Tech with heart: how CroíValve made a difference to patient safety

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A trip to Paris was the catalyst for Dr. Martin Quinn, CMO and co-founder at CroíValve. “I was always interested in new treatments and one dawned on me in France,” he says.

During an interventional cardiology conference, Martin and the other attendees were going over treatments for tricuspid valve regurgitation (TR). A common heart disease that affects over half a million people every year in the US and EU alone. “I thought, ‘there’s a better way of doing this,’” he says.

Diagnosing a problem

Later that evening, Martin began jotting down ideas and sketching models. It was the beginnings of a game-changing device that would eventually be commercialised with the support of Enterprise Ireland.

Having spent 17 years as a Consultant Cardiologist, Martin has witnessed first-hand the harsh realities of TR. A vast majority of these patients are elderly and too frail for open-heart surgery. TR happens when the tricuspid valve doesn’t close properly. This causes blood to flow backwards, which over time can lead to permanent heart damage as well as liver and kidney problems.

Martin wanted to create a device that sealed the gap in the tricuspid valve, thereby restoring valve function without a big operation. On his return from Paris in 2014, Martin set the wheels in motion and filed a patent for a new concept.

Remedying a solution

To build the device, Martin needed a partner who combined both business and technical understanding. Dr Bruce Murphy, an Associate Professor in Biomechanical Engineering, was the perfect fit.

“A colleague of mine told me about a guy in Trinity College, Bruce, who was building a mitral valve for the heart,” he says. “I was astonished that he was building something so sophisticated here in Dublin.”

Martin and Bruce agreed to develop a prototype together. It was Bruce who suggested applying for Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund, and the pair were successful in their application in 2016. “The fact that Enterprise Ireland invested in us showed we were onto something,” says Martin.

With funding secured, the team began to grow. A chance meeting between Bruce and Dr Lucy O’Keefe, now CEO and co-founder at CroíValve, would prove to be a pivotal moment. She was a key hire, bringing extensive experience in start-ups and medical device development to the project.

Caring about safety

As part of the Commercialisation Fund, it was agreed that the team would develop their technology in Trinity College. Martin assigned his intellectual property to the university to develop the idea further.

During gaps in Martin’s busy schedule, he would provide clinical input as the team fine-tuned their designs and built a working prototype. “It was a huge learning curve for me. I’m not from an engineering or business background,” he says.

As the prototype took shape, Martin and the team began a rigorous testing programme. This would be a critical step to ensure the end product was safe and effective. Animal models were chosen to mimic aspects of TR. Early signs were positive, and the results would be crucial in securing additional investment.

The team reached out to industry contacts, with the support of Enterprise Ireland. Having successfully pitched their prototype, the project received €3.2m in funding from HBAN MedTech, Irrus Syndicates, Atlantic Bridge University Fund and SOSV Ventures.

“That was further validation for our solution following a detailed assessment. It was a huge achievement,” says Martin.

Believing in your team

The funding accelerated the development of the technology into first-in-human studies, which took place in St James University Hospital Dublin in March 2020. Carried out by an experienced heart team, the device performed well and was implanted and removed without complications.

“That day, the staff were incredible,” he added. “It was amazing to think how far we’d come.”

CroíValve’s device has been proven safe, simple and effective through extensive pre-clinical testing. But the journey is by no means over for Martin and his team. They spun out from Trinity College and into the Liffey Trust Enterprise, Dublin, where CroíValve is now based. They’re always looking to improve the device and still work with Enterprise Ireland today.

“They continue to provide invaluable advice, financial assistance, and important introductions to key industry contacts,” says Martin.

For anyone embarking on their own project, Martin has some advice: “Focus on the benefit to people. It’s a lot of hard work but incredibly fulfilling.”

 

Discover how to take your idea from lab to market with Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund.

Sullivans Brewing

Keep on brewing

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Sullivans BrewingAlan Quane, Group CEO of Sullivan’s Brewing Company, speaks about continuing to grow during difficult circumstances and building an international brand

Sullivan’s Brewing Company, based in Co Kilkenny, has a fascinating history, dating all the way back to 1702. The company boomed through famines, fires, and wars, until one fateful day in 1918, at the end of WW1, an unfortunate member of the Sullivan family – a descendant of original owner Richard Sullivan – lost the business over a bet on a horse. Sullivan’s was then acquired by Smithwick’s, formerly a rival of the company.

Alan Quane says, “It was in 2016 when I had met Paul Smithwick through my work with Diageo and he told me he was resurrecting this great brewery. So along with Paul, his son Dan, who is our Finance Director, and Master Brewer Ian Hamilton, who has huge brewing experience internationally with Diageo, we relaunched the business.

“Then there’s Michael Meade, our US based co-founder, who was a strong believer and instrumental in fundraising from day one. Alan Smithwick, a cousin of Paul’s, was also a co-founder. Alan is not only a Smithwick, but also a Sullivan. So we have the Sullivan blood in the business which has led to our brand tagline of ‘brewing is in our blood’.”

With the help of Enterprise Ireland, who provided grant support, and Bord Bia, the team rebuilt the brewing business, with a real focus on exports. As soon as their ale was out their gates, they were exporting to the US, places such as Buffalo in Upstate New York. “Enterprise Ireland and Bord Bia were extremely helpful from the early days,” says Alan.

“We knew we had a great story to tell and we wanted to brew world-class quality beer to honour this heritage.” confirms Quane.

“In fact, in 2017/18, we won the best beer in the world competition at the Oscars of the beer world in Burton-on-Trent, amongst 1,300 beers from over 45 countries around the world.”

 

Silver lining to the Covid-19 crisis

Having been through difficult times, including the Great Famine and many a rebellion, Sullivan’s Brewing Co. is no stranger to challenges – so how have the company been coping during the Covid-19 pandemic?

“The on-trade shut down completely and utterly in all of our markets in the US, as well as Ireland,” says Alan. “The off-trade retail environment were very much focussed on big brands and boxes of the beer, so shoppers weren’t looking for ‘craft beer’ for the most part, they were really going after the deals and a quick-fire purchase.

“We had to move with speed into survival mode, cutting our overheads and any costs we could get at. From a supply perspective, we had created great momentum in the States up to St Patrick’s Day prior to the lockdown. We had nine new markets in the US alone year to date, on top of six new markets added in 2019. This had led to great strain on our supply chain.

“But during the lockdown, we were lucky enough to be able to brew here in Ireland and therefore we were able to build up the pipeline inventory for these US markets.

“In Ireland we also started selling our beer online direct to consumers’ homes, keeping the brand front-and-centre during these very strange and isolating times. That was a silver lining in a very dark cloud.” says Quane

 

Helping hand

Sullivan’s Brewing Company and family motto has long been ‘standing up to do the right thing’. Back during the Great Famine, the brewery was transformed into a soup kitchen to serve food for those most in need. And this trait has lived on today. During lockdown, the company went above and beyond to support the community in Ireland and the US.

“We sent pizzas from our Sullivan’s Taproom in Kilkenny to frontline staff at the regional hospital and Gardaí station,” says Alan. “We also contributed to the Answer Ireland’s Call charity, helping them repatriate much-needed frontline staff to Irish hospitals at the peak of the pandemic. Stateside, we helped deliver meals to people in need, for example, through the VA Medical Centre and Kenmore Mercy Hospital in Buffalo, NY. That concept of community has always been important to us and our sales team were very happy to try to help.”

So what has Alan learned from the pandemic?

“As a team, we have learned that we are very resilient,” he says. “The team and our plans pivoted quickly to focus on a new set of priorities in an unprecedented and seismic change to our customers’ needs and channel dynamics. As always, we’ve learned that innovation and creativity is central to how we respond to the fast-changing needs of our trade partners.

“We have also upweighted our activity on social media during lockdown, learning how to be much more effective in that channel for relevant brand news and engagement.” says Quane.

Future focus

Alan says they now have plans to relaunch their route to market in Ireland. “We’ll service pubs and restaurants directly ourselves. We will continue to use C&C, our distribution partner for other opportunities, but by taking control of the bars and restaurants, I believe this will give us a chance to get even closer to our customers and their needs, and see how we can better serve them.”

Alan emphasises that a huge part of their future focus is exporting. “Having expanded to nine US markets in the early part of this year, on top of six last year, we have a lot of very new markets to nurture and grow. We’ve also plans to add more new markets in the US and look to the UK and Canada to continue to fuel our rapid expansion plans.

“Throughout these difficult past few months, we’ve maintained a very close relationship with Enterprise Ireland. They supported our very successful and latest round of funding. They’re a firm believer in us and continue to help us as we transition from a high-potential start-up into a successful scaled-up business.”

NearForm

Nearform – Necessity is the mother of invention

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“We’ve grown massively and have taken on new clients and staff. And part of that is down to the underlying improvement in our ability to deliver quickly.”

– Ger O’Shaughnessy, Head of Propositions, NearForm.

Case Study: NearForm

Every growing company juggles day-to-day demands with the need to innovate. NearForm, a Waterford-based global software consultancy with 200 staff in 29 countries, had the vision and ability to scale, but they needed help and found it in Enterprise Ireland’s Agile Innovation Fund.

Ger O’Shaughnessy, Head of Propositions at NearForm explains: “”The potential for us was to develop software tools to help us deliver more solutions at higher speed and scale in a repeatable way. While we had all the skills and leadership to do this, we needed some commercial space to be able to take staff off client work and dedicate them to research and development.”

Seeing the potential

In 2019, the team at NearForm started to look at how they could evolve their services, but they needed to innovate quickly to make their growth plans a reality. In Q4, they applied, and were approved, for Enterprise Ireland’s (Business Innovation Initiative) under the Agile Innovation Fund. Nearform’s Development Advisor  guided them through the application and approval process.

The company has a global client list: London banks, US pharmaceutical companies, retail chains in South America, as well as blue chip brands like American Express, The New York Times and closer to home, the Health Service Executive (HSE).  But despite the wide variety of fields, all these organisations face the same challenge.

Facing the challenge

Ger says: “All of our clients want to be modern digital enterprises with market leading digital services. It’s the number one challenge in our market, not just for growth but for survival, as the world is dominated by fast-moving digital companies.”

“We’ve always been able to deliver change for clients with great digital solutions. What we came to realise – in the age of Amazon – was that delivering a great solution was not enough. We wanted to create digital platforms to deliver new features and services continuously for clients, so they could move as fast or faster than the digital native disruptors that might take their market,” he adds.

What NearForm hoped to achieve was ambitious. A lot of their work was, and still is, delivered from the open web platform – a global shared ecosystem for coders – using open source components. The team at NearForm realised that if they wanted faster, reliable solutions for their clients, they needed to move the existing open source technology forward.  By doing so, the technology would be more ‘enterprise ready’.

NearForm wanted to “advance the whole open source platform and make it available to everybody, not just our clients,” Ger says.

“Because we’re a tech services company, there’s always a pressure to be billable. We were able to do it because of the commercial cover afforded by the fund,” he says.

Learning from the process

The speedy application process for the Business Innovation Initiative (Agile Innovation Fund) had an unexpected benefit. “It made us think about our own approach and outcomes carefully,” Ger says.  “It was literally applied for in October and approved in December of the same year.”

The project kicked off in December 2019 – the timing proved to be serendipitous. Amongst the many benefits envisioned, the project aimed to accelerate their solutions. Once Covid hit, speed became even more important for their clients. And new clients soon came their way.

NearForm were approached by the HSE to create the Covid tracking app for Ireland and went on to create similar apps for nine jurisdictions. Ger says: “Everywhere from Jersey to New Jersey. We created the software, but we also donated it to the Linux Foundation so that every country could have the Covid tracking app as open source code.”

Overall, across all sectors, the impact of the innovation fund was faster delivery of high quality solutions and of course, increased revenue.  “We’ve grown massively and have taken on new clients and staff. And part of that is down to the underlying improvement in our ability to deliver quickly,” Ger says.

Their unique understanding of the open source code they advanced has caught the attention of global investors. They recently secured funding from a US venture capital firm. “One of the reasons we got investment is that they were so interested in our expertise in open source. Being able to show that we were investing in that was definitely a contributing factor to getting funding.”

What advice would he give to anyone thinking of applying for the Agile Innovation Fund and pursuing an innovation project? “It’s an opportunity to create longer-term value,” Ger says. “Our view is that if you’re not innovating then your competitors will be. Innovation is not just a nice to have, but a necessity for growth.”

To find out more about Enterprise Ireland’s Agile Innovation Fund, contact your Development Advisor or call our R&D unit on 01 727 2120.

 

Tourism

EU helps to transform Travel & Tourism, offering opportunity to Irish businesses

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Summary

  • NextGenerationEUrepresents an opportunity for Irish companies to break into new markets or scale their presence in existing markets
  • EU member states are striving to transform their travel and tourism sectors around the twin pillars of digitalisation and sustainability, with thousands of projects in train or set to be completed by 2026.
  • The Enterprise Ireland Eurozone teamcan help you find the right travel and tourism digitalisation projects to target
France Italy Spain

Tourism is on the way back. While the pandemic severely disrupted the travel and tourism sector, every region saw increases in travel in 2022, according to the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).

In fact, more than 900 million tourists travelled internationally in 2022. While this was twice as many as in 2021, it was just 63% of pre-pandemic levels. Europe fared better than most other regions, however, with numbers returning to close to 80% of 2019 figures.

Hotels, hospitality providers, travel agencies, transport companies, tour operators and activity providers can be reasonably confident of seeing improved revenues again in 2023. This is despite and in ways subject to macroeconomic challenges such as inflation and the war in Ukraine.

Broadly speaking, the industry in Europe continues to offer substantial opportunity to Irish travel tech companies. And with substantial funding flowing across the region from the €806.9 billion NextGenerationEU recovery and resilience programme, there is unprecedented

How digital tools are transforming tourism

Across the travel and tourism industry in Europe, digital solutions are making the industry more efficient and more cost-effective, while also smoothing the journey for consumers.

In the accommodation sector, for example, accommodation providers across all price levels are increasingly using digital technologies to enrich and improve their offer. This includes innovations such as:

  • Mobile or remote payment
  • Online or mobile check-in
  • Virtual assistance using chatbots
  • Virtual tours
  • Virtual keys (on smartphones).

Likewise, the cultural sector is also taking more advantage of digital tools. In this space, these can include:

  • online ticketing
  • on-site QR codes, beacons and touch screens
  • attraction-specific apps
  • interactive and virtual reality installations.

Furthermore, the pandemic also led to an increase in offerings such as virtual visits to museums or other attractions, online lessons (such as cooking lessons) and experiences, or dedicated e-commerce platforms for food, wine and crafts.

Real potential across the value chain

Across every aspect of the travel and tourism experience, from research and booking, to how people get around to their stay and what they do on their trip, there are opportunities for specialist travel tech providers to improve the experience for both the traveller and the service provider.

The opportunity is broader than specific travel tech solutions, however. Fintech, cybersecurity, and data analytics and protection firms, for example, may find valuable opportunities in this sector.

Opportunity abounds around sustainability

Under pressure from government as well as from the consumers they service, travel and tourism companies are increasingly committed to sustainability. This can include:

  • reducing energy consumption
  • cutting carbon emissions
  • reducing waste
  • sourcing local providers of goods and services.

In terms of the offer to travellers, sustainability comes to the fore in the shape of eco-tourism, slow tourism, cultural exchange, community development and environmental protection.

Other avenues to sustainability include newer trends that help to reduce overtourism and increase bookings in the low season, such as appealing to digital nomads and promoting long stay holidays, both of which are significant factors in Italy and Spain.

Irish companies thriving in tourism

While Ireland has long excelled as a tourist destination, it’s also home to an increasingly vibrant travel tech sector.

Irish companies succeeding across Europe in the sector include Campsited, a booking platform for campsites and outdoor activities, car rental and mobility solutions provider CarTrawler and biometric travel security specialists Daon.

Expert advisors in Enterprise Ireland’s network of offices across Europe, together with its Market Research Centre in Dublin can support your business as it investigates market opportunities, including making local introductions and helping you to build your network.

Market snapshots

France

A tech savvy-market with substantial public funding for transformation, France offers opportunities to any company with a distinctive offering.

One of the world’s largest tourism markets, France attracts over 80m tourists every year. Across accommodation, attractions, activities, transport and other services, the sector employs millions of people and accounts for about 7% of GDP.

The government has encouraged rapid digitisation and transformation with investment in digital infrastructure and initiatives such as the French Tech Visa program. Local start-ups are harnessing emerging tech such as artificial intelligence, virtual and augmented reality, and blockchain to improve consumer experience.

France has a well-developed and advanced travel IT sector, across online booking and reservation systems, mobile apps, travel management software, analytics, and more. The European Travel Commission valued this sector in France at €50 billion in 2019, making it the second largest in Europe after Germany.

Sustainability is key here as elsewhere. Many French travel tech companies are working to reduce the environmental impact of travel, through carbon offsetting programmes and sustainable travel planning tools.

While the French typically tend to be early adopters, there is still plenty of room for growth in the market. Furthermore, the government is investing heavily to revive and reinforce the market in the post-pandemic era.

Of the €100 billion France Relance national recovery plan, France allocated €18 billion to investments in tourism infrastructure, support for green tourism initiatives and funding for vocational training.

Furthermore, the €1.9 billion 10-year Destination France plan addresses five key challenges:

  • Recruiting talent to work in the sector
  • Reinforce the sector’s resilience and help improve the tourism offering
  • Develop French tourism assets
  • Respond to the challenge of transformation, including around sustainability and digital tools
  • Promote France and consolidate its market share

The key opportunities for Irish companies in the market are around:

  • Online booking and reservation systems
  • Mobile apps and platforms
  • Harnessing artificial intelligence and big data
  • Virtual and augmented reality
  • Sustainable tourism.

When it comes to travel tech, the French market is well established and highly competitive, benefitting from a strong culture of innovation and mostly favourable regulatory conditions. It’s crucial to have a clearly defined and innovative value proposition to present to the market.

Before starting to sell into France, research the local travel tech market to identify the key players, industry trends, customer needs, and competition. You can use this information to develop a targeted approach.

It’s useful to remember the sales cycle can be as long as 18 months in France, due to extensive due diligence. The upside is that business relationships tend to be long and fruitful after this process has been completed successfully.

 Top tip

Localisation is vital in this highly competitive market. While initial networking may happen in English, the language of business is French. If you are not ready to hire a fluent French speaker, ensure you bring an interpreter or a local partner to meetings. This is to understand important cultural nuance as well as to cross the language barrier.

Likewise, ensure your products and services are tailored to the French market. This may include adapting marketing materials and your user interface to appeal to French customers.

Contact the Enterprise Ireland France team

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Italy

Developing a local approach is key to unlocking the digital transformation potential of this large but still fragmented market.

With 64.5m international tourist arrivals each year, Italy ranks fifth in terms of global tourist destinations. The sector generates €90 billion annually, accounting directly for over 6% of Italian GDP and 7% of total employment. Tourist numbers have recovered since the pandemic, with 350 million visits in 2022.

Italy also has 58 UNESCO World Heritage sites, more than any other country, and 4,292 museums. While culture and tourism are cornerstone sectors of the Italian economy, they lag when it comes to digital transformation, however. Cash payments in physical ticketing offices still account for many sales.

The Italian tourist board (ENIT) is pushing to make tourism more sustainable – 82% of accommodation facilities now use sustainable products – and more evenly balanced throughout the country. It is encouraging tourists to visit villages and rural destinations as well as the tourist honeypots of Florence, Rome and Venice.

Through its National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), Italy is channelling €2.4 billion of NextGeneration EU funding to boost digitalisation in the tourism sector. This is going to fund:

  • A €100m digital tourism hub to connect the Italian travel and tourism industry
  • €1.8 billion towards greater competitiveness in the industry
  • The €500m Caput Mundi project to redevelop and revitalise Rome.

While Italy has more hotels than any other European country, most are family-owned and large hotel chains don’t have a huge presence. That makes for a fragmented market.

The same is true for the tour and activity sector, which is not dominated by big players. The outdoor sector has grown significantly in recent years in Italy, and it has the most activities available of any European country.

Italy is an attractive market for new entrants with technology solutions. It is very open to working with international vendors if their innovation is more digitally advanced than the incumbent/competitors. Digital transformation is high in the companies and local government agenda. There is a proactive interest in new technologies to support the industry and to overcome some of the challenges.

Likewise, businesses in the sector are interested in providing a more sustainable product or service offering to the tourists who visit Italy, so enabling that also presents a clear opportunity.

Top tip

It’s important to target the market directly and have a local approach. Italian companies already have the advantage of speaking the language and having a presence in the market. They also have a network of contacts, which is vital in this relationship-based business environment.

Therefore, it’s important to invest time in building relationships and to be perceived as local, with an active Italian partner or a presence on the ground.

Contact the Enterprise Ireland Italy team

 

Spain

A world leader in tourism, Spain is pushing hard to see more innovation and digitalisation across all levels of this vital sector.

As the recovery from international lockdowns continued, along with the related acceleration in digitalisation, Spain saw 58.5m tourist arrivals in 2022. It leads Europe (while being third in the world) on the World Economic Forum’s travel and tourism competitiveness rankings.

Given the importance of tourism to its economy, Spain has historically invested heavily into transport infrastructure and connectivity. In recent years, it has also pushed to invest in its historical heritage, the Pilgrims Road to Santiago de Compostela and innovation in tourism companies.

The country accounts for 9.1% of the European hotels industry, with large international players dominating the market, while numerous smaller companies also vie for bookings. The big companies typically operate multiple hotel brands to appeal to different segments. Hotels at every level compete with Airbnb and other short stay platforms.

The Spanish online travel sector is pioneered by Madrid-based tech and global distribution leader, Amadeus.

Only one Spanish company, Globalia, is among the big four travel intermediaries in the market. The other are Booking.com, Expedia and TUI. All four are highly active in mergers and acquisitions, as they seek competitive advantage in Spain and globally.

Spain’s national allocation for grants under the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) amounts to €69.5 billion. It has allocated an unprecedented €1.5 billion in 2022 to actions in its plan to modernise the tourism sector and make it more competitive.

Through the state-owned SEGITTUR company, the Spanish Secretariat of State for Tourism is heading the Smart Destinations project. This is an international model aimed at harnessing innovation and knowledge transfer to improve the sector’s competitiveness and sustainability and develop better governance in tourism.

In particular, the tourism ministry is devoting €25m to develop and implement transformative technological projects. Particular areas of focus for digital transformation in the sector include:

  • The internet of things, machine learning and big data
  • Monitoring tourist flows
  • Personalising the offer to consumers
  • Cybersecurity

The local travel tech start-up ecosystem is buoyant, receiving more funding than any other sector in Spain in 2022, according to the Bankinter Foundation of Innovation.

An interesting opportunity is the new international Tourism Innovation Hub in Madrid. Sponsored by Mastercard and backed by the Spanish government, the hub aims to help foster global, sustainable and inclusive growth for tourism.

Spain is a competitive market for mobility and typically has a relatively long sales cycle regardless of the sector, so a premium offer and patience are required.

Make sure you have local support in the market, as you need to speak the language in this cost-driven market, and sales are heavily based on reputation and relationships.

Spain is one of the most decentralised countries in the world, with 17 autonomous communities and five official languages, so a one-size-fits-all approach may not work.

In fact, the Spanish state is managing 55% of the national recovery and resilience funding, with regional authorities administering the rest. Market entrants need to understand local, regional and national regulations and bureaucracy.

Top tip

Start planning now for the FITUR International Tourism Trade Fair, which will be held in January 2024 (dates to be confirmed) at IFEMA in Madrid. This is the leading global trade fair with a focus on Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking markets.

Contact the Enterprise Ireland Spain team

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Net Zero: Time for Irish companies in the UK to prioritise strategies to tackle climate change 

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Net Zero

Irish companies operating in the UK have had quite a turbulent few years. Not only have they worked through the Covid-19 pandemic, which has affected literally every part of the business world, but they have also come through the preparation and implementation of Brexit. But now there’s another issue that is becoming ever more urgent by the day – climate change – and it’s time now for Irish companies in the UK to start implementing strategies to make their business more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

While climate change is an urgent issue in every country, an even closer light has been cast on the changing environmental and sustainability conditions of the UK market. The UK was the first industrialised nation to enshrine its climate targets in law, pledging to cut carbon emissions from 1990 levels by 78% by 2035 and to reach net zero by 2050. This has been supplemented by recent UK government announcements including its ten-point plan for a green industrial revolution (published in December 2020), a new hydrogen strategy and an offshore wind sector deal. COP26 is taking place in Glasgow this autumn, and to coincide with its launch, the UK government is planning to publish a comprehensive cross-sectoral net zero roadmap, which should provide greater clarity for all sectors.

“By and large, net zero been welcomed by the market, as businesses can see the opportunities that come with such a move, but the details still need to be sorted out,” explains Darragh Cotter, Senior Market Advisor, Industrial and Cleantech, at Enterprise Ireland. “The comprehensive roadmap to be published ahead of COP in November is expected to include all the important steps to take the UK to their net zero target, including the level of investment the government is willing to put into it.”

 

Already an urgent issue

With such ambitious targets, it’s clear that this will result in fundamental changes across the business community. Already, the UK net zero challenge is rapidly impacting government policy and legislation, influencing consumer preferences, impacting investor decision making and changing the way major corporates work with supply chain partners.

“If you already have a presence in the UK, you must become conscious of the net zero ambitions of your customer base and the changing dynamics,” says Darragh. “For instance, already a lot of public procurement is building in environmental criteria into their tender assessments. That will be the same in the construction and agricultural sectors. So our message is that this is a critical issue for Irish businesses if they want to continue working in the UK because everything from procurement to the type of products and services will undergo fundamental change as we journey towards net zero.

“For us in the Enterprise Ireland London office, it’s the number one issue facing businesses today; we want to educate our clients on the issues facing them, find out what’s required by their customers and potential customers in the UK and relay that information to our client companies. For instance, we are seeing more and more UK corporates looking for their supply chain to have achieved environmental accreditation through certification such as ISO 50001 and ISO 14001. Our client companies need to be aware of the criteria they need to fulfil in order to continue doing business in the UK.”

To help, Enterprise Ireland has launched Net Zero UK: Ready for a Green Future, a proactive market intelligence and insights campaign that is designed to keep Irish business informed of the UK’s net zero plans and their impact on business. Through webinars, podcasts and reports, the campaign will highlight technologies and verticals that are likely to decline and those that will grow and emerge, along with the evolving expectations of major UK corporates. These insights can inform the strategic planning and R&D activities of Irish companies operating in the UK to both protect and to grow their business over the coming years.

Opportunities

Of course, with every change there’s opportunity, and working with Irish SMEs to identify new and relevant business opportunities is a key goal of Enterprise Ireland’s Net Zero UK campaign. “Net Zero will affect every sector, but some sectors would require different measures to others,” says Darragh. “For Irish companies, there are opportunities across all sectors related to net zero, not just in renewable energy – there are also opportunities in construction, engineering, manufacturing, local authorities, finance, business technology and more.”

Enterprise Ireland’s Net Zero UK campaign is complemented by the €10 million Climate Enterprise Action Fund, which provides a suite of products to help Irish companies assess their current carbon footprint and develop a concrete decarbonisation strategy to help future-proof their business. These financial aids work alongside the focused sector insights provided by the Net Zero UK campaign.

Despite Brexit, the UK remains one of Ireland’s most important export partners, and it’s vital that Irish companies take action now to address the opportunities and risks brought about by the growth of UK’s green economy. Enterprise Ireland’s Net Zero UK campaign aims to support Irish exporters and help them to emerge stronger, more successful and more sustainable than ever.

Net Zero UK is part of Enterprise Ireland’s Evolve UK campaign. Find out more here.

Enterprise Ireland’s top tips for entering the Finnish and Nordic markets

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Finland adds appeal to Irish businesses who want to scale, and develop a presence within their sector overseas.

If you are considering doing business in Finland, the ten tips below will help aid you entering the market, as will our Nordics Team – located in both Stockholm & Copenhagen.

  • Finland has an increasingly elderly population and is constantly looking for healthcare solutions, new talent & the creation of new jobs.
  • The highest areas for growth and innovation in Finland are, Healthcare, marine industry, bioeconomy, energy, cleantech and environmental solutions
  • Finland is almost 1,200 km long and only contains 5.5 million people, most of whom are in the South. Most headquarters are in the capital city region of Helsinki, Espoo & Vantaa. Other business hubs are Tampere and Turku.
  • Finland has a high level of English, but don’t be fooled – this isn’t because Finnish is similar to English. Finnish is one of the hardest languages to learn in the world so if your product or service needs to be translated you may require a local partner or a team of translators. Swedish is the second official language of Finland, so certain products, such as food items, may require both.

The Nordics are a highly advanced region which rewards high quality and innovative solutions. These countries are familiar with collaboration and partnerships and often look globally to ensure that they have the best innovations on offer.

  1. Nordic business culture is based on equality, efficiency, modesty and punctuality.
  2. The Nordics are a hub for innovation – with more and more unicorns coming from the Nordics every year, the Nordics are home to some of the largest ICT & MedTech hubs in Europe.
  3. Business decisions take longer – generally, the Nordic countries operate on a consensus approach to business decisions and have flat organizational structures.
  4. If you plan on being in the Nordics long term, setting up an office in-market is necessary – as is localizing offerings (e.g. offering in local language)
  5. The Nordics are a detail-oriented market – make sure that you have the required accreditations & certificates and all specs of your product memorised, as you will need answers ready for highly-detailed questions (including any worst-case scenarios).
  6. Wait for an answer – People in the Nordics think carefully about what they are going to say before they say it, giving them their reputation as being ‘reserved’. They are comfortable with long silences and often speak only when there’s something worth saying, meaning you must give them a longer time to respond.
  7. References are required – having customer stories from within the Nordic region or from the U.S. will help gain trust and credibility from potential customers.
  8. Long-lasting Relationships – while it is a long process to build a trusting relationship, Nordic companies are usually in it for ‘the long-haul’ and are unlikely to change provider unless necessary.
  9. Highly Regulated – regulations across all sectors are among the strictest in Europe and often have higher expectations than the European Union in general.
  10. The environmental impact of business – the Nordics is a very environmentally aware market and environmental impact is something that many companies consider when entering new relationships and may set you apart from the competition.

Sweden

  • As the 5th largest country in Europe, Sweden is drastically different in the North and South with different innovation hubs scattered throughout the country. Where is best for your offering is something that should be considered.
  • Many Swedes go on an extended holiday during July, meaning that generally no new business is conducted from the 21st of June (‘Midsommar’) until the middle of August.
  • Planning is essential to Swedes, so make sure to plan to meet before your arrangements for travelling.

Denmark

  • Denmark is home to Medicon Valley the largest Lifesciences hub in Europe – second only to Silicon Valley in the world.
  • Denmark is a world leader in Life sciences, cleantech and digitalization.
  • Denmark is a rich, modern and design-focused country with a highly educated and critical population who are amongst the fastest to adopt new products/technologies
  • The Nordics are known for high levels of employee protection, however, in Denmark, they operate on a ‘flexicurity’ model, where it is relatively easy to hire or fire someone, but they have a high level of social protection.

Norway

  • Norway is not a member of the European Union but is part of the Inner Market through the EEA agreement
  • Norwegians often disregard titles and symbols of power as they operate with flat structures and informal communication.
  • Family comes first so afternoons and Fridays are very difficult to get a meeting as even senior management cuts their days short if they need to pick up children or be with their family.
  • Most of the population is in Oslo, Bergen, Stavanger and Trondheim, with the North of Norway being sparsely populated.
  • Distributors and agents are the most popular entry method into Norway – one must be careful to ensure their distributor can give focus and dedication to your product/service.

Enterprise Ireland is committed to helping Irish firms succeed in global markets and have industry experts on hand, ready to help you access the Nordic markets.

Showcase - Irish craft and design expo at RDS, Dublin

Irish craft and design in the spotlight at Showcase 2022

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The return of Showcase to the RDS in Dublin was cause for celebration for Ireland’s craft and design sector.

While 2021 saw a virtual-only trade event, which brought the country’s makers together with international buyers online, Showcase 2022 proved better than ever because it blended the benefits of a traditional in-person trade show with lessons learned about online B2B sales.

 

How Showcase benefits the Irish craft and design sector

 

The event is the most important date on the craft and design sector’s calendar.

“If Showcase didn’t exist, it would have to be invented,” says Brian McGee, Market Development Director of Design & Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI).

“It was established by what was then the Crafts Council nearly 50 years ago on the basis that it is very difficult to bring the whole craft and design sector overseas, and much easier to bring buyers here.”

The Local Enterprise Office Showcase features first-time exhibitors. “For any small producer starting out, who wants to sell outside of their studio, Showcase provides them with the ability to do that,” Brian explains.

“All sorts of retailers, from pharmacies in Dublin to gift shops in Donegal, exhibit to overseas buyers who travel to find products they won’t see anywhere but at Showcase.”

 

Unique craft and design

 

The originality of the products is an important part of Showcase’s appeal.

“Buyers from the likes of QVC, LL Bean and the Tate Gallery know they won’t find these goods in Frankfurt or Birmingham.”

“Buyers come to Showcase because they get unique products of a very high quality with a story attached.”

Its purpose is not to generate profit, but to strategically develop the craft and design sector. However, serious business is done. At Showcase 2020, €25 million worth of orders were made, up 6% on 2019.

400 exhibitors took part in that show which was visited by 4,187 individuals, representing 2,600 businesses/shops.

McGee correctly anticipated a strong showing at Showcase 2022. “We saw high levels of anticipation and excitement because buyers hadn’t been anywhere for two years,” he points out.

While there were fewer buyers from long haul locations such as Asia and the Middle East, those present were very serious about buying.

 

 

A digitally enhanced expo

 

Because the future is likely to see an increase in online marketplaces, Showcase 2022 was digitally enhanced.

The Showcase Connect digital platform opened to buyers two weeks before Showcase 2022 launched at the RDS, enabling exhibitors to organise meetings and pitch products.

The platform remained open for two weeks after the show to allow exhibitors to answer queries.

 

Craft and design innovation

 

Another reason why international buyers visit Showcase each year is because Irish craft and design companies are consistently bringing forward new products, says Enterprise Ireland’s Ross O’Colmain.

Examples include Allied Imports’ new collection from designer Orla Kiely and the sustainable range from Rathborne Candles.

“For any business that is developing new product lines, a physical trade show is the best way to keep existing buyers interested, to win new buyers, and to get feedback,” Ross says.

The craft and design sector encompasses everything from jewellery and homewares to gifts. What most have in common is growing export orientation.

 

Strength in stories

 

Showcase 2022 exhibitor Copperfish uses timbers reclaimed from the decking planks at Belfast harbour, where ships like the Titanic were built. These are authentic, traceable timbers with a story attached, which is why luxury stores in the US want them.

“Buyers are looking for things that aren’t available anywhere else,” explains McGee.

The apparel and fashion side of the sector is performing well too, says O’Colmain, who points to a rise in interest in items such as Aran sweaters, driven by influencers such as singer Taylor Swift.

“Many businesses in the sector have posted strong sales results throughout the pandemic, which in itself is encouraging. But for companies that are launching new products, doing so without meeting, engaging with, or presenting to buyers in person is very hard. That is what has been most difficult over the past two years,” says O’Colmain.

“People wanted to get back to those kinds of interactions, and that’s why Showcase was so important.”

 

Showcase 2022 took place from 27 February – 2 March in Dublin.

To enquire about exhibiting during 2023, contact Showcase Ireland.

Output Sports

Meet Output: the smartest team in sport

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A passion for sports and data has proved the winning formula for Dr Martin O’Reilly, co-founder and CEO at Output Sports.

Founded in 2018, the company develops technology to test and track the performance of athletes. However, the origins of the team stretch back further.

In 2012, Martin was first exposed to wearable sensors, signal processing, and machine learning during an undergraduate degree in Sports and Exercise Engineering, NUI Galway (NUIG).

“At first, I was just interested in what could be measured in the gym and that led to a PhD in Machine Learning for Signal Processing at UCD”, laughs Martin, as he reflects on his commercialisation journey with Enterprise Ireland.

Getting the ball rolling

Martin discovered a problem during his fieldwork.

He realised that athlete testing and tracking involved the use of cumbersome, bespoke equipment. These tools were unreliable, expensive and time-consuming.

When he looked deeper into the issue, he realised that strength coaches and medics were spending less time doing the things they truly cared about – coaching and rehabilitating others.

Products like Fitbit and Nike’s FuelBand provide macro-level analysis like step and calorie count. But, Martin wanted to go further by measuring performance related attributes like strength, power, balance, speed and mobility.

Martin and his fellow PhD student Dr Darragh Whelan (also now co-founder and CSO at Output Sports) began collecting interdisciplinary research and exploring algorithms. They felt sporting performance could be measured more accurately, and at a lower cost, by developing a single, wearable motion sensor.

Martin and Darragh’s PhD advisor Brian Caulfield, Director of the SFI Insight Centre for Data Analytics at UCD, adopted a leadership role in their project.

“Brain’s involvement was pivotal for us. He surrounded us with anthropologists, statisticians, doctors, and physios. He’s a brilliant creative mind and still sits on the board today as an adviser,” says Martin.

Setting the bar high

The team was about to be given a jolt of confidence. Darragh conducted 80 interviews with sports practitioners who completed quantitative and qualitative surveys.

“Their pain points almost perfectly matched our algorithms and research. That encouraged us to commercialise,” says Martin.

In 2018, the team applied for an Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund, allowing them to ramp up and develop a minimum viable product (MVP).

The team gathered extensive feedback from 30 potential users, as they tinkered and iterated the MVP. In 2019, Julian Eberle, the third co-founder and also CTO, came on board and began leading the technical side of things, such as developing mobile applications and implementing the MVP’s algorithms.

“We were beginning to put the meat on the bones,” says Martin. Together with Enterprise Ireland, they created a rigorous project plan with a series of milestones and timelines. Martin and the team regularly met with Enterprise Ireland advisors Gerard Lande and Tom Bannon to help focus the project from a commercial viewpoint.

After many months of hard work, the team launched Output // Capture in February 2020. The product can test multiple aspects of athletic performance with a matchbox-sized wearable sensor that can be fitted to your wrist or upper arm.

With Enterprise Ireland’s support, the team began reaching out to contacts in the world ofsport. They were excited by the names showing interest.

Believing in your team

Soon after launching Output // Capture, the company spun out from UCD School of Public Health, Physiotherapy and Sports Science. The team made the short move to the university’s innovation hub NovaUCD, where they are now based.

Output Sports now has 200 clients from professional sports teams right down to school and university levels. Among the company’s partners are several professional soccer clubs, this includes Premier League sides including Burnley, Norwich City, and Watford. The team also partner with Leinster Rugby and the England men’s football team.

Having successfully commercialised their product, Martin still works alongside Enterprise Ireland today.

“We received funds from other investors, but the key to that was the backing we received from Enterprise Ireland. They also helped with grants and opened doors for us to make important contacts, so they’ve been fantastic.”

For anyone embarking on their own project, Martin has some advice: “Surround yourself with mentors and listen. Most of all, enjoy yourself. We’ve loved every second of our journey.”

 

Discover how to take your idea from lab to market with Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund.

The Level Project: Promoting gender balance in leadership teams

The Level Project: Promoting gender balance in leadership roles

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Gender balance, diversity and inclusion is something we strive to promote as much as possible as a society, but in the world of business, having gender balance in a leadership team has been proved to have a very real and positive impact on a company.

As a result, gender balance in management is something that Enterprise Ireland is widely advocating and supporting through a major new initiative, The Level Project.

 

What is The Level Project?

Sheelagh Daly, Enterprise IrelandThe Level Project has its origins in Enterprise Ireland’s Action Plan for Women in Business, which recognised that increasing the number of women in middle and senior management, as well as on boards, leads to more successful, sustainable and profitable businesses. “The Plan saw that there are considerable economic benefits that lie, untapped, in women in their roles both as customers and as talent,” says Sheelagh Daly, Entrepreneurship Manager at Enterprise Ireland. “In essence, by achieving gender balance, a company is tapping into 100% of the talent pool and 100% of the market.”

The findings of the report is reflected in numerous studies that show that gender-balanced leadership teams can help businesses grow on a global scale. But despite all these studies and their clear conclusions, Irish companies are a long way from achieving gender balance in senior teams.

There are numerous reasons why, but in the interests of helping companies progress and work towards their own individual gender-balance goals, The Level Project is a practical initiative that includes an online Action Planning Toolkit. Free to all companies, this toolkit helps companies assess their current situation and put in place real actions to enhance gender balance in senior teams.

“Achieving gender balance is certainly harder in some industries than others, but simply taking some steps to enhance the gender balance of your leadership team can have tangible benefits for your business,” explains Sheelagh.

“For example, visibly championing gender balance can have a positive effect on attracting and retaining talent. Gender balance in leadership also leads to increased creativity and innovation, thanks to diversity in thought and mindset, as well as a greater understanding of your customer base.”

 

Striving for better

These advantages are already being experienced by four early champions of The Level Project.

VRAI is a fast-growing tech firm in the field of data-driven VR simulation training, and believes that a diversity of mindset is essential to help mitigate the complexity of what they are trying to achieve.

Similarly, Spearline, a leader in telecommunication technology, credits a better understanding of their diverse customer base to diversity within their senior teams.

For CLS, Ireland’s largest contract laboratory, having gender balance throughout the company, especially in leadership teams, creates harmony in the workplace, which can only lead to success.

Vivian Farrell, CEO Modular AutomationHowever, achieving gender balance is very much a long-term plan for a lot of companies, especially those in industries that are traditionally male dominated. For example, Shannon-based Modular Automation has recognised that gender balance is hard to reach if girls are not seeing engineering as a viable career choice in school – a key part of their strategy is therefore demonstrating the advantages of studying engineering to girls at Junior Cert stage and lower.

“All four of these companies have implemented very real strategies to enhance gender balance in senior leadership,” says Sheelagh. “While they recognise that this is a long-term project, the advantages of such strategies are already being experienced.”

 

Introducing the Toolkit

A key part of The Level Project is the Action Planning Toolkit, which is suitable for all companies, big and small, whether they are just starting out on their gender balance journey or want to improve and target their efforts even further. The Toolkit consists of six themes (Strategy, Attract, Retain, Develop, Engage, Measure), each of which is divided into two levels according to how advanced a company is. “We recommend that every company should start with the Strategy theme,” explains Sheelagh.

A series of questions is included within each theme; answering ‘No’ to a question presents the user with suggested actions to include in their plan. Each theme also includes links to helpful resources such as guides, templates and expert insights. Once finished, an editable Action Plan for the company can be downloaded, which includes all the actions chosen  as well as space for notes.

The online toolkit can be used free of charge by ALL companies.

Enterprise Ireland client companies can also apply for several supports to help develop and implement their gender balance plan. Details of these supports can be found here or by talking to your Development Advisor.

 

More information on The Level Project, including access to the Action Planning Toolkit and details of financial aids available, can be found here. 

TriviumVet – Innovating with an Eye on Global Pet Healthcare

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“The research and validation work we embarked on with the Innovation Voucher Scheme from Enterprise Ireland gave us a very data-driven solid foundation as a platform to be able to make sound strategic decisions and move to the next stages of our ambitions” – Dr Liam Byrne, Head of Technical and Business Development, TriviumVet

The global companion animal health sector market has been growing like never before, along with the rising numbers in the adoption and purchase of pets. This has created a need for more sophisticated and efficient therapies for animals and the mission of TriviumVet is to deliver ground-breaking innovative healthcare solutions to bridge the treatment gaps in veterinary healthcare for these companion animals.

Founded by a seasoned group of entrepreneurial experts, the Waterford-based company now has many breakthrough veterinary therapeutics in the pipeline and has been named in Ireland’s top 100 start-ups for the second year running. Dr Liam Byrne, Head of Technical and Business Development at TriviumVet, who has a background in chemistry, joined the company two years ago and from his time in Waterford company EirGen Pharma was familiar with the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher Scheme.

The company is on a fast-moving trajectory around product development and needed to push research and development around formulation, good manufacturing process, scale-up plans and more. This stage was crucial before moving to the clinical aspects and proof of concept, safety studies and field studies before approval to ensure all safety and standards are being met along with regulatory and licensing requirements for the European and US markets.

Working with three academic institutions – TU Tallaght, Waterford IT and Liam’s alma mater Dublin City University, TriviumVet used the Enterprise Ireland Innovation scheme vouchers to embark on proof of concept research for a number of their products. As part of this product development, TriviumVet used an Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher and worked with the PMBRC Gateway in WIT to carry out research allowing them to proceed with clinical studies of their treatment – an exciting project which is currently underway.

“The work we did through the voucher scheme went from an idea that we were examining, to us being able to validate that theory with lots of data and reports that we could use to then create a portable point of care test. We were in a position to avail of specialist skills that we did not have in-house,” explained Liam. “We were able to research and investigate and without this process it wouldn’t have been possible to know if this would work. It went from a concept we were talking about to reality”.

Liam Byrne points out that the innovations have helped TriviumVet to build up the foundations of their business and they hope in the future to be able to develop a suite of diagnostic tools and have not just one test but a range of them. “The innovation vouchers allowed us to find our feet in a relatively risk free way. We now benefit with a clear path forward and are in a position to move to the next steps of development of these biosensors and their commercial development”.

“I would highly recommend companies to get involved in the Enterprise Ireland Innovation Voucher process,” says Liam. “The process is very user friendly and they are happy to guide you. It is also very beneficial to partner with an academic institution. If you’re trying to answer a technical problem or trouble shoot an issue or if you are trying to test whether a concept is valid, the innovation voucher can be invaluable”.

To take your next step towards Innovation visit Innovation Vouchers.

Key questions to ask at your Belgian or Luxembourgian Market Advisor meeting

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This is an open discussion between you and one of our trusted Market Advisers, to discuss your business and the export opportunities that lie for you in the region. Below are some suggestions of questions to ask your MA, to learn more about the Belgian and Luxembourgian markets, and the supports we can offer you.

  • What resources do you need? Enterprise Ireland can help entrepreneurs and businesses to scale and reach their potential, let it be from funding support, market insights, or finding the right contacts through international networks. Ask your MA what they can do to help you scale your business and enter the market prepared, confident and supported.
  • What are the opportunities in the market for your business? Ask your MA which opportunities lie within your sector, and how best to leverage these growth opportunities for your business.
  • What should the next steps be? Discuss forming a plan towards global exporting – have an open discussion and together plan objectives, goals and discuss what time frames to expect. Next steps may include further market research and discovery, funding applications or buyer introductions.

Set up a call with our team in Brussels today

For more be sure to read our Belgium Going Global Guide  and our Going Global Guide Luxembourg 

Enterprise Ireland’s top tips for entering the Belgian and Luxembourgian market can be viewed by clicking the graphic below.

Cubic Telecom - MRC case study title

Market research vital for success in the German automotive industry

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Cubic Telecom - MRC case study - Gerry McQuaid CCO

With businesses facing more and more challenges by the day, the need to find growth areas within your chosen sectors has become even more important.

For life sciences, pharmaceuticals, automotive and e-commerce, the DACH region, consisting of Germany, Austria and Switzerland, is a growing market actively looking for innovative solutions to push the sectors forward. In fact, in 2020 companies supported by Enterprise Ireland had exports from Ireland to DACH totalling over €1.8 billion.

One Irish company that has seen the opportunity within the DACH region is Cubic Telecom, a business that produces an innovative platform called PACE to bring 24/7 connected software in cars to a new level. The opportunities for such a platform are huge – in 2019, the global connected car market was valued at $63.03 billion, and it’s projected to reach $225.16 billion by 2027. Not surprisingly, as the centre of the automotive industry in Europe and home to many world-leading car makers, the German market has a significant share in this growth.

But when entering such a huge market as the German automotive industry, research is vital to ensure that any partnerships formed are strategic and sustainable – as Cubic understood from the very start. This is where Enterprise Ireland, and specifically its Market Research Centre and the Enterprise Ireland team in Dusseldorf, were able to help.

“We did not simply select Germany as a generic target market,” Cubic Telecom CCO Gerry McQuaid says. “We looked at the world’s biggest automotive manufacturers and decided which companies we wished to build a partnership with. This naturally led us to Germany, the home of some of the world’s top auto manufacturers.”

“We were very careful to take the time to understand what is required to do business successfully with large prestigious German companies and we had excellent support from the Enterprise Ireland team in Germany.” Cubic Telecom CCO Gerry McQuaid

Platform for success

Cubic Telecom’s solutions are indispensable for the whole range of services used by Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) through the connectivity of cars, including entertainment, safety, driver assistance and vehicle management. Specifically, Cubic’s PACE platform enables cars and other devices to automatically connect to high-speed local mobile networks around the world securely and compliantly, while the PLXOR solution offers a single view of how content services are consumed across global fleets. And, its newest product, INSIGHTS, provides the business intelligence needed to see exactly how a fleet is performing, with real-time monitoring and alerting capabilities.

Already, Cubic has enjoyed much success, connecting over 7 million devices and vehicles in 103 markets across Europe, North America, Latin America, the Middle East, Russia, Africa and Asia-Pacific. The company’s major opportunity in the automotive market is in its current partnership with the Volkswagen Group; already the company has established roll outs with OEMs like Skoda or Porsche, with more models to be added.

“We were delighted to partner with the leading automotive brands within Volkswagen Group and this partnership has been an intrinsic part of developing our business success in Germany,” says McQuaid

This strategic partnership was carefully planned and researched by the Cubic team. From their initial introduction into Germany, the Enterprise Ireland office in Germany supported Cubic’s progress within the automotive industry. With important connections across the German automotive and future mobility ecosystem, and a comprehensive overview of the economic landscape, the German office can advise companies not only in the early phases with finding the right approach and direction, but also with advanced business development when pivoting new sub-sectors or intensify current activities.

Guidance from the German office proved very supportive for Cubic when it was entering the market in the early days. It now provides German brands such as Audi, Volkswagen, Porsche with a fully digital experience for their drivers.

Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre also played a key role. Client companies can use the centre to gain access to company, sector, market and country information needed to explore opportunities and compete in international markets. This allows companies like Cubic to assess and validate a market before developing an export strategy with support from the local office.

In fact, the approach proved so successful that Gerry recommends it to any company seeking to enter new markets. “Start by considering the needs of the customer you are selling to, what solution you are selling, who you need to sell it to and what markets those target customers are in. Then leverage the Enterprise Ireland regional offices to get introductions to the people in that market who you need to meet.”

Learn how Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre can support your company’s export ambitions.