Minister for Jobs, Richard Bruton, TD, recently announced that 1850 jobs will be created over the next three years by 122 High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) companies. The HPSUs are supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation through Enterprise Ireland.
Minister Bruton was speaking at the showcase of the HPSU class of 2013 which took place in Dublin Castle. The Minister announced the results of the Enterprise Ireland High Potential Start Ups programme 2013, which showed that:
• 1850 new jobs will be created over the next three years by 122 HPSU companies
• 103 new HPSU companies received investments from Enterprise Ireland during 2013, the highest number of new HPSUs supported during a single year and ahead of target
• 41 female-led HPSU projects won investments during 2013, a major rise from 16 in 2012, as a number of women-specific initiatives showed results
• 2013 also saw a rise in the number of overseas entrepreneurs setting up their businesses in Ireland, and overseas projects represent 15% of the HPSU class of 2013
The showcase also features the 85 early stage projects supported during the year under Enterprise Ireland’s Competitive Start Funds, and representatives from the 2013 New Frontiers entrepreneur development programme.
Speaking at the showcase, Lisa Vaughan, Enterprise Ireland Head of High Potential Start Ups and Scaling said: “The Action Plan for Jobs gives a clear mandate to Enterprise Ireland to drive entrepreneurship and new business start-ups. 2013 was a very strong year with many highlights, including the big increase in female led start ups and the strong showing of new start ups from overseas and spin-outs from Irish Universities and Institutes of Technology.
“All the companies here today have the potential to grow rapidly and become significant exporters. These companies play a really significant part in stimulating local economies and employment. The push now must be to help these young companies to realise their full potential to achieve significant scale and become major international businesses in markets across the globe”.
