Over 40 Irish companies, accompanied by The Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD participated in a four day mission to Texas earlier this month. Over 20 trade events and meetings with multinationals were organised on the Enterprise Ireland mission which took in the cities of Houston, Dallas and Austin. Irish companies travelling on the trade mission spanned sectors including ICT, high-tech manufacturing, education and training, and financial services.

Over the last decade the State of Texas has become the USA’s second-largest economy with a high concentration of telecoms, banking, social media, electronics, cleantech, medical device, network and web companies. Economic shifts towards southern US states offer significant opportunities for Irish companies seeking to expand their presence in the US, or grow exports to new markets. Exports of Irish-owned companies to the US are experiencing strong growth and total Irish exports to the US are now worth €18.1bn per year.

As part of the mission 16 Irish web/interactive companies attended the high-profile South x South West Trade Show in Austin, where they pitched their solutions to the Venture Capital community, potential customers, and leading commentators. South By South West Interactive – or “SXSW Interactive” draws social media and technology companies from around the world to Austin, Texas, for five days of intensive networking and showing off new products, services and mobile apps. Find out more details on the Irish delegation here.

Enterprise Ireland CEO Frank Ryan commented on the significance of this mission to Texas:
‘This is a timely and exciting opportunity for Irish companies seeking to export to the US. Texas has an economy that is the second largest in the US and the 15th largest in the world. The economic boom being experienced in Texas and the Southern States provides an opportunity for Irish companies to forge partnerships where there is a clear win-win for both sides. Enterprise Ireland will continue to work with our client companies to ensure further business successes will result from the trade mission – helping to sustain and create employment in Ireland’.

Read the full press release

Irish animation company Boulder Media’s animation series The Amazing World of Gumball recently picked up the Kids Animation Award at the inaugural International Emmy® Kids Awards on February 8th in NY. The Dublin company set up in 2000, was co-producer on the series, which debuted in May 2011, and was the first full-length animated series to emerge from Cartoon Network Development Studio Europe.

Boulder Media’s Creative Director, Emmy-nominated Robert Cullen, who founded the company in 2000, said, “We're over the moon with the Emmy and are very proud to be part of such a great show. We're very lucky to have such a talented and hard working crew at Boulder so it's wonderful to see their work being recognised with such a prestigious award. This means so much for the industry here. For such a small country Irish animation has achieved so much internationally which is something for everyone to be proud of”.

The Amazing World of Gumball combines 2D and 3D animation in a live-action setting, and follows the misadventures of 12-year old Gumball and his family in the weird and wonderful little town of Elmore. Featuring a stellar cast of characters, umball’s school friends include a tyrannosaurus rex, a cheerleading peanut, and a banana.

For more news on the Irish animation industry see: www.animationireland.com/

• Education in Ireland recently hosted 19 high school college counsellors from the US and Canada on a tour of all seven Irish universities from Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Cork and Maynooth. The tour consisted of six days campus tours around the country meeting with current North American students in Ireland. Education in Ireland is hosting free Admissions information events for students, parents and High School College Counselors in Boston (6th April) and Chicago (7th April). For more information contact: eduireland@enterprise-ireland.com
• Seven Irish information security companies recently exhibited at RSA conference, San Francisco
• Irish technology companies pitch at SXSW technology event in Austin, Texas
• IDA speak on Investing in Ireland on CNBC
• IT’s Happening Here is a new initiative from the Irish IT industry established in response to the difficulties they are experiencing in sourcing and recruiting in Ireland. The initiative is centred around a jobs board, see www.itshappeninghere.ie for further details

An Enterprise Ireland trade mission, led by Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Eamon Gilmore T.D. will visit Turkey from 8-11 April 2013. The aim of the visit is to increase trade between Turkey and Ireland.

The delegation will undertake a series of high level meetings with government Ministries in Ankara together with a number of business meetings, followed by a series of business engagements and business networking events in Istanbul. 25 Irish software, engineering and internationally traded services companies will participate on the trade mission.

According to Kevin Buckley, Enterprise Ireland Manager for Turkey and Italy, the trade mission will serve as an important springboard for Irish companies wishing to expand their focus in the Turkish market and build on their regional footprint. Speaking in advance of the trade mission he said:

‘Enterprise Ireland is encouraging its client companies to expand their businesses in Turkey. In fact, Irish companies are a major investor in Turkey, with several thousand people employed by Irish companies in Turkey already. Bilateral trade between Ireland and Turkey is currently approaching €1 billion. Indigenous Irish companies’ exports in this trade volume is nearly €50 million, and the ambition is to triple this number in the next number of years’.

Minister Richard Bruton announced the second investment by Enterprise Ireland under the Innovation Fund Ireland programme with Highland Capital Partners Europe. Highland Capital Partners is a premier international VC that has recently raised their first dedicated European Fund, a vehicle focused solely on growth phase technology companies. Highland Capital Partners Europe had a substantial first close in November 2012.

Enterprise Ireland has committed €10 million to the Highland Fund, alongside a commitment of €10 million by the National Pensions Reserve Fund. Enterprise Ireland has committed a further €10m to the Fund when it completes a second closing.  

The fund will be establishing an office in the Irish market in April headed by Tony Zappalà who has recently joined Highland Capital from Index Ventures.

Minister Bruton made the announcement on the third day of a four-day Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Texas seeking to support greater export growth by Irish companies.

Speaking from Austin, Texas Minister Bruton said:
“The technology sector is a key target in the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs. Since we have taken office we have seen employment growth of over 11,000 in ICT, and we are implementing a number of measures to support further growth in this sector. Venture capital funding is a key part of this. We have provided a €60million second call under Innovation Fund Ireland which will be leveraged by further private sector funds, as well as €700million domestic venture capital scheme, to help provide funding as well as strategic advice and networks, to high growth Irish companies. “The announcement that Highland Capital Partners, a leading international  venture capital fund manager, is partnering with Enterprise Ireland and the NPRF to establish a fund to invest in innovative companies here, is a major boost for the Irish venture capital industry and for innovative Irish companies such as those who have travelled to Texas this week”.

Further information about Highland Capital Partners Europe can be found at: www.hcp.com

Further information about Innovation Fund Ireland can be found at www.innovationfundireland.com

The Taoiseach, the Tánaiste and the Jobs Minister Richard Bruton published Action Plan for Jobs 2013, the next step in the Government’s plan to rebuild the economy and accelerate the transition to a sustainable, jobs-rich economy based on enterprise, innovation and exports.

The Plan, which contains 333 actions to be implemented in 2013 by 16 Government Departments and 46 agencies, will build on the progress made in 2012 and continue to improve supports for job-creating businesses and remove the barriers to employment-creation across the economy. These actions are additional to the 249 actions already implemented under Action Plan 2012, which have helped support net growth of almost 12,000 in private sector employment in the past year. In the three years to March 2011 a net 250,000 jobs were lost in the private sector.

In a major departure from the 2012 plan, Action Plan 2013 contains seven headline “Disruptive Reform” measures – high-impact measures with highly ambitious deadlines, implemented in partnership with senior industry figures and selected because of their potential to have a significant effect on job-creation:


1. JobsPlus – over two years the State will pay €1 of every €4 it costs an employer to recruit a long-term unemployed person off the Live Register

2. ICT Skills – provide an additional 2,000 ICT graduate level professionals in 2013, and by 2018 lead Europe in terms of ICT graduates as a percentage of all third level graduates

3. Energy Efficiency – the Government will create a €70million Energy Efficiency Fund  to support 20 major projects in 2013 and ultimately create 5,000 jobs

4. Trading Online – get 2,000 more small businesses trading online in 2013 and 2014, with the creation of 3,200 jobs

5. Business Licences – create a single licensing application system for up to 25 licences in the retail sector, saving retailers over €20million per annum

6. Big Data – make Ireland one of the leading countries in Europe for Big Data, a sector growing by up to 40% per annum

7. Health Innovation Hub – Government will establish a world-renowned centre to establish Ireland as a leading location for start-up and growing medtech and healthcare companies

Other measures to be delivered in 2013 under the Plan include:

1. Foreign Direct Investment – IDA to target more than 130 new investments, secure €500million worth of R&D investment and help create 13,000 new jobs in 2013
2. Indigenous Companies – Enterprise Ireland will as part of a comprehensive programme of supports, financially support 155 high potential and early-stage start-ups, assist 300 companies develop new overseas markets through the Potential Exporters Division and will support over 1,000 companies on management development programmes
3. Global Sourcing – €500million in additional contracts in 2013 for Irish companies from multinationals based here
4. Access to Finance – By end 2013 new Government finance schemes worth over €2billion will be lending to businesses; pillar bank lending targets for 2013 increased to €4billion; Credit Review Office strengthened
5. Costs – New Government policy statement on economic regulation; the landmark Companies Bill will make it cheaper to start and run a company; and the Workplace Relations Commission that will merge five worker relations bodies into two will be operational by the second half of the year.
6. Science/research – through SFI, provide support to five new Research Centres of major scale, involving Government investment of over €150 million and leveraging an industry contribution of over 30%
7. Sectors – continue to target employment growth in key sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture/food, aviation and cloud computing.

The Government also appointed six Industry Partners to assist with the implementation and monitoring of the seven “Disruptive Reforms”. The six Industry Partners are:

1. Liam Caseyis the founder and Chief Executive Officer of PCH International
2. John Herlihy is Vice President, International SMB Sales and Head of Google Ireland
3. Sean O’Driscoll is Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Glen Dimplex Group
4. Louise Phelan is Vice President of Global Operations Europe Middle East and Africa for PayPal
5. Heather Reynolds is an owner and Director of Eishtec
6. Dave Shanahan is Head of Strategic Health Initiatives worldwide in AbbVie

Action Plan for Jobs can be accessed at http://www.djei.ie/publications/2013APJ.pdf

The accompanying Tables of Actions can be accessed at http://www.djei.ie/publications/2013APJ_Annex.pdf

Pictured (l-r): Michael FitzGerald, founder and CEO of OnePageCRM, Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation Richard Bruton, TD and Brian O’Malley, Enterprise Ireland

Galway-based sales management software company, OnePageCRM, will create 12 new jobs, as part of a €575,000 investment programme supported by Enterprise Ireland and other investors.  The new hires will be in engineering roles for web and mobile technology, digital marketing and customer support.  

OnePageCRM is a cloud-based sales management application for SMEs with a worldwide proven method to greatly boost sales. Specifically built for small business, its unique design makes it extremely effective with minimal data entry and is as easy to use as email.  OnePageCRM is part of the wave of new cloud-based applications for business, where team collaboration and mobile access is to the fore. Securely hosted on Amazon servers, it uses the same encryption as online banking.

Michael FitzGerald, the founder and CEO of OnePageCRM, said: ‘Larger CRM systems work well at enterprise level, but not in SMEs whose managers are busy juggling the multiple tasks of running their business. Enterprise CRM is overkill for their needs’. With an international market, the company has successfully focused on export sales from the beginning.  Michael FitzGerald added:  ‘The beauty of distributing a sales-related product is that it can be sold globally without the need of complex configuration. Sales in SMEs is the same the world over - engage, build trust and stay organised. OnePageCRM excels at this process.  The application, being used by companies around the world, proves its value every day by helping salespeople get things done’.

Visit www.onepagecrm.com for more information on the company

Pictured are: John Collins, Carlo Crighton, Cormac Kelly - from Onwards Learning.

Onwards Learning, a client of Enterprise Ireland, has secured an agreement with the Central Institute for Vocational and Technical Education (CIVTE) in China to develop and run an English language e-learning and teaching portal.

The LearnOnEnglish.com portal will deliver a wide range of digital language technologies, software apps and courseware, as well as assessment modules and international accreditation services. 

This cooperative agreement is under the auspices of the Chinese Vocational Adult Education (CVAE) Network.

The CVAE represents the educational, training and skills requirements of over 30 million people on behalf of the Chinese Ministry of Education.

LearnOnEnglish customers will have access to premium content, software apps and services from world leading third party branded language learning publishers and developers. The portal will feature popular brands of self-paced, collaborative and tutor-led e-learning resources in a social network design along with the latest features in online community, navigation and support.

“The China Vocational & Adult Education (CVAE) division of the Ministry Of Education is happy to work with Onwards Learning Ltd of Ireland as the preferred provider of English Language Learning Solutions to our user base and website visitors. This agreement will provide CVAE online visitors with the opportunity to enhance their English language skills using advanced technologies, applications, tools and services for learning, assessment and accreditation via the innovative LearnOnEnglish aggregated language e-learning platform,” commented Mr Zhang, Director of CVAE.

It is estimated that 380 million people throughout China require high quality education and training resources (Source: Research on Online Education and Training Market in China 2012-2017).  Global expenditure on digital products will account for 7% (or US$2.5 bn) of the total English language learning market by 2016 (Source: Ambient Research).

To find out more about Onwards Learning visit: http://www.onwardslearning.com

Cover photo: SeanPavonePhoto / Shutterstock.com

Pictured are: Adrian Daly, CEO of PensionSource with Minister for Small Business, John Perry T.D.

PensionSource, Dublin-based financial services company, is to create 23 jobs in Ireland over the next three years in an initiative backed by Enterprise Ireland.  Details of the expansion were announced by Minister for Small Business, John Perry T.D., at the launch of the Enterprise Ireland High Potential Start Up-Showcase.

PensionSource, which was established in 2009 by industry veteran and former CEO of Hibernian Insurance Group, Adrian Daly, has invested €1.5m in a cloud based platform which allows financial advisers to handle client pension schemes more cost effectively.  The company has opened an office in London to cater for what it says is a rapidly changing pensions environment in the UK. 

Making the announcement, Minister for Small Business, John Perry T.D., said “PensionSource has developed a financial adviser business model and technology platform which has major potential to create jobs and exports into the UK, home of one of the foremost financial services industries in the world.  It is a tribute to the company’s entrepreneurship and foresight that it has brought this model to market at a time when the pensions and broker industry internationally is undergoing fundamental change”.

“The implementation of the new Retail Distribution Review (RDR) rules in the UK from January 1st has banned traditional commission based business. This, combined with the introduction of pension scheme auto enrolment, which also affects Irish companies with UK subsidiaries, means that IFAs (Independent Financial Advisers) in the UK must find more transparent ways of generating income and new ways of managing their business.  Our platform helps them achieve that,” commented Mr Adrian Daly, founder and managing director, PensionSource. 

“PensionSource’s channel to market in the UK will be through Discretionary Fund Managers (DFMs) and IFAs. The reaction already in the UK suggests to us that the company has a major opportunity to meet a need in a market that is going through the most fundamental change in the history of the pensions and financial adviser industry”, commented Leo McAdams, Manager Financial Services, Enterprise Ireland.

PensionSource, which has already signed a number of partners in the UK, provides pensions advisers and their clients access to over 16 different fund managers representing over 200 funds on a single platform. It also provides streamlined pensions administration which can be accessed by IFAs, their clients and staff through the cloud.

John O Sullivan - CEO Biomnis Ireland, An Taoiseach Enda Kenny T.D, Dr. Ann Shortt - Co Founder & Medical Director Full Health.

Full Health Medical is a Galway-based start-up that has developed new health technology which decodes complex medical data and creates simple medical reports that can empower people to improve their health.   The ‘Full Health’ technology is now being introduced by Biomnis Ireland as part of its workplace health screening programme, HealthWatch, which will benefit both employees and their employers.

The announcement of the commercial licence agreement between Full Health Medical, the Enterprise Ireland supported high potential star-up and Biomnis, leading provider of medical laboratory testing services, was recently celebrated by An Taoiseach.

Speaking at the Biomnis Ireland Laboratories in Sandyford, Mr Kenny described Full Health as an empowering solution which puts employees firmly in control of their own personal health.

“This is a wonderful example of an innovative start-up company, Full Health, responding to a market opportunity and then commercialising its offering in conjunction with Biomnis Ireland. It is especially gratifying to see this level of collaboration happening in an Irish business setting and I wish the venture every success.”

Dr. Ann Shortt of Full Health Medical predicted Full Health would be a valuable tool in detecting and offsetting chronic illnesses and disease in the workplace. “The cost of just one chronic illness can be huge to a national economy, for example, type 2 diabetes which affects 5% of the Irish population.

“When the largest cost to business is wages and salaries, it makes sound business sense to invest in understanding employee health. Full Health can really help employers in a practical and meaningful way to anticipate and mitigate against future financial loss”.

John O’Sullivan, CEO Biomnis Ireland said: “We are delighted to collaborate with Full Health on this partnership which we see as a unique medical reporting solution, which will form a key part of our growing HealthWatch brand. The HealthWatch screening service delivers health checks to approximately 10,000 employees every year. The Full Health initiative will provide employees with the important information in an easy-to-understand format as well as recommendations on how to stay healthy.  We also see it as having a wider application across the Biomnis group for our laboratory testing service as a premium content offering for clinicians and their patients”.

Mike Sikorski, the CEO of Huggity Ltd.

Enterprise Ireland supported start-up Huggity Ltd. employs 12 people in the Guinness Enterprise Centre in Dublin. Established in 2011, Huggity offers an innovative marketing tool to companies that take high-resolution photographs at large events and invites attendees to tag themselves in the photos. Mike Sikorski, the CEO tells us about the idea behind the business:

“The objective behind Huggity is to combine our photography, technology, creative and marketing skills with our love of sport and music to create a positive experience for fans and a powerful engagement tool for brands, venues, teams and artists through fan engagement tools.

Our core product is FanPic which is a giant 360º panoramic, multibillion pixel crowd image taken at a game or event. Once a FanPic is posted online, users can zoom into a crowd photo to find themselves and their friends. They can then share a branded message with friends and family on Facebook, Twitter or email through the “tagging” feature.

Most of the tools available to marketers and sponsors are designed to work either before or during an event. Once the event is finished, the focus of the fans is directed to another event. Huggity changes this by engaging users beyond the event with its content and increasing the length and return of the brand exposure related to the event. 
We are also using the fact that photos have the highest rate of engagement on social media platforms and fans are excited to have the chance to immortalise their image in the stadium or venue.

Most important for brands is that the impressions, tweets, likes and shares that FanPic creates are user generated. These stories are guaranteed to appear on the taggers news feed and timeline. The shares created are genuine fan engagement and not paid for advertising.

Huggity helps brands develop their online sponsorship inventory increasing the attractiveness of their sponsorship proposition.

All Huggity products are measurable so our clients can easily calculate their ROI. We also ensure that there are several means of data capture built into each product so that sponsors can build an accurate profile of their audience.

http://www.huggity.com

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Eamon Gilmore T.D., and the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton T.D. launched Enterprise Ireland’s programme of trade missions and international activity for 2013.

The announcement took place in The Now Factory, an innovative exporting Irish telecommunications company which has benefited from participation on recent trade missions and secured major overseas contracts, and most recently travelled to Texas on the trade mission of 40 companies led by Minister Bruton.

Delivering an intensive programme of Ministerial-led trade missions is a key commitment in the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2013. The number of ministerial-led Enterprise Ireland trade missions has more than doubled over the past two years, up from eight in 2011 and 16 in 2012. 2013 will see Enterprise Ireland embark on a record number of ministerial-led trade missions with an increased focus on high growth economies in Asia, the Middle East and Latin America.

Over 1,000 Enterprise Ireland client companies will take part in 18 Ministerial-led trade missions and 87 international events during the year in major target markets in North America, Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. These trade missions and events are a central part of Enterprise Ireland’s drive to support Irish companies seeking to exploit international business opportunities, target and secure new international customers and grow their sales. These activities are key to helping companies build their export markets, creating and sustaining much-needed jobs in Ireland.

Marking the launch of the programme Kevin Sherry, Head of International Sales and Partnering at Enterprise Ireland said:
“Exports create and sustain jobs in Ireland. Exporting Irish companies support more than 300,000 jobs across every county in Ireland and are vital to growth and recovery in the Irish economy. The programme of events we have put in place is designed to build on export growth in markets where Irish companies are strong, and open doors for increased export opportunities and collaborative business ventures in new high-growth markets.  Ministerial-led trade missions are of enormous benefit in opening doors and creating high-level access to international buyers and decision-makers around the world. We are confident that further growth and business success will result from this programme of trade missions and international activities”.

The range of Enterprise Ireland events planned for 2013 includes Inward Buyer airlifts, study visits, trade fairs, Embassy events and knowledge seminars.

Full programme available at:
http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/Events/OurEvents/Enterprise-Ireland-Programme-of-Overseas-Events-2013.pdf

Minister Bruton addressing a group in Austin, Texas.

In March the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD, led 40 Irish companies on an Enterprise Ireland trade mission to Texas. Over the course of the four-day programme, the Minister attended over 20 trade events and meetings in Houston, Dallas and Austin, and held meetings with multinational companies already investing or considering investing in Ireland.

Over the last decade the State of Texas has become the USA’s second-largest economy – displacing New York and challenging California. It is now the 15th largest economy in the world, roughly the same size as Spain, with a high concentration of telecoms, banking, social media, electronics, cleantech, medical device, and network and web companies. As the largest exporter of goods in the United States, Texas currently grosses more than $100 billion a year in trade with other nations. Texas is home to six of the top 50 companies on the Fortune 500 list and has 58 overall. In addition to global players in the Oil & Gas sector, these include AT & T, Dell, Texas Instruments, Sysco, Whole Foods, Fluor, Kimberly Clark, Southwest Airlines and JC Penney.

Economic shifts towards southern US states offer significant opportunities for Irish companies seeking to expand their presence in the US, or grow exports to new markets.

Enterprise Ireland CEO Frank Ryan, who accompanied Minister Bruton on the trade mission, said: ‘This is a timely and exciting opportunity for Irish companies seeking to export to the US. Texas has an economy that is the second largest in the US and the 15th largest in the world. The economic boom being experienced in Texas and the Southern States provides an opportunity for Irish companies to forge partnerships where there is a clear win-win for both sides. Enterprise Ireland will continue to work with our client companies to ensure further business successes will result from the trade mission – helping to sustain and create employment in Ireland’.

Companies travelling on the trade mission included high-growth start-ups with fewer than 10 employees to more established Irish companies employing hundreds of people, in sectors including ICT, high-tech manufacturing, education and training, and financial services.

Read the full press release

Pictured (l-r) are: Dr. Lisa Keating, Enterprise Ireland, Seán Sherlock T.D. Minister for Research & Innovation, and Yvonne Brady, CEO Sports Shorts Ltd, announcing 120 new business start ups and €12.65 million investment for the Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers Entrepreneur Development programme.

Over 120 new business ventures have successfully completed the first Enterprise Ireland New Frontiers Programme. Based on the success of the first year of the programme, a further €12.65m is now being invested for the next three years of New Frontiers, which aims to develop sustainable businesses that will create jobs throughout the country.

New Frontiers is Ireland’s national entrepreneur development programme that is delivered at a local level by the Institutes of Technology. The programme provides budding entrepreneurs with a package of supports including funding of €15,000, office space, mentoring and workshops to help accelerate their business development. The aim is to equip participants with the skills and contacts they need to successfully start and grow a company.

Following a competitive process 150 potential entrepreneurs were offered a place on the intensive six-month core element of the Programme in 2012 which focuses on developing the person as an entrepreneur and bringing their business idea to fruition. They were provided with the practical skills needed to run a business and challenged to realise their goals. To date, 120 have successfully developed their ideas and launched their business start-ups, the remainder continue to work with New Frontiers to further their business idea.

Yvonne Brady, CEO and founder of EVB Sports Shorts Ltd, joined the New Frontiers programme in March 2012. EVB Sport will provide a line of sportswear to allow women be active and stress free. Yvonne successfully completed the New Frontiers Programme and has since been awarded Competitive Start Funding of €50,000 from Enterprise Ireland to further develop the product and business, to make her business market-ready.

Commenting on her experience of the New Frontiers Programme Yvonne said: ‘I urge everyone with a business idea to apply to the New Frontiers Programme. It provided me with such amazing resources, coaching, mentoring and placed me in a creative space with other like minded individuals all trying to get a business off the ground. Between the Enterprise Ireland led support and the interaction between the participants, the programme has delivered on a huge scale for me, and EVB Sports Shorts’.

Declaring the call for budding entrepreneurs open, Greg Treston, Enterprise Ireland Head of Research and Innovation and High Potential Start-ups said: ‘The feedback from participants on the first New Frontiers Programme has been extremely encouraging.  We are excited to be launching the programme for the next three years and look forward to working with more first time entrepreneurs to help them build the skills and capabilities  necessary to bring their ideas and ambition to success in the highly demanding  international marketplace and as a result  create more sustainable jobs in Ireland’.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Applications for the New Frontiers Programme are now being accepted by your local Institute of Technology (as of Feb 2013)

Minister Richard Bruton T.D. announced details of the €1 million initial research programme in the Technology Centre for Applied Data Analytics Research, CeADAR. An Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland initiative, the initial research phase of the Data Analytics Technology Centre will aim to make Ireland a world leader in this area.

Data Analytics is about the conversion of large amounts of raw data into valuable information through the use of statistical techniques and advanced software.

Data Analytics is a key target sector identified as a Disruptive Reform in the Government’s Action Plan for Jobs 2013, growing at 40% per annum worldwide and offering major potential to Ireland due to established advantages in this area. Establishing an industry led Data Analytics Technology Centre is one of the major actions contained in the plan aimed at realising this potential.

Top-tier multinational and Irish ICT companies will lead the research agenda at the technology centre. Industry partners include:  eBay, Accenture, Dell, Fidelity Investments, Adaptive Mobile, Climote, Cylon, GBR, HP, Moving Media, Nathean Technologies, Nucleus Venture Partners, and Qumas.  Research will be focused on developing ways of generating business, profit and ultimately jobs from the high-growth area of data analytics.

CeADAR will conduct initial research into technology challenges that have been identified by industry representatives. Led by University College Dublin, the research consortium which includes University College Cork, and Dublin Institute of Technology, will use the funding to work with a group of companies to accelerate the development, deployment and adoption of Data Analytics technology. This initial research programme is a significant step towards a Government funded 5 year investment in a Technology Centre for Data Analytics.

CeADAR’s lead team will be based at NexusUCD, the Industry Partnership Centre at University College Dublin.

According to Gearoid Mooney, Director of ICT Commercialisation at Enterprise Ireland, ‘Data is only as valuable as the information and insights we can extract from it. Industries across the world are looking for ways to extract information and insights that will help them make better decisions and create competitive edge. The focus of the researchers in UCD, UCC and DIT will be to create new technologies, usage models and commercial applications to address the short to medium term technology needs of the Irish based industry’.

Watch this short video describing the Learnovate Centre, an Enterprise Ireland and IDA Ireland industry-led centre of excellence for innovation and research in learning technologies. The Centre’s mission is to enhance the competitive advantage of Ireland’s learning technology industry by partnering business with leading researchers from world class higher education institutions.
For more information visit www.learnovatecentre.org

Pictured (L-R): Leonard Hobbs, leader of the European NanoTechnology Research Program at Intel, with Frank Ryan, CEO of Enterprise Ireland.

Dublin is to host the sixth EuroNanoForum conference in June, the largest nanotechnology conference in Europe.

The conference will take place here under the auspices of Ireland’s presidency of the European Council, which in turn is operating under the banner of “Stability, Jobs and Growth”.

The EuroNanoForum 2013 will focus on the impact nanotechnology has in problem solving across key societal sectors such as health, energy and environment.

Nanotechnology and nano-materials have already made significant inroads to a vast range of applications in medicine, electronics, biomaterials, transportation, construction, consumer goods and energy production.

They are used in everything from everyday to lifesaving applications; from  sunscreen to chemical catalysts which keep carpets stain free, to antibacterial agents and groundbreaking nanoparticle screening (which reflect the presence of cancer and infection), to increasing energy efficiency in processes and products in industry and everyday life.

This is only the beginning of the nanotechnology journey which has been earmarked as one of Europe’s Key Enabling Technologies and will feature prominently in the forthcoming EU funding programme, Horizon 2020.

So EuroNanoForum is a must for companies looking to exploit (or learn how to exploit) the latest nanotechnology developments, as well as an opportunity for researchers to discuss their visions for European industries and research in the future.

Alongside sessions on ‘Nanotechnology Leadership’, ‘Nano in Everyday Life’ and ‘Commercialisation of Nanoproducts’, the conference will showcase nanotechnology innovations to 1,200 delegates from 50 countries. High profile speakers drawn from industry, government and research - such as Shell, Nokia Research Laboratories, Intel, Philips Healthcare and Max-Planck Institute among others - will be coming together to discuss the economic and technological impact of nanotechnologies on European growth.

Integrated into the conference is the Nanotech Europe Exhibition where companies and research centres will have the opportunity to demonstrate their innovative products and technologies. There will also be a special Irish Showcase for innovative Irish companies and the Magical Materials Exhibition will showcase the properties of a range of cutting edge materials.

The conference, organised by Enterprise Ireland and Spinverse Ltd and supported by the European Commission Directorate for Research and Innovation, also coincides with Nanoweek which runs from 14-21 June 2013.

EuroNanoForum conference will take place in the Convention Centre Dublin from the 18-20 June 2013.
 

Pictured at the signing in Paris: L-R: Gabriel d’Arcy, CEO, Bord na Mona and Pascal Guasp, President & General Manager, Eau Pure Group – Bord na Mona’s partner in the French market, and Frank Ryan, CEO, Enterprise Ireland.

Irish companies AMCS (Co. Limerick), Anua (part of the Bord na Mona Group), and Cork Plastics signed contracts to the value of €1.5m with three French companies. The contracts represent significant wins for the three companies who are providing innovative products and solutions to the highly competitive cleantech and construction sectors in France. The contracts also support 18 jobs in Ireland.

The announcement was made at a prestigious business event in Paris attended by President Michael D. Higgins as part of his official visit to Paris. President Higgins’ attendance at the event, which was organised by the Irish Embassy in Paris in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Bord Bia and Network Irlande, reflects the importance the Government attaches to Ireland’s economic and trade relationship with France.

France is the third largest export market for Irish companies and a significant trading partner with Ireland. Exports of Irish-owned companies to France grew by 14% in 2011 reflecting the demand for the world class goods and services which Irish companies have to offer.

Details of the contracts as follows: AMCS, headquartered in Limerick are leaders in integrated environmental software and solutions for the recycling and waste management industry. The company has secured a contract with SIRTOM de Sedan, a group of local authorities in the Ardennes Region of France that manage the collection, recycling and treatment of household waste in over 44 cities. SIRTOM de Sedan is implementing the new ‘Pay As You Throw’ (PAYT) legislation for domestic waste collection charging in France. The local authorities will use the collection data from the AMCS technology to measure the amount of recycling taking place to generate invoices for its residents. Along with use of RFID technology to track and determine the identity of the bin being collected, SIRTOM will also make use of novel features such as GPS and mapping to monitor its collection operations. Since mid 2012, AMCS has created four jobs in Ireland to support the French market entry and they envisage creating a further 10 jobs in Ireland to support the French market over the coming 18 months.

Anua, part of the Bord na Mona Group, and their French partner L’Eau Pure, signed their first contract with SIAAP, a large French municipal authority which provides wastewater treatment for almost 12m inhabitants in the greater Parisian area.  The contract worth €400,000 is for the refurbishment of odour control units at Seire Aval, in the Paris area. The contract is very significant for Anua/L’Eau Pure as it represents their first municipal reference customer in France with more than 15 odour control units installed on different SIAAP sites.

Cork Plastics is a leading manufacturer and supplier of high quality PVC products and services to the agricultural, construction and building sectors in Ireland and the UK. They have signed a significant partnership agreement with Sarl Duluc, a specialised building merchant. Under the agreement SARL Duluc has signed an initial contract to purchase €1m of Cork Plastics PVC facia and cladding. Cork Plastics has recently designed and launched two new product ranges specifically adapted to the French market. Two new dedicated production lines are now up and running in their plant in Little Island, directly creating four new jobs in Ireland and two new jobs in France. This initial milestone is the start of a major expansion into the French market; Cork Plastics aim to launch additional production lines in the future which could over time create up to 10 new jobs in Ireland.

97 High Potential Start-Ups supported by Enterprise Ireland in 2012 aim to employ over 1,600 new staff and to generate over €300m in annual sales within three years.  The figures were announced by Small Business Minister John Perry TD speaking at the HPSU Showcase at the Mansion House in Dublin earlier in March.

Minister Perry said: “During the last two years, this Government has delivered a series of measures aimed at putting the best supports in place and creating the right business environment so that indigenous companies can grow their businesses and succeed in export markets.  Our priority is to ensure that more high-growth businesses can set up, expand and turn into large employers.

“The establishment of close to 100 new high potential start-up companies in 2012 with support from Enterprise Ireland represents a very significant achievement.  These companies make a very considerable contribution to the economy and under the Action Plan for Jobs we are determined that young innovative companies like these are supported to increase their impact on export growth and job creation”.

The Showcase also featured the 60 early stage entrepreneurs who have been supported by the Enterprise Ireland Competitive Start Fund and representatives from the 2012 New Frontiers Entrepreneur Development Programme.  

Highlights from the 2012 results include the consumer web and games sector which has seen a dramatic jump in the number of new projects being funded including some international teams relocating to Dublin.  There has also been a tremendous response from female entrepreneurs to the Enterprise Ireland female specific initiatives introduced in 2012. 

There was also an excellent result from Enterprise Ireland-supported third-level research commercialisation with a big increase in the number of High Potential Start-ups emerging as spin-outs from Irish Universities and Institutes of Technology – 14 this year, up 50% on last year. 

Enterprise Ireland defines a 'high potential start up' as a company that is: - Based on technological innovation - Likely to achieve significant growth in 3 years (Sales of €1m per annum and employment of 10) - Export oriented - Led by an experienced team, with a mixture of technical and commercial competencies.

You can download a PDF version of the High Potential Start Up Showcase, Class of 2012, containing contacts details and brief profiles of participating, HPSU, CSF and New Frontier companies here: http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/Start-a-Business-in-Ireland/HPSU-Showcase