maintain our lead in connecting networks and build more solutions such as carrier-grade Wi-Fi offload and roaming as we scale our business globally. While we already have customers worldwide, and support from existing investors such as Atlantic Bridge Capital, we particularly want to expand in China, Japan and other Asian markets. We also intend to consolidate and amplify our successes in EMEA, particularly in the Middle East and Western Europe."
Under the leadership of its new U.S.-based CEO, Accuris Networks will also broaden its presence in the North American market with the establishment of a new Silicon Valley office. "With marquee customers and partners such as AT&T, Bell Mobility, Telus, GoGo, Cisco, HP and Alcatel-Lucent, Accuris Networks has already established an enviable track record in this market," said Jeff Brown. "But we've barely scratched the surface of the opportunities here so far."
New investor Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund L.P., managed by Investec Ventures, is a leading investor in the Irish technology sector. According to Michael Murphy, Managing Partner, the fund is investing in Accuris Networks because of the experience of its team and the ever-increasing demand for Wi-Fi offload solutions that help ease congestion and capacity constraints across mobile networks as data traffic continues to grow exponentially. "The AccuROAM platform has received wide recognition, including being named the 'best mobile technology breakthrough' at Mobile World Congress," he said. "With so many experts -- and customers – using this proven technology, we see major revenue potential in a future where Wi-Fi will only increase its penetration."
Perspecsys, the leader in enterprise cloud data control protection gateway solutions, announced that it has partnered with ClaimVantage, a leading provider of insurance claims processing applications. The combination of the Perspecsys AppProtex Cloud Protection Gateway and the ClaimVantage Cloud-based Claims Management solution enables customers to harness the power of the cloud, while ensuring the highest possible security of sensitive customer and policy information.
Perspecsys, the leader in enterprise cloud data control protection gateway solutions, announced that it has partnered with ClaimVantage, a leading provider of insurance claims processing applications. The combination of the Perspecsys AppProtex Cloud Protection Gateway and the ClaimVantage Cloud-based Claims Management solution enables customers to harness the power of the cloud, while ensuring the highest possible security of sensitive customer and policy information.
Via the use of encryption and tokenization technologies, the strongest available for cloud data control, Perspecsys AppProtex bolsters ClaimVantage’s ability to more securely provide faster, anywhere access to claims processing in the cloud, helping streamline the entire claims process for insurers, employers and third-party administrators. In this joint offering, the AppProtex Gateway intercepts sensitive ClaimVantage customer data, while it is still on-premise, and replaces it with random tokenized values, rendering it meaningless should anyone outside of the company access the data while it is being processed or stored in the cloud.
“As cybercriminals find new and inventive ways to access sensitive data, employing both tokenization and encryption technologies to add another layer of protection for data residing in the cloud is all the more essential,” said David Canellos, president and CEO, Perspecsys. “Often containing personal customer information, from social security numbers to life insurance premiums, the need for insurance industry applications to have bulletproof security is driving organizations like ClaimVantage to partner with Perspecsys to secure mission-critical data in the cloud.”
“Security is a critical component of our claims management solution, and we have evaluated a number of cloud data protection technologies during the past several years,” said Leo Corcoran, CEO, ClaimVantage. “We evaluated a number of solutions, but chose Perspecsys as it enables us to protect customer data with the strongest security without having to compromise the integrity and functionality of the ClaimVantage application. This helps our customers comply with industry regulations, while empowering users to maximize productivity and improve outcomes through the use of our claims processing solutions.”
The ClaimVantage application is based on the Force.com cloud development platform, simplifying the integration of claim processing functions across decision-making environments, reducing costs and improving scalability. Perspecsys AppProtex provides monitoring and reporting on cloud application usage while intelligently indexing encrypted and tokenized data. This preserves cloud application functionality, such as searching or generating reports, on protected insurance claims data. The combined offering provides a powerful claims processing application with the highest levels of security.
One of the world’s leading financial institutions is one of many that have a large number of IT applications based on various versions of the Java programming language, many of which are older and can't be patched nor updated to fix security vulnerabilities. After the Global Bank performed an inventory and discovered hundreds of internal applications using a mix of old and new versions of Java, they needed a way to protect them from cyber-attackers that exploit software flaws to commit fraud.
One of the world’s leading financial institutions is one of many that have a large number of IT applications based on various versions of the Java programming language, many of which are older and can't be patched nor updated to fix security vulnerabilities. After the Bank performed an inventory and discovered hundreds of internal applications using a mix of old and new versions of Java, they needed a way to protect them from cyber-attackers that exploit software flaws to commit fraud.
The Bank worked with security vendor Waratek to create a tool that enables Java applications to protect themselves from attacks. The Waratek product uses what Gartner technology analyst Joseph Feiman calls a "self-protecting" application approach, or Runtime Application Self Protection (RASP). According to Feiman, RASP detects and blocks attacks, and it operates in the application's runtime environment.
Financial Risk Solutions (FRS), a provider of investment administration and compliance software solutions, has announced that its Invest|GRC™ (Governance, Risk & Compliance) product has been implemented by Hawthorn Life, a Berkshire Hathaway company. The implementation is 15 months ahead of the Jan 2016 deadline for Solvency II asset-reporting, which dictates that insurance companies must provide more granular and more frequent insight into the risk and return profile of their investments.
Financial Risk Solutions (FRS), a provider of investment administration and compliance software solutions, has announced that its Invest|GRC™ (Governance, Risk & Compliance) product has been implemented by Hawthorn Life, a Berkshire Hathaway company. The implementation is 15 months ahead of the Jan 2016 deadline for Solvency II asset-reporting, which dictates that insurance companies must provide more granular and more frequent insight into the risk and return profile of their investments.
The unique software allows for the fully-automated production of Pillar 3 D1 (investments data) and D4 (investment funds) Solvency II reports by consuming and enriching data from various sources. For Hawthorn Life these sources include Morningstar data and a fund-pricing outsourcer for daily holdings data. The combined data can then be used for monitoring and reporting in the prescribed QRT (Quantitative Reporting Templates) format.
Brian Aherne of Hawthorn Life comments “Through our adoption of Invest|GRC™ being able to view and report on our investments and funds not only helps us meet our regulatory requirements but also benefits our overall business – and we have been able to do this quickly, efficiently and at minimal cost to our business. The process of adopting the software from FRS was seamless and efficient, which means that we are now 15 months ahead of our regulatory deadline and can concentrate on our main business of serving our clients.”
Frank Carr, Chief Marketing Officer at FRS says “QRT reporting is quite a challenge for life companies – mainly because of the sheer volume of data and frequency of reporting required. So having one system that can seamlessly facilitate that, yet has the ability to work with existing data sources is important. Having Hawthorn Life adopt Invest|GRC™ is real testament to our ability to deliver a software solution that works – and puts Hawthorn at a real advantage in terms of Solvency II readiness.”
In February, six of the Institutes of Technology travelled with Enterprise Ireland Canada to several Colleges of Ontario to promote studying in Ireland. As a result of these very successful events, the number of Ontario students who applied to study in Ireland for the 2014-2015 school-year almost doubled. For this reason a follow up Study in Ireland Canada Campus Campaign: Part 2 would was held during the week of October 20th-23rd.
University College Cork, Ireland. Image by Tomas Tyner
In February, six of the Institutes of Technology travelled with Enterprise Ireland Canada to several Colleges of Ontario to promote studying in Ireland. As a result of these very successful events, the number of Ontario students who applied to study in Ireland for the 2014-2015 school-year almost doubled. For this reason a follow up Study in Ireland Canada Campus Campaign: Part 2 would was held during the week of October 20th-23rd.
This time around, nine representatives from seven of the Institutes of Technology travelled to take part in the initiative. Under the Colleges Ontario – IOTI agreement which came into effect in November 2011, graduates from any of the 24 Colleges Ontario can complete their honours degree program in Ireland with one or two years of further study at an Institute of Technology.
Sligo, Limerick, Blanchardstown and Cork took part for the second time, while Galway-Mayo, Athlone and Tallaght were new additions to the group.
The events were held over four days at six campuses across the province of Ontario. For this visit, the IT’s requested a return visit to St. Lawrence College (Kingston), Fanshawe College (London) and Durham College (Oshawa) where there had been an overwhelmingly positive reaction from students, staff and faculty during the February trip. In addition, the group targeted three new colleges this time around, including Niagara College (Niagara-on-the-Lake), Loyalist College (Belleville) and Conestoga College (Kitchener). Several of the colleges already had existing pathway agreements with the visiting Institutes of Technology and others had supported the February webinar and invited the IT’s to visit their respective campuses should follow up events ever take place. All were very happy to host the ‘Study in Ireland’ team.
For students who were unable to attend the information sessions on campus and students in the 18 other Colleges of Ontario, a webinar has been organised for 4pm EDT on Wednesday 5th November. The webinar will cover: Ireland as a place to study, practical information for studying abroad, the student experience and the application process. Each of the IT representatives will be online and answer the student’s questions during the Q&A session. A number of testimonials will also be included from College Ontario students currently studying in Ireland.
Ireland is a great location for doing business. Whether you are an international buyer looking to source innovative technology or an international entrepreneur looking for a home for your start-up you are in the right place if you are at the Web summit next week.
Ireland is a great location for doing business. Whether you are an international buyer looking to source innovative technology or an international entrepreneur looking for a home for your start-up you are in the right place if you are at the Web summit next week.
Enterprise Ireland is hosting an Ireland Pavilion featuring Irish technology companies and the various elements of the start-up ecosystem in Ireland.
Our stand will be a focal point to:
Promote our clients and facilitate meetings between our clients and buyers and VCs that our overseas offices are bringing over to Dublin.
Promote the start-up ecosystem in Ireland in order to attract start-ups to move here. Our stand features the various organisations that provide support to start-ups namely, IVCA (Irish Venture Capital Association), NDRC , Irish Business Innovation Centres (BICs) as well as IDA.
Please come to visit our stand for a chat with the Enterprise Ireland's overseas entrepreneurship team. Keep the conversation going by Tweeting to us @Entirl #websummit
Dublin Web Summit takes place November 4th - 6th 2014 at RDS, Dublin, Ireland http://websummit.net/
Mark Roden, the founder and CEO of Ding, was named as EY Entrepreneur of the year 2014 at the televised Awards Ceremony held in Dublin on October 23rd. Over 1,400 business leaders from across the island of Ireland and around the world were in attendance at the Awards Gala to celebrate the achievements of the 24 EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalists who, together, employ 6,000 people and generate revenues of €630 million.
Pictured at the Awards Ceremony are (l-r): EY Industry Entrepreneur of the Year, John Purdy, EY Entrepreneur of the Year Mark Roden and EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year Terry Fox.
Mark Roden, the founder and CEO of Ding, was named as EY Entrepreneur of the year 2014 at the televised Awards Ceremony held in Dublin on October 23rd. Over 1,400 business leaders from across the island of Ireland and around the world were in attendance at the Awards Gala to celebrate the achievements of the 24 EY Entrepreneur of the Year finalists who, together, employ 6,000 people and generate revenues of €630 million.
Headquartered in Dublin, Ding enables migrant workers to support loved ones back home by facilitating the instant transfer of credit top-up to any mobile phone anywhere in the world. Ding has delivered USD$0.6bn to over 58 million phones since its inception and is currently transferring almost $1m on a daily basis directly to mobile phones across all emerging markets. With offices in Miami, Dubai, San Salvador, Bucharest and Dhaka; Ding currently employs 200 people and has users in over 130 countries.
“I am so proud of everyone in our company – this is truly a fantastic night for all of us at Ding” said Mark Roden of his unexpected win. “I am absolutely humbled to be in the company of such incredible winners and want to thank EY for putting us on the global map along with all the other finalists. I’d also like to thank Enterprise Ireland, sponsors of the EY Entrepreneur of the Year programme, for their support of both me and the business from the very start.”
Roden will now go forward to represent Ireland at the World Entrepreneur of the Year Awards in Monte Carlo in June 2015 where he will compete with over 60 leading entrepreneurs from across the globe.
“Ding has been able to positively impact the daily lives of millions of people in a meaningful way by leveraging the power and reach of the mobile phone” said Frank O’Keeffe, Partner-in-Charge of EY Entrepreneur of the Year. “In just 8 years, Mark has succeeded in creating a global company here in Dublin that is ideally placed to become one of Ireland’s leading technology multinationals and we are honoured to award his achievements here tonight.”
In addition to being selected as the overall winner of EY Entrepreneur of the Year for 2014, Mark Roden was also named the EY International Entrepreneur of the Year. John Purdy of Ergo, a leading consultative IT services partner to corporate and enterprise organisations, picked up the award for EY Industry Entrepreneur of The Year; while Terry Fox of bespoke paper cup manufacturer, Cupprint, was named as the EY Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year.
Congratulations to all Enterprise Ireland client companies who won the prestigious title and indeed all the finalists.
The 2015 programme will be open for nominations from January 2015. For further information on this and next year awards please visit www.eoy.ie
The national Innovation Showcase is an ideal networking opportunity for companies in Ireland that want to learn more about collaborative research, development and innovation. This is the first gathering, in one location, of all State-supported research centres and technology centres of scale.
The national Innovation Showcase is an ideal networking opportunity for companies in Ireland that want to learn more about collaborative research, development and innovation. This is the first gathering, in one location, of all State-supported research centres and technology centres of scale.
Delivering excellent scientific research and game-changing technologies to companies in Ireland, representatives from each of the 38 centres will be joined by officials from State agencies and Higher Education Institutes that can facilitate and fund innovation in companies.
If you are a business person, researcher, investor, or simply interested in hearing about new trends in innovation, then this event is a MUST for you.
There is no attendance fee and we strongly recommend that you bring lots of business cards as there will be plenty of networking opportunities with both academic research teams, industry partners of the centres and State agencies supporting collaborative R&D. Go to the Showcase website to learn more and register for this high profile event: http://www.innovationshowcase.ie
The Irish Government has published a new plan aimed at creating an extra 93,000 jobs from start-up companies in the next five years.
The plan was launched on October 9th by Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton TD together with Minister of State for Business and Employment Ged Nash TD and Minister of State for Skills, Research and Innovation Damien English TD.
Ministers Nash and Bruton speaking with Lolly Strahan of Lolly & Cooks in the Liffey Trust Centre (Photo by merrionstreet.ie)
The Irish Government has published a new plan aimed at creating an extra 93,000 jobs from start-up companies in the next five years.
The plan was launched on October 9th by Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton TD together with Minister of State for Business and Employment Ged Nash TD and Minister of State for Skills, Research and Innovation Damien English TD.
The key targets in the plan include increasing the number of start-ups by 25pc and the capacity of start-ups to grow to scale by 25pc, as well as increase the survival rate in the first five years by 25pc.
Launching the plan Minister Bruton said: “In Ireland we have great entrepreneurs – we just don’t have enough of them. Given that two thirds of all new jobs come from start-ups, it is crucial that we improve our supports in this area if we are to create the jobs we need.
"That is why earlier this year I asked a group of academics and successful entrepreneurs – the people who have actually done it – to come up with a list of recommendations for how we can improve our performance in this area.
He added: "Many of their recommendations were for business or private institutions to implement – but there is much that Government can do to incentivise, support, promote and encourage more people to start businesses. We have set ambitious but realistic targets for ourselves – most importantly, a doubling of the jobs impact of start-ups by 2019."
Central Bank research shows that start-up companies in the first five years of existence account for two thirds of all new jobs created in Ireland. As part of the Action Plan for Jobs, the Government committed to develop and implement a plan to increase the number of entrepreneurs in Ireland and thereby support thousands of extra jobs.
Among the key measures in the plan are:
Doubling the volume of funding to start-ups in Ireland from business angel investment. A total of approximately €70million is currently invested per annum by business angel investors in Ireland.
Co-working and accelerator spaces available for start-up businesses right across the country. The LEOs and the Community Enterprise Centres will form a key part of this – and this will be part of a new system of supports for start-ups locally.
New mentoring services for start-ups, including a national database of mentors
Entrepreneurship programmes in schools, third and fourth level education, and in new apprenticeships systems
New targets for Agencies, including a 12% increase in start-ups supported by Enterprise Ireland by 2015
New marketing plan to promote Ireland abroad as a location for international start-ups
Measures to promote entrepreneurship among under-represented groups – including women, young people, migrants and older people
Specific reductions in the administrative burdens facing start-ups, including the length of time it takes to register a new business and the burden of applying for licences
New supports for innovation by start-ups, and ambitious targets for Enterprise Ireland and SFI to increase innovation activity by start-ups
New measures to support start-ups to sell abroad, including opportunities in supply chain of IDA companies
An annual report to the Minister for Jobs, analysing Ireland’s performance in entrepreneurship against domestic and international benchmarks
The measures in the plan will be implemented through the Action Plan for Jobs process in 2015 and future years.
Enterprise Ireland high potential start-up company OxyMem scoops one award after another this autumn. The company has just been named the 2014 Innovative Startup category winner at the Bank of Ireland Startup awards for the development of its breakthrough technology for wastewater aeration. But it’s only one of its accomplishments.
Enterprise Ireland high potential start-up company OxyMem scoops one award after another this autumn. The company has just been named the 2014 Innovative Startup category winner at the Bank of Ireland Startup awards for the development of its breakthrough technology for wastewater aeration. But it’s only one of its accomplishments.
Earlier this month the Athlone-based company won the Overall Excellence in Intellectual Property Award at the Intellectual Property (IP) Awards 2014 as well as the Tech IP Award. The awards, devised and organised by Event Strategies, aim to recognise and celebrate those involved in the IP process and generate awareness of the wealth that IP creation and monetisation brings to Ireland.
Earlier this year OxyMem won the overall ‘Innovation of the Year’ Award at the 2014 Irish Times InterTradeIreland Innovation Awards. In June, it won the first Water Innovation SME Award in Europe for Membrane Technologies.
OxyMem was also included in the Global Top 30 for the Global Cleantech Cluster Association (GCCA) 2014 Later Stage Awards. The prestigious Top 30 consist of mid-to late-stage companies that originate from a variety of cleantech industries and have a proven track record in their home market, with the goal to expand internationally. The Global Top 10 winners and one Grand Prize winner will be determined by a panel of investors and announced at the 5th annual CleanTech Investing Seminar in Lausanne, Switzerland on December 3, 2014.
OxyMem was also shortlisted for Platts Global Energy Award the only Irish company to make the finalists. The 2014 finalists were chosen from nearly 250 nominees from 36 nominating countries.
OxyMem was co-founded in 2013 by Prof Eoin Casey and Dr Eoin Syron as spin-out from UCD’s School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering. The company is commercialising a breakthrough UCD technology to address the global need for a more energy efficient aeration solution for wastewater treatment. It currently employs 24 people and plans to increase staff numbers to 35 within the next year.
On receiving the Innovative Startup of the Year 2014 Award, Managing Director of OxyMem, Wayne Byrne said "We are delighted to have won the Innovative Startup of the Year award amongst very deserving entries. To be acknowledged as being amongst the most pioneering of Ireland’s startups is a real honour for OxyMem." Mr Byrne added “This is a great boost also for our staff, whose hard work and dedication has played an integral part in our success.”
We want to take this opportunity to wish the company further successes on the path to growth.
GRID Finance, supported by Enterprise Ireland as a High Potential Start Up, officially launched its new business in Dublin earlier in October. Led by entrepreneur Derek F. Butler and co-founder Sean O’Riordan, the company is set to provide alternative methods of financing to Irish businesses and community organisations.
Dereck F. Butler - CEO, Grid Finance
GRID Finance, supported by Enterprise Ireland as a High Potential Start Up, officially launched its new business in Dublin earlier in October. Led by entrepreneur Derek F. Butler and co-founder Sean O’Riordan, the company is set to provide alternative methods of financing to Irish businesses and community organisations.
Alternatives to bank lending, including community lending, were highlighted as a key source of finance for Irish businesses in the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation’s ‘Action Plan for Jobs 2014’. With half of all applications for credit to banks from SMEs being refused, GRID Finance will endeavour to provide businesses with financing from their friends, families, neighbours and potential customers as well as the wider community.
Additionally GRID Finance will provide community organisations with an innovative platform for their fundraising activities.
A former chartered accountant and financial controller, Derek F. Butler will lead the company as CEO of GRID Finance.
“We are extremely excited to launch this new venture. At GRID Finance our aim is to introduce new and innovative financial products that serve the needs of communities throughout Ireland. GRID Finance aim to champion small businesses and community organisations by helping them access funds, to make their next big project a reality. Businesses are looking for new ways to develop, and community financing is the next step in innovating the financial sector” says Butler.
The firm, backed by Enterprise Ireland and private investors, will create ten new jobs and aims to introduce its first product to the market in less than two weeks.
Embo Medical, an early stage medical device company focused on developing technology to shut down blood flow in blood vessels, has secured €3 million in seed-funding.
The investment syndicate included the AIB Seed Capital Fund (managed by Enterprise Equity), Irrus Investments, HBAN’s Medtech Business Angel Syndicate, Western Development Commission, Enterprise Ireland and the AIB Start-Up Accelerator Fund (managed by ACT Venture Capital). The investment will enable Embo Medical to secure regulatory approval and enter the market, and in doing so employ approximately 10 people directly and up to another 10 people indirectly.
Embo Medical co-founders Liam Mullins, Wayne Allen and Colin Forde
Embo Medical, an early stage medical device company focused on developing technology to shut down blood flow in blood vessels, has secured €3 million in seed-funding.
Embo Medical is based in National University of Ireland Galway’s Business Innovation Centre. In 2011, the management team of Wayne Allen, Colin Forde and Liam Mullins undertook the BioInnovate Ireland Fellowship, a specialist medical device innovation programme. Upon completion, they founded Embo Medical to develop solutions to unmet clinical needs that were identified while observing embolization procedures in hospitals during the Fellowship.
Embolization is a minimally invasive endovascular procedure used to deliberately stop blood flow in blood vessels when treating cancers, internal haemorrhage, aneurysms, and venous disease. Current embolization procedures require multiple coils and plugs, which can be cumbersome and time consuming to insert and often do not provide an optimal clinical result.
Embo is developing the first true one-shot (one device per vessel) vascular embolization device. The product is aimed at the peripheral vascular embolization market, a market where physicians perform about 180,000 procedures per year worldwide. The Embo platform technology is intended to provide a superior solution in shorter procedural times; resulting in safe, cost-effective embolization. In preclinical studies, Embo’s technology reduced blood vessel treatment time by over 80%, while ensuring rapid and durable occlusion across all blood vessel sizes.
Embo CEO Wayne Allen said: “This investment will accelerate Embo’s development of a state-of-the-art solution for the treatment of several diseases, will further prove the product’s value through clinical studies and enable us to access the large US market. Our technology has the potential to become the standard of care while simultaneously reducing the cost of healthcare.”
The company outsources manufacture, packaging and sterilisation to med-tech companies based primarily in the West of Ireland, accounting for the indirect employment of approximately 10 people. Embo expects to directly create 10 new jobs over the next two years as a result of this investment.
The Minister for Business and Employment, Ged Nash TD has concluded a 4-day Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Turkey during which new business was secured and business partnerships and contacts developed, underlining the growing opportunities for Irish companies in the developing Turkish market.
Minister for Business and Employment, Ged Nash TD pictured during a visit to Turkish Airlines Training Centre in Istanbul as part of the Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Turkey.
The Minister for Business and Employment, Ged Nash TD has concluded a 4-day Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Turkey during which new business was secured and business partnerships and contacts developed, underlining the growing opportunities for Irish companies in the developing Turkish market.
Organised in cooperation with the Irish Embassy in Ankara, the trade mission visited Ankara and Istanbul and involved 30 Irish companies focused on breaking into the Turkish market, or strengthening existing business relationships with Turkish companies.
Bilateral trade between Turkey and Ireland currently stands at over €1.2bn. In line with Enterprise Ireland’s strategy for growing export sales, the objective of the Trade Mission was to build on Ireland’s existing economic links with Turkey and boost bilateral trade between the two countries.
The visit facilitated practical relationship building for Irish companies with their current and prospective counterparts in Turkey, as well as raising the profile of Ireland at the highest levels of Government.
Speaking at the conclusion of the trade mission, Minister Nash said: “This was a successful mission both in terms of business secured and introductions and connections made. Supporting increased exports by Irish companies is at the very heart of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs.
“It is very encouraging to see Irish companies continuing to win new business in Turkey, assisted by Enterprise Ireland’s new office in Istanbul which supports Irish companies to grow their trade relationships and export sales in the market. One of those success stories is vehicle noise control specialists, Ventac, based in Blessington, Co. Wicklow, who announced they have become primary supplier to TEMSA Global, a leading Turkish bus and coach manufacturer which also exports to Europe and the USA.”
“Irish exports (merchandise and services) to Turkey were worth over €776 million in 2013. Bilateral trade between Ireland and Turkey is currently €1.2 billion. This is a very impressive figure, encouraging us to strengthen the ties between the two countries. Following this mission I am confident that this figure will increase steadily over the next few years.”
Minister Nash’s intensive 4-day schedule included nine individual meetings with Irish companies and their Turkish partners and customers, as well as 10 networking events with Turkish and Irish businesses and other key contacts. Minister Nash also met with Turkey’s Minister for Economy, participated in numerous media interviews, and launched Enterprise Ireland’s “Access Turkey” Guide. Ireland participated as Invited Partner at the TIM Innovation Week Conference in Ankara, which Minister Nash addressed and five Irish companies participated.
For more information see Enterprise Ireland’s “Access Turkey” Guide
International Markets Week took place in RDS, Dublin in September. International Markets Week is Enterprise Ireland’s single largest client event involving over 600 Irish companies, all focused on breaking into international export markets. It is a significant part of Enterprise Ireland’s strategy to drive Irish exports to support business growth and create new jobs in Ireland.
Minister Richard Bruton TD (centre) pictured at the opening of International Markets Week in Dublin with Julie Sinnamon, CEO Enterprise Ireland and Terence O'Rourke, Chairman, Enterprise Ireland.
International Markets Week took place in RDS, Dublin in September. International Markets Week is Enterprise Ireland’s single largest client event involving over 600 Irish companies, all focused on breaking into international export markets. It is a significant part of Enterprise Ireland’s strategy to drive Irish exports to support business growth and create new jobs in Ireland.
International Markets Week is a practical initiative which gives Irish companies the opportunity to discuss and explore their international growth strategies with Enterprise Ireland’s team of overseas market specialists covering 45 markets. Over 2030 client meetings took place over the four days with the objective of helping Irish companies break into new export markets, or expand their sales in existing markets. The range of client companies participating covered all sectors and included companies with extensive overseas operations as well as small enterprises exporting for the first time.
Irish companies achieved a record €17.1billion in export sales, representing an 8% increase on 2012 and created 18,033 new jobs in 2013. This confirms a net increase of 5,442 in the number of people employed which is the largest net increase in a decade and underscores the impact of strong export growth in new and existing markets across the globe, on new job creation here in Ireland. These strong results confirm the major impact that Enterprise Ireland client companies have across the wider economy.
To coincide with International Markets Week, Enterprise Ireland conducted a survey of participating clients. The survey results show that almost 90% believe they will increase their exports in 2014, 84% say they will increase their employment in 2014, and 93% are optimistic on the prospects for the world’s economic trading environment.
Kevin Sherry, Enterprise Ireland’s Head of International Sales and Partnering said: ”Companies taking part in International Markets Week achieved record export sales in 2013 and we are confident that they will secure significant further export growth this year – sustaining and creating jobs in Ireland. The recent opening of three new Enterprise Ireland offices in Austin, Texas; Istanbul, Turkey; and Abu Dhabi, in the UAE is already assisting to increase the scale of Irish exports, supporting companies as they seek to win more export sales.”
By the end of 2013, companies supported by Enterprise Ireland were employing and sustaining well over 300,000 jobs (direct and indirect) in Ireland.
The Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan, TD, is this week leading an Education in Ireland mission to China, organised by Enterprise Ireland. This is an important step in deepening the strong education ties between Ireland and China, particularly in the third level sector.
The Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O’Sullivan, TD, is this week leading an Education in Ireland mission to China, organised by Enterprise Ireland. This is an important step in deepening the strong education ties between Ireland and China, particularly in the third level sector. The intensive schedule on the mission covers a series of high level meetings and events in Beijing and Shanghai, including with the Chinese Minister for Education and senior Government and education sector representatives. These meetings are all aimed at supporting Irish colleges build their linkages with the Chinese education sector and promoting the world-class education and research opportunities in Ireland to Chinese students.
Minister O’Sullivan highlighted the very tangible benefits to this relationship. ‘We have seen an increase in the number of Chinese students studying at graduate and post-graduate level in Ireland. We are also seeing very strong, innovative partnerships evolving between Irish third level institutions and Chinese universities. These partnerships are resulting in new opportunities in research and collaboration and the Education in Ireland mission will see further progress in this regard’, she said.
A number of participating colleges announced significant new initiatives as part of the Education in Ireland mission. Trinity College Dublin has announced the establishment of the Trinity Global Undergraduate Scholarship for China, a new scholarship which will support a prospective Chinese undergraduate student to study at Trinity College Dublin. The University also unveiled its new Chinese online presence which includes a newly designed Chinese language website (trinitychina.ie) and university profiles across a number of social media channels. In addition, the University has announced a new Masters in Chinese Studies and the opening of the Trinity Centre for Asian Studies.
Minister O’Sullivan also officially opened 3U Partnership’s China Office in Beijing’s award winning Galaxy SOHO urban complex. The 3U Partnership combines the complementary strengths of Dublin City University (DCU), Maynooth University and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI). The 3U China Office is focussed on recruiting Chinese students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels and developing strategic academic (both teaching and research driven) collaborations with top-ranking Chinese universities.
During the mission the National College of Ireland (NCI) also announced it is issuing 40 scholarships for the January intake of their most popular Masters and Foundation programmes - Foundation, Pre-Masters, MSc in Cloud Computing, MSc in Data Analytics and the MSc in Management.
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology Centre (PMTC) was recently launched at the University of Limerick to deliver advanced technology solutions to contemporary manufacturing issues currently challenging the Irish pharmaceutical sector. PMTC brings together 24 industry partners and nine Higher Education Institutes who will deliver the research.
Deirdre Glenn, Enterprise Ireland; Minister Damien English TD; Barry Heavey IDA Ireland and Frank Madden M.D Crest Solutions
Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology Centre (PMTC) was recently launched at the University of Limerick to deliver advanced technology solutions to contemporary manufacturing issues currently challenging the Irish pharmaceutical sector. PMTC brings together 24 industry partners and nine Higher Education Institutes who will deliver the research.
The aim of PMTC is to make Ireland the global hub of pharmaceutical process innovation and manufacturing and ultimately support an industry which directly employs over 25,000 people. Manufacturing cost competitiveness and patent expiry are among the two most critical issues which threaten the future of this industry which contributes over €40BN in annual Irish exports per annum.
Launching the centre, Minister English said: “The pharmaceutical industry is a very important provider of employment and growth in Ireland’s economy. This joint initiative of Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland to make the pharma industry more competitive and efficient is most welcome. The fact that the research agenda is defined and informed by the companies involving both Irish SMEs and multinationals gives strength to the industry’s effort to tackle challenges such as the patents cliff and manufacturing competitiveness.”
Speaking on behalf of the 24 companies involved, Donal Coveney, MD of TopChem said “The major commercial impact for member companies will be the access to technology generated by the research team in the PMTC. The implementation of these technologies will lead to improved competitiveness, increased or retained employment and more secure future prospects for the companies involved”.
Dr Mary Shire, Vice President Research, University of Limerick said: “Ireland has one of the best reputations globally in pharmaceutical manufacturing and it’s important that we continue to support the sector so we attract further investment and retain existing investments. The PMTC provides companies with the opportunity to work together and harness academic expertise to address key manufacturing challenges they face. One specific research area is in process analytical technology which will help companies reduce cost and thus enhance competitiveness.”
2013 saw a marked increase in the level of engagement between companies and all Irish publicly-funded research performing organisations (RPOs), including universities and the institutes of technology, according to Knowledge Transfer Ireland.
Dr. Alison Campbell - KTI
2013 saw a marked increase in the level of engagement between companies and all Irish publicly-funded research performing organisations (RPOs), including universities and the institutes of technology, according to Knowledge Transfer Ireland.
The first KTI annual report just published shows a 15% increase in the number of external clients that engaged with research performing organisations in 2013, resulting in 1,598 engagement agreements, up 9% on the previous year.
The report shows that 37 new spin-out companies were created based on intellectual property and knowledge from Irish research performing organisations. Over the same period the number of IP-based transactions between RPOs and industry, including licences, options and assignments, increased by 48% to 139 last year. The report takes in a wide and deep data set, with information returned from all of Ireland’s RPOs.
KTI was launched in May 2014 and is operated in partnership between Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Universities Association. Its annual report charts its first period of development (September 2013 to May 2014) including the delivery of a unique resource for industry the KTI web portal (www.knowledgetransferireland.com). This web portal provides companies with easy access to the resources available to them from State-funded research – from expertise to technologies, from intellectual property to facilities and equipment.
According to KTI Director Dr. Alison Campbell, “the information available strongly supports the view that Government investment designed to strengthen Ireland's relatively young technology transfer capability is working and is continuing to meet its objectives”.
Dr. Campbell said that in its first nine months KTI had put in place most of the building blocks essential to this task. "Our immediate objectives now include further development of the KTI web portal's content and functionality to ensure that companies are aware of the valuable resources and intellectual property emerging from Irish RPOs which can contribute to their growth plans."
"We have an extremely busy time ahead, but it is also an exciting one. We will continue to work closely with our Industry Advisory Board and the Knowledge Transfer Stakeholder Forum, two important bodies which help us set our direction and review our activities on an ongoing basis," Dr. Campbell said.
Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateway network reached the milestone of 1,000 innovation projects, benefitting over 450 companies. This was announced at the annual conference of the Enterprise Ireland funded Technology Gateway Network back in September.
Pictured at the Technology Gateways ‘show and tell’ event for industry are Suzanne Hamilton, Frontline Consultants, Declan Lyons, Enterprise Ireland with Damien English T.D., Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation
Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateway Network reached the milestone of 1,000 innovation projects, benefitting over 450 companies. This was announced at the annual conference of the Enterprise Ireland funded Technology Gateway Network back in September.
Damien English T.D. Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation congratulated the 12 Technology Gateway programme managers and the Institutes of Technology which host them on their success in delivering R&D support to local companies, saying “access for companies, especially start-ups and SMEs, to this specialised R&D support is critical to help them improve their competitiveness and develop new product ranges. The Government has committed €23M in funding up until the end of 2017 to the Technology Gateway network which is managed by Enterprise Ireland, with the ultimate goal of increasing the innovative capabilities and growth of companies in towns and cities around Ireland”.
To date, more than 450 companies have used the services of the Technology Gateways to source technology solutions for their near-to-market R&D needs in a wide range of areas including wireless solutions, biotechnology, engineering, pharmaceuticals and healthcare.
Dairygold is to create 115 jobs in Cork as part of a multi-million expansion of its dairy processing facilities in Mallow and Mitchelstown.
The farmer owned dairy co-operative is investing €83.5 million in the regeneration of its milk processing site at Mallow, and a further €33.5 million upgrading the Castlefarm dairy processing complex in Mitchelstown.
Pictured at the event (l-r): Taoiseach Enda Kenny TD; Dairygold Chairman, Bertie O’Leary; Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and Defence Simon Coveney TD; Julie Sinnamon, CEO Enterprise Ireland; Dairygold Chief Executive Jim Woulfe; Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD
Dairygold is to create 115 jobs in Cork as part of a multi-million expansion of its dairy processing facilities in Mallow and Mitchelstown.
The farmer owned dairy co-operative is investing €83.5 million in the regeneration of its milk processing site at Mallow, and a further €33.5 million upgrading the Castlefarm dairy processing complex in Mitchelstown.
The Taoiseach, Mr Enda Kenny TD laid the foundation stone for Dairygold’s the new milk processing site at Mallow and performed the official opening of Castlefarm Dairy Processing Complex in Mitchelstown.
The Mallow investment will see approximately 400 people employed on the site at peak construction. Dairygold itself expects to employ an additional 115 people full-time across its milk processing activities sites by 2020 to manage the increase in milk production over the next five years. The Dairygold expansion will also see a significant number of additional jobs in farming and indirect and downstream activity created in the businesses that supply goods and services to Dairygold.
Dairygold is Ireland’s largest farmer owned dairy co-operative, processing over 960 million litres (20 per cent of Ireland’s milk pool) in 2013, to produce a range of cheese and dairy ingredients for export to more than 50 countries.
From next April Ireland’s dairy farmers will be free to produce as much milk as they wish following the abolition of EU dairy quotas and Dairygold’s 3,000 milk suppliers have forecast to increase annual milk production by up to 60 per cent by 2020. This equates to an increase of 600 million litres per annum and requires a major expansion in Dairygold’s processing capacity.
“Our Post-Quota Strategy not only ensures that we will have the capacity in place to process all of our members’ milk in the post-quota era but it also significantly improves our technological capability allowing us to produce higher value dairy ingredients ”, said Dairygold Chief Executive Mr Jim Woulfe.
Dairygold’s €33.5 million investment has expanded and upgraded the Co-op’s milk processing facilities at the Castlefarm Dairy Processing Complex in Mitchelstown which can now process in excess of 16 million litres of milk and a further 18 million litres of whey per week. The investment will also significantly improve the processing and energy efficiency of the Castlefarm operation.
The €83.5 million Mallow investment will redevelop the existing dairy processing site to deliver a world-class dairy processing facility that can produce a suite of dairy ingredient milk powders up to Infant Milk Formula standards.
It is an exciting time to be a part of Ireland’s food and drink industry. Are you interested in getting involved?
Ireland received a major jobs boost this autumn with a number of Enterprise Ireland supported client companies announcing growth or investment plans. We cover some of these exciting stories in this Issue.
Pictured at the announcement on the 1st of October 2014: CarTrawler staff members with An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD, Mark McGearty, CarTrawler CEO and Minister for Jobs Richard Bruton TD.
Ireland received a major jobs boost this autumn with a number of Enterprise Ireland supported client companies announcing growth or investment plans. We cover some of these exciting stories in this Issue.
Let’s begin with one of the biggest jobs announcements this October – up to 400 new roles being created at CarTrawler over the next three years. This Dublin company connects airlines, hotel groups and travel brands with car rental all over the world.
The recent growth will bring CarTrawler’s Dublin workforce up to 650. Hiring for 200 of the new roles is already underway with positions in business development, customer operations, data science, finance and engineering. The company wants to have those positions filled by early 2015.
The jobs will be located in CarTrawler's new International Customer Centre of Excellence in Dundrum supporting customers in 174 countries.
Making the announcement Mike McGearty, CEO of CarTrawler said: “We have firmly established our position as one of the travel-tech industry’s top employers. We continue to invest in our technology and our team to ensure that we remain the driving force behind car rental worldwide. We are very pleased to be able to create these new roles in our country of origin which will help to showcase our home grown Irish business on the international stage”.
An Taoiseach, Enda Kenny TD present at the announcement at the company’s Dundrum headquarters said that the Government is focused on securing recovery by continuing strong job creation so that people who have yet to feel the benefit of the country's improving economy can look forward to a better future.
Julie Sinnamon, CEO, Enterprise Ireland welcoming the jobs announcement said: “CarTrawler is a role model for ambitious, highly innovative Irish companies to follow. They are a great example of how it is possible for an Irish company to develop into an international company of scale, with positions in global markets. Enterprise Ireland will continue to work with CarTrawler as they grow their international footprint, creating sustainable jobs in Ireland”.
Established in 2004 and headquartered in Dublin, CarTrawler provides aviation, travel, hospitality, leisure and consumer brands with a direct connection to over 1,200 leading and independent car rental agents in over 30,000 airport and city locations across different 174 countries.
The company is one of Ireland’s leading technology employers recruiting from third and fourth level university courses in Ireland and internationally.
Initiatives such as Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur Awards get students thinking about starting their own business as a career option once they graduate. The Awards are a great opportunity for ambitious and enterprising third level students to build a real-world business venture and at the same time be in with a chance to win a prize from the overall €35,000 cash prize fund, which includes a €10,000 first prize, as well as a €30,000 consultancy fund.
Pictured (l-r): Darren O’Connor, Last Year finalist with project Motus, Gillian Slattery, Enterprise Ireland, and Eric Risser, Winner of Roots in Research Award
Initiatives such as Enterprise Ireland Student Entrepreneur Awards get students thinking about starting their own business as a career option once they graduate. The Awards are a great opportunity for ambitious and enterprising third level students to build a real-world business venture and at the same time be in with a chance to win a prize from the overall €35,000 cash prize fund, which includes a €10,000 first prize, as well as a €30,000 consultancy fund.
Student Entrepreneur Awards 2015 are co-sponsored by Enterprise Ireland, Invest Northern Ireland, Cruickshank Intellectual Property Attorneys, Grant Thornton and Intel. The sponsors also bring their expertise to nurturing the finalists in the competition to commercialise their business by providing them with expert guidance in areas such as intellectual property, market research, finances, technology development, public relations and advertising, all aimed at supporting young entrepreneurs to develop viable businesses and create jobs.
Third level students represent a seed bed for future business start-ups and last year’s finalists who attended the launch are a great example of the commercial potential for student entrepreneurs. Here are two examples:
Darren O’Connor from UL with his company Motus won the Intel High Achieving Merit award 2014. Motus is a complete joint rehabilitation and treatment system that motivates the client to achieve their recovery goals and empowers the physiotherapist in making effective treatment decisions for the benefit of their client. The product provides a constant link between the physiotherapist and the client, thus maintaining a structured and motivated approach to the rehabilitation process.
Dr Eric Risser from TCD with his company Artomatix won the Roots in Research Award 2014. Artomatix solves the problem that digital art creation for the video game and movie industries takes too long and costs too much. Artomatix technology enables a computer to simulate human-like artistic creativity. This software helps digital artists make art faster, cheaper and better. Eric Risser identified a gap in the animation and digital art industry and developed a Texture Synthesis Based Hybridisation for Images and Geometry technology in response.
The Roots in Research award is an exciting new aspect to the Student Entrepreneur Awards that recognises a student or group’s ability to spot the commercial potential of the state-funded research project which they are involved in.
Following on from last year’s success students are requested to submit a video that captures how great their idea is and shows commercial and export potential. The closing date for the competition on 17 March 2015.
Ambitious individuals, with an interest in building an international food or drink business in Ireland, are being sought for participation in Food Works 2015, a business development and training programme designed especially for food & drinks start ups jointly run by Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland and Teagasc.
Rachel Flynn – co-founder of Nobó, winner of 2 Great Taste Awards in the UK for Frozen Goodness – a dairy free ice cream.
Ambitious individuals, with an interest in building an international food or drink business in Ireland, are being sought for participation in Food Works 2015, a business development and training programme designed especially for food & drinks start ups jointly run by Bord Bia, Enterprise Ireland and Teagasc.
Food Works 2015 was launched at the new Wicklow Wolf Brewery in Bray, Co, Wicklow. The company participated in Food Works 2014 and has just opened the 3,700 square foot brewery. Wicklow Wolf plans to create 16 new jobs over the next few years to support its growing business.
Speaking about Food Works, Quincey Fennelly, co-founder of Wicklow Wolf said “Once we made the decision to produce beer on a commercial level, we decided to look for help from wherever we could get it. The Food Works programme was recommended to us and we were delighted to be accepted to take part. It was very challenging and brought us on many occasions outside our comfort zone, but, it really helped us to become more disciplined about planning our business for the future for both the domestic and the export market. I would recommend it to anyone who has a good business idea who has the ambition to develop it into a strong food business capable of exporting around the world.” Over the past two years, following a competitive process attracting in excess of 150 applications, a total of 43 start-ups from dairy, snacks, meat, seafood and beverages have participated in the Food Works programme.
Rachel Nolan, co-founder of Nobó and a participant in Food Works 2013 said, “The Food Works programme has been invaluable in helping our business to reach its full potential. After first launching into stores 8 months ago, our first product ‘Frozen Goodness’ is now available in over 100 stores around the country. This will be increasing significantly over the next number of weeks as the product is rolled out to SuperValu stores nationwide. We were delighted to recently receive two Great Taste Awards in the UK and to be included in the Great Taste ‘Top 50 Foods’ in the UK and Ireland out of 10,000 products entered and tasted. We are also excited at the possibility of seeing ‘Frozen Goodness’ on freezer shelves in other countries before the end of 2015.
The Food Works programme aims to help young companies to realise their full potential to achieve significant scale and become major international businesses in markets across the globe while creating new jobs at home. Successful companies will be introduced to suitable investors to help them to fund a scalable business during the programme.
The deadline for applications is the 20th of November 2014. For more information on Food Works 2015, visit www.foodworksireland.ie
Enterprise Ireland supported Irish food company Ribworld is to create 100 new jobs as part of a new €8 million investment programme by the company.
The announcement was made today by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton at the official opening of Ribworld's new manufacturing facility at Fethard, Co Tipperary.
Pictured (l-r): Michael Cantwell, Manager Food Division, Enterprise Ireland, Michelle Walshe, Director, RibWorld and Richard Bruton TD, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation.
Enterprise Ireland supported Irish food company Ribworld is to create 100 new jobs as part of a new €8 million investment programme by the company.
The announcement was made today by Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton at the official opening of Ribworld's new manufacturing facility at Fethard, Co Tipperary.
Recruitment for the new positions will get underway shortly, and this will bring employment levels at Ribworld, which is part of the M&M Walshe food group, to over 175 people over the next three years.
The strategic investment programme will position the company to invest in a major new product development drive and expand operational capacity, all aimed at meeting increasing demand for its products and expanding its market share across Europe and other international markets.
Making the announcement, Minister Bruton said: “Today’s announcement that Ribworld is investing in a major expansion of its operations in Fethard and creating 100 jobs is a great boost for Munster and a great example of what can be achieved by Irish food and manufacturing businesses across the country. I am delighted that my Department, through Enterprise Ireland, has been able to support Ribworld’s really impressive growth and I wish them every success for the future”.
Speaking at the expansion announcement John Walshe, Managing Director, Ribworld, said: "Over the past three years we have grown the business by over 200% and launched a number of new products. This new facility will allow Ribworld to continue to expand into new markets and develop a new range of products."
Welcoming the announcement Michael Cantwell, Enterprise Ireland's Manager of the Food Division, said: "The creation of 100 new jobs at Ribworld is a great boost for Tipperary. Their success underpins Ireland’s standing as a leader in the international food industry. Enterprise Ireland has worked closely with Ribworld in supporting its strategic investment and growth plans, and we look forward to continuing to support this ambitious company as they implement their exciting growth plans, sustaining and creating jobs in Ireland".
Technology company FINEOS is creating 50 jobs in Dublin over the next 18 months with the opening of its global headquarters at Eastpoint Business Park. These new jobs are supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland.
Pictured (L-R) are: Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, Michael Kelly, CEO and Founder of FINEOS, Kevin Sherry, Head of International Sales and Partnering, Enterprise Ireland and Alison Murphy, Marketing Program Manager at FINEOS
The announcement is part of a €9m research and development programme, which will assist the company in delivering its insurance product globally to create new export business.
Making the announcement, The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton TD said that software is a "key sector we are targeting", and "in particular we have sought to support the growth of a strong cluster of Irish companies in this area".
"FINEOS is a great example of an Irish company, with a world-class product offering, performing strongly in highly competitive global markets and employing large numbers of high skilled people in Dublin," he said.
Michael Kelly, Chief Executive and Founder of FINEOS, added: "We are delighted to announce these new positions in Dublin, which will be made up of research and development as well as professional services consulting positions to help our customers around the world. "It is an exciting time for FINEOS as we execute our strategy to become global market leader of group and individual insurance on a single FINEOS platform."
Kevin Sherry, Head of Sales and Partnering at Enterprise Ireland said: “This is a fantastic success story of an Irish company that has grown to become a truly global leader in its space. Enterprise Ireland has been delighted to work in close partnership with FINEOS since its establishment and we look forward to seeing the company continue to add jobs and scale up.”
Established in 1993, the company delivers its product to a global market and has customers, employees and established bases in North America, Europe, Africa and Asia.
The National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co. Laois proved another great success this year. There was a lot happening and the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena was a busy place too. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD launched the new Enterprise Ireland €250,000 Competitive Feasibility Fund aimed at stimulating new start-ups in the agri-business sector.
Colette and Alan Martin Slurrysafe, Safety Award Winners
The National Ploughing Championships in Ratheniska, Co. Laois proved another great success this year. There was a lot happening and the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Arena was a busy place too. The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD launched the new Enterprise Ireland €250,000 Competitive Feasibility Fund aimed at stimulating new start-ups in the agri-business sector.
Minister Bruton also announced the Enterprise IrelandToplink.ie Innovation Arena winners. The awards recognise excellence in agri-innovation and the winners were selected from a very strong entry of 80 innovative Irish companies, of whom 30 were shortlisted in July 2014 as 2014 Finalists.
The Overall Winner of the Innovation Arena Award was The Falcon Forwarder, the only Irish build forestry forwarder, built by Marcia Franklin, Oldcastle Co. Meath.
The category Award winners were:
Slurrysafe – Safety Award Winner Dairymaster – Animal Health Award winner in Established company category BovAlert (DIT Hothouse) – Animal Health Award winner in Startup company category Falcon Forwarder – Agri-Engineering Award winner in Startup company category Denis Doyle Engineering – Agri-Engineering Award winner in Establishing company category Herdwatch – Software Award winner in Established Company Category Farmflo – Software Award winner in Startup category Emarts Daily promoted by Marie Costello was named Young Innovator at the Awards Ceremony
Commenting on the awards Minister Bruton at the National Ploughing Championships congratulated all the winners and recognised the level of innovation in the agricultural sector: “The agri-food sector is a key part of the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs and in the three years since we launched our plan we have seen major jobs growth in this area. The aim now is to sustain and build on this growth, by encouraging and supporting more people to start and expand businesses in this area.
“The quality of the agri-businesses on show at the Ploughing Championships today, and in particular the quality of the innovative Irish companies involved in these awards, provide great confidence for the future of agri-food in Ireland. I congratulate all involved, and look forward to working with them as they grow from strength to strength in the future”.
Denis Duggan, Regional Executive with Enterprise Ireland said: “We are delighted to be associated with these awards and our first involvement in the Innovation Arena at the Ploughing Championships has been a great success. Enterprise Ireland looks forward to working with all the winners in developing their international business.”
Alf Cox and Robert Davis of Davis Engineering, Agri-Engineering Award winners
