Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Mr. Simon Coveney TD and Nigeria Minister for Transportation Rotimi Amaechi 

Speaking before his departure on Sunday, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Simon Coveney TD said: “This Trade Mission provides a key foundation on which to build strong economic links with West Africa and with Nigeria and Ghana in particular. The region has a strong demand for imports of quality food, given the size of its population and Ireland is strategically placed to be a key supplier of quality dairy and meat products, but also high end services in the field of education, finance, engineering, construction and technology”.

CEO of Enterprise Ireland, Julie Sinnamon said: “We are very excited about the opportunity that exists for Irish companies in Africa. The continent as a whole is the second fastest growing economy in the world and is home to eight of the world's fastest growing economies. This trade mission is about helping Irish companies to optimise on the opportunity that exists, as the continent transitions from the need for assistance, to a continent of opportunity; the so-called 'aid to trade' journey.

“Our ambition is to reach export sales of €600m to the region by 2018 and we will continue to work with ambitious and capable Irish companies to expand their market share in African countries, exploring and developing lucrative trading relationships that ultimately deliver export-led job creation in Ireland.”

Expanding economies in West Africa provide fertile ground for Irish companies in the agri food sector wishing to expand their global footprint, and also in fields such as education, training, geoscience and engineering, financial services and technology. With combined populations of over 200 million, Nigeria and Ghana are experiencing healthy economic growth at present.

Overall, bilateral trade with Nigeria was worth half a billion euro in 2014 (exports €339 million), with Guinness extract the single largest export. Merchandise trade with Ghana was worth €38.7m in 2014 (exports €36.3million).

Find out more about the trade mission to West Africa on Enterprise Ireland website.

Minister for Skills, Research and Innovation, Damien English TD oversees the creation of “innobot”, the live Innovation Showcase logo, at NCAD. 

The ultimate goal of the Innovation Showcase is to achieve significant economic impacts through increased engagement between the public research system and industry.

Three keynote industry speakers from Ceramicx, Accenture and IBM will discuss how their use of supports for research and innovation has improved their businesses. Experts from Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland will also be on hand to give advice on accessing funding and opportunities for engagement with the public research system. 

Organised on behalf of the Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation by Enterprise Ireland and supported by IDA Ireland and Science Foundation Ireland, the aim of the Showcase is to achieve significant economic impacts through increased engagement between the public research system and industry.

Running in parallel to the networking event is the “Big Ideas” session, facilitated by Enterprise Ireland, which will feature 12 Start Up companies pitching their ideas to investors.

Minister for Skills, Research & Innovation, Damien English TD who will open the event said: “Driving innovation and research within enterprise is a national priority. Building on the success of last year’s Innovation Showcase, Innovation Showcase 2015 will bring together all of the State funded R&D supports available to industry to help them build their own R&D capacity either through collaboration with the higher education sector or through direct support to the company. Companies who are new to research collaboration can find out all they need to know at the Innovation Showcase and I would encourage people to register to attend. It’s also a chance for those who already have association with our public research system to engage further and access new supports”.

For more information and to register please go to the Showcase website:
http://www.innovationshowcase.ie/

Pictured (L-R): Tom Hayes, Enterprise Ireland; Conor Healy, Cork Chamber of Commerce; Gina Quin, Dublin Chamber of Commerce; Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD; and Oisin Geoghegan, Local Enterprise Offices.

The Enterprise Europe Network (EEN), the world’s largest support network for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) has announced a new partnership with 31 Local Enterprise Offices in Ireland. This will mean free access for Irish companies to Europe’s largest database with up to 10,000 new business and technology opportunities in the EU and many other major global markets.

The Enterprise Europe Network in Ireland is a joint partnership between Enterprise Ireland, Local Enterprise Offices, Dublin Chamber of Commerce and Cork Chamber of Commerce. Launched in January, the Network is co-financed under ‘COSME’, the EU funding programme for the Competitiveness of Enterprises and SMEs. The services are tailored for SMEs but are also available to all other businesses, universities and research centres.

Speaking at the announcement Tom Hayes, Divisional Manager, Regions and Entrepreneurship, Enterprise Ireland said: “Today’s announcement will open doors for Irish companies to foster new partnerships and access up to 60 international markets, get advice on EU funding and support on bringing their innovative products and technologies to a global audience. It is an important step in bringing Irish companies closer to our European counterparts, and will enhance the services that Local Enterprise Offices can offer Irish companies.

Oisin Geoghegan, Local Enterprise Offices commented: “As the first-stop shop for enterprise, the network of Local Enterprise Offices’ role is to encourage a culture of entrepreneurship in Ireland. In partnership with the Enterprise Europe Network, Local Enterprise Offices across the country can now support SMEs in becoming more knowledgeable and competitive in global markets, leading to greater international business opportunities.”


Get connected: how SMEs can fast track growth with the Enterprise Europe Network (Euronews.com video):

Ireland has secured almost €180 million of funding for research and innovation projects through Horizon 2020, since the programme began.

Horizon 2020 is the current EU framework programme for research and innovation. With a budget of nearly €80 billion, Horizon 2020 runs over seven years from 2014 to 2020.

Ireland’s success comes at a time when the EU Institutions have just announced agreement on the 2016 budget, boosting investment in competitiveness, jobs and growth. A budget of €10 billion has been allocated to Horizon 2020 (up 11.6% from 2015). 

Minister for Skills, Research & Innovation, Damien English commented, "I would like to congratulate researchers from academia and industry in Ireland who have secured this prestigious funding.

"Irish Researchers are punching above their weight & continue to excel at winning competitive funding against the Europe’s best researchers. This confirms to me that Ireland is well on the way to becoming a global research destination of excellence.

"Since the beginning of the programme over 440 applicants from Ireland have secured almost €180 million of funding for research and innovation projects.

"In particular I welcome the strong performance by Irish companies in winning €53 million (of the total funding secured). This level of funding will allow some of our leading SMEs to become world players in areas such as medical devices, road safety and energy."

Minister English concluded: ‘I would call on Irish researchers and companies to actively respond to this growing opportunity from Horizon 2020.’

Myles Murray, the founder and CEO of PMD Solutions

PMD Solutions is one of 38 innovative SMEs across Europe selected under this round for funding. PMD will develop 'RespiraSense' a new respiratory monitoring device to tackle in-hospital respiratory compromise. The funding will be used to finance innovation activities like demonstration, testing, piloting, scaling up and miniaturisation, in addition to developing a mature business plan for their product.

Myles Murray PMD Solutions founder explains: "Respiratory rate is a key indicator of a patients general well-being so changes in this vital sign can be indications of respiratory compromise, increasing severity of sepsis, worsening pneumonia, and predict oncoming heart attacks - some of hospitals most frequently occurring adverse events. 'RespiraSense' is designed to continuously measure this vital sign, which if detected to be abnormal can help medical staff prevent these from happening with patients on the general ward. This can produce better patient outcomes and overall reduce length of stay for patients in hospitals and to free up beds - a current need for Emergency Departments nationwide."

RespiraSense is currently being used in hospitals in Ireland (Galway University Hospital and Cork University Hospital as of December 1st), Germany, and Hong Kong. By the end of 2015 PMD plans to be actively used in 5-10 hospitals around the world. PMD plans to extend the application of its technology to monitoring Chronic Patients at home and also to support home screening of patients at risk of sleep apnoea - a sleeping disorder that can advance into other conditions if left untreated.

PMD Solutions have announced it will increase its team by 11 people over the next 18 months. The company is looking to hire employees in their core areas of marketing and innovation to add their existing team of 10.

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD and Minister of State for Business and Employment and Louth/East Meath TD Ged Nash launching North East/North West Action Plan for Jobs in the Boann Distillery.

The North East and North West Action Plan for Jobs launched by the Government yesterday aims at delivering 10-15% employment growth in the region over the coming years.

The Plan is the sixth of 8 regional jobs plans to be published over the coming months, as part of a new €250million regional jobs strategy led by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Richard Bruton TD.

Since the national Action Plan for Jobs was launched in early 2012 more than 20,000 extra people are at work in the North East/North West (12% growth). During the years 2008-2011, 31,600 jobs were lost in the region. The plan launched today targets employment growth of 10-15% over and above today’s employment levels.

The North East and North West Plan covers counties Donegal, Sligo, Leitrim, Cavan, Monaghan and Louth. Key sectors targeted as part of the plan include traditionally strong sectors for the region like agri-food, manufacturing/engineering and tourism, as well as areas targeted for future growth like digital payments, cleantech and creative services.

Some of the initiatives include:

• An extra 300 to 500 jobs in Gaeltacht regions.
• Cross-border initiatives for companies to gain their first foothold in export markets.
• A Digital Payments Cluster along the M1 Corridor.
• A new Shannon-Erne Blueway and further developments around the Wild Atlantic Way and Ireland’s Ancient East.
• Exploring the potential for a renewable energy innovation centre at Killybegs.
• Increasing the number of start-ups in the region by at least 25%.
• A €2.2million grant funding from Local Enterprise Offices to provide training and mentoring support to over 1,500 business-people per year.

Find out more here: The North East/North West Action Plan for Jobs

A new global ranking by PitchBook, a leading Venture Capital and Private Equity Investment Platform, has put Enterprise Ireland at number 3 in terms of Top VC investors in global seed funding rounds since 2010.

The platform, which is regularly used by over 70,000 plus Venture Capital, Private Equity, Angel investors and Investment Professionals to profile global Start-Ups, has ranked the top VC investors in seed rounds since 2010, along with their deal counts as follows:
1.SV Angel (232)
2.Kima Ventures (198)
3.Enterprise Ireland (196)
4.Andreessen Horowitz (134)
5.Google Ventures (131)

Since the beginning of 2010, 2,387 VC investors have participated in at least one seed round globally, according to the PitchBook Platform. During this timeframe, VCs have completed an increasing number of seed financings each year, with annual deal count jumping from 484 in 2010 to 1,943 last year. Although the pace has declined somewhat in 2015 with only 1,215 deals completed so far, capital invested has stayed strong; VCs have already put $1.97 billion into seed investments this year, surpassing 2014’s total of $1.95 billion, according to PitchBook.

Kevin Sherry, Executive Director at Enterprise Ireland said: “A key focus for Enterprise Ireland is providing seed capital to Start-Up companies and we are delighted to have been ranked third among top venture capital investors worldwide including SV Angel, Kima Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz and Google Ventures. This reiterates the important role that seed funding, and Enterprise Ireland, plays in providing essential finance to early stage companies as they begin their path to growth”.