Cutting costs and reducing food waste: Positive Carbon’s solution for the hotel industry

We are all becoming more and more aware of our impact on the world, yet when it comes to business, profit often takes precedence. But if you can form a business that makes profit and helps the environment – then you’re onto a winner.

Enterprise Ireland’s Competitive Start Fund (CSF) is encouraging applications from eligible companies that address the challenges and opportunities relating to climate change. “It’s really exciting to see more environmentally focused businesses coming through,” says Aisling Kirwan, co-founder and Director of Operations at Positive Carbon, a recent recipient of funding through the CSF. “If you can bring together a business model while answering environmental concerns, it’s a win-win. And people are becoming more aware of the consequences of their actions and their impact on the world around them.”

Positive Carbon is a great example of a business looking to have a positive impact on the environment with a product that saves money for their customers. Aimed at the hotel market, Positive Carbon manufactures a solution to reduce food waste in as simple a way as possible.

“From research, we found that hotels were the biggest wasters of food by far,” Aisling explains. “From talking to chefs and getting feedback from general managers, we came up with a solution that we thought would work the best in a busy kitchen, with the aim of halving food waste. A hotel, on average, spends €200,000 a year on food that ends up in the bin; if we can halve this, we can help the hotel save money while reducing the environmental impact of the waste.

“Our solution is a fully automated food waste monitoring system. A weighing scales fits under any bin in any kitchen and sitting alongside that is a camera that looks directly into the bin. When waste is thrown into the bin, the scales weighs it while the camera takes a picture for identification. All of that information is collected and displayed for the client, so they can see exactly what is being thrown away. For instance, the information might reveal that 13 kilos of chicken was thrown away today – this clearly needs addressing. Avoidable food waste accounts for 66% of the waste in hotels, and with functions, that number shoots up to 87% – it’s an absolutely massive amount of waste, both food and money.

The United Nations has said that if we can reduce food waste, this is the single most effective thing we can do to reduce CO2 – and it’s such a quick and easy and achievable fix.says Kirwan.

 

CSF applications – a demanding, but rewarding process

With a background in the food waste industry working with innovative companies such as FoodCloud, Aisling and her co-founder Mark Kirwan first applied to Enterprise Ireland’s New Frontiers programme to see if their solution to reduce food waste could become a viable business; Positive Carbon then opened for business in May 2020.

“The CSF felt like the logical next step for us,” says Aisling. 

“We used the funds mostly for product development, to bring out a new version of the product, and then to upscale manufacturing as we are bringing onboard a number of new hotels over the next few months.

“I’m also taking part in the Innovate programme as part of that, the three-month accelerator programme for women entrepreneurs delivered by Dublin Business Innovation Centre in partnership with Enterprise Ireland, which has been really great. It’s good to be in an environment where you can talk about any issues or thrash out solutions.”

Like many other CSF recipients, Aisling says the application process was a rewarding exercise. “I definitely wouldn’t say it was easy! There are a lot of different stages to it, but it was also very enjoyable. It made us really think what we were trying to achieve in our business, get that down on paper and then be able to pitch our plan to a panel as well – and to be confident enough to answer questions. It’s definitely a demanding process but you get a lot out of it as well.”

 

Covid – time to prepare

Launching a new business during the Covid-19 pandemic certainly brings its challenges but for Positive Carbon it also gave them time to prepare. “With Covid-19 limiting hotel business, we’ve had the chance to sit down with general managers for a chat about our product,” says Aisling. “People are so generous with their time; it’s nerve-wracking to call up someone out of the blue but people are happy to talk to you and give you really valuable advice and feedback.”

Aisling says that the reaction from the industry has been positive – and no wonder, as this product has the potential to save businesses a massive amount of money, something that the beleaguered hotel industry will welcome. “After such a difficult year, hotels are excited to try new things. Food waste is such an unnecessary cost – and it’s not just the cost of the food itself, it’s the cost of the staff time in prepping, cooking and storing the food. The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) estimates that when you take in all the factors involved in food waste, the true cost is €5,000 a ton.”

“We’ve come a long way in the last few months, and that’s with the support of Enterprise Ireland and the CSF”, says Kirwan.

Visit this page for more information about the Competitive Start Fund.

 

Ambition Benelux: Breaking into Benelux

Choosing the right international opportunities and how to address them are key success factors in every successful export strategy. At Enterprise Ireland’s most recent Ambition Benelux event in Athlone, Irish exporters shared the reasoning behind their move to this lucrative market that offers access to the rest of the Eurozone.

For Azpiral, a Limerick firm running real-time cloud-based customer loyalty engagement software, it was the unavoidable consequences of Brexit that focused the minds of the management team as they moved to ensure regulatory compliance with data stored in the UK.

Sales director Kevin Nolan told delegates: “We made a decision once the Brexit vote was taken that we had to make efforts on two fronts. Firstly, we had to move over data out of the UK, so it took a two-year project to bring it on to Microsoft Azure. Secondly, to move into the European market, in 2018 we started doing research into the forecourt and convenience market across Europe. We identified the main groups across multiple countries with the hope that, if we could win some of those, it would open up the market internationally.

We targeted Benelux specifically because we had integrations in place with the till systems of forecourt systems of that region.” says Nolan.

Nolan reported that they had just concluded a deal that will see their cloud-based solution positioned in 350 AVIA service stations in the Netherlands, representing 10% of the market.

AVIA is an international leader in the European forecourt sector, with over 3,000 stations across 15 European countries. Nolan says he is “hopeful that being the first choice in loyalty software for international brands like Circle K, Gulf Oil, Spar and AVIA will present opportunities for Azpiral to continue to expand internationally.”

Project management firm Aspira, who specialises in software services and digital transformation, took a more analytical route into the region. Having served the Irish arms of many multinational clients in Cork and Dublin, it heatmapped the concentration of prospective clients and settled on Amsterdam. Both the Netherlands and Belgium have high concentrations of multinational HQs meaning key decision makers are within arm’s reach.

Russell Moore, Aspira’s Resourcing Manager, said having face-to-face contact was vital: “We quickly saw that by having a local office near to where your clients were meant that you could expand quite rapidly.  It’s much better than doing FaceTime or Skype. So we weren’t afraid of looking at a new market. As time has gone on, the whole agile concept of the project management package is very interesting to Dutch clients who are very engaged with digital transformation.

Localising for Benelux

speakers at Ambition Benelux

“We rebranded lots of projects that we had already done with this in mind, such as the Central Bank, Coillte and Aer Lingus, into the digital transformation journey that had been taken by these clients, and we’ve found that is resonating really well with the Dutch market in particular.”

For Cork’s Over-C, who deploys an integrated digital platform providing transparency for all functions relating to the upkeep of high-footfall, scaling meant having to go beyond the Irish border. Their product suits high-footfall, high-risk public facilities, such as shopping centres, stadia and transit hubs, and ultimately there is finite amount of all of these here in Ireland. Over-C leveraged existing links with Dutch-owned client ScotRail when targeting the region.

James Murphy, Head of Partnerships, told delegates:

“I see the Netherlands as a gateway to the rest of Europe. The Netherlands are early software adopters, and Germany looks at the Netherlands and what works there, so it’s good preparation for new markets.” 

Over-C’s innovative software uses artificial intelligence, data and analytics to provide industry professionals with key insights for time-critical decision-making. It has been operating in the Dutch market for two years, with customers including Facilicom, Trigion, Koopgoot, Plaza Nieuwegein Shopping Centre, and Wereldhave. Over-C is working with KPN to identify further opportunities through their customer base.

 

Take the step into Benelux

Events such as Ambition Benelux are one element of Enterprise Ireland’s Step into the Eurozone campaign, which supports Irish companies at each stage of their market discovery journey. Built around five steps, the programme assists with everything from scoping, assessing and validating new market opportunities, to acquiring funding for activities such as recruiting graduates with relevant language skills.

With Nolan reporting that it took Azpiral 12 months to finalise its big deal in the Netherlands, these supports are hugely valuable for helping to sustain the investment of management time and direct costs behind successful market entry.

Why ‘no’ is the most common word used in French business

France is the most visited tourist destination in the world. Almost 83 million visitors a year make the trip to one of the most culturally rich and diverse countries in the world – and it’s easy to see why.

But visiting as a tourist, as many Irish people do, only scrapes the surface of the French psyche. How France deals with visitors is not always the same as how French business is conducted and it is important to discern the difference.

Irish business culture has evolved into an open, often informal and flexible solution-based environment, driven both by Irish innovation and the requirements of multinational partners. Given that we are an export-driven economy, we are outward facing by default and used to finding bespoke solutions.

 

How French business culture differs from Ireland

It could not be a more contrasting picture in France. French business culture can appear formal to the point of excess, governed by layered hierarchy and tiered bureaucracy.

Combined with French pride in putting their native tongue foremost, it may appear, at first, a difficult cultural barrier to overcome.

At Enterprise Ireland’s most recent Ambition France event, Irish exporters shared first-hand experience of French business culture.

By following the well-trod path to the UK, the US and the English-language friendly Benelux regions, Irish firms could be missing out on opportunities to break into one of the world’s richest countries. France remains a €2.5trn economy, with consistent growth. It is the world’s seventh-largest economy and the third biggest in the Eurozone.

However, for an Irish business keen to enter France, who has done its market research and established its product fit, it will soon become clear why the formality and ‘red tape’ exists.

France loves detail. Bureaucracy is there to establish – and protect – quality. Rather than act as a barrier for entry to the market, it levels the playing field for all competitors. It also means negotiations can be lengthy, and unlike the transactional price-based nature of, for example, the Netherlands, quality and attention to detail will be weighted highly in French business.

“It can seem bewildering,” Michael Stack, Managing Director of Tricel, the Killarney-based composites manufacturer told the conference. 

“But the rules are applied fairly and squarely. No-one is trading within our market outside of the regulatory system. It’s not just a rules-based country, it’s a rules-based country where rules are enforced. That makes it fair for everyone.” says Stack.

 

How to do business in France

It’s why, when doing business in France, one of the most common words heard in meetings will be “Non”. This is not a negative but actually the first step on the road to “Oui”. “Non” forms the basis of a discussion with your intended partner or client that will deal heavily with specifics and navigating French regulatory compliance.

“No doesn’t always mean ‘no’,” Nicola-Marie O’Donovan, Senior Agile Coach from BlaBlaCar, told delegates. “It will likely be the start of a conversation. In Ireland, we tend to say ‘yes’ too quickly. In France, an argument is usually the precursor to a discussion.”

 Formality must not be disregarded, even in looser cultural environments, such as the tech sector. Resist the urge for small talk and never ask personal questions unless invited to do so.

Within French organisations, it would be expected to inform senior figures ahead of team members of developments, even if it would seem to be non-essential information. Protocol matters.

Language skills will be mandatory if an Irish firm is to deal successfully in France or deal with French business partners. French is preferred and having a native French speaker on staff sends a very strong signal of your intent. It is quite normal to have a presentation deck in English but the discussion in French.

Do not underestimate French pride in their language. Make the effort to have marketing and web material accurately translated, preferably by a native French speaker.

“We went to a trade show early on in our venture in France and set up our display with our banner in French but it contained a grammatical error. Every single person who walked by our stand stopped and pointed it out,” Stack told the conference.

 

Get support from Enterprise Ireland

Language can be resolved, of course, with key hires and outsourced translation. Enterprise Ireland’s own GradStart programme will part-fund salaries of individual graduates with a language qualification in the key market helping to get your own boots on the ground in-country, something the French value highly.

Being there matters, agreed Eoin Licken, the Grenoble-based Commercial Manager of Tekelek:

There is often surprise when a prospect sees me ringing on a French mobile, in French, and you can see the change of tone in the conversation as a result.” Eoin Licken explains.

If your product fit is right for France and you are prepared to adapt to French culture, be prepared for a rewarding foray into the market, said Stack. He added: “If you a want a market where you can compete, where quality is valued rather than cost, then you should seriously consider doing business in France.”

Evercam drone install

How Agile Innovation enabled Evercam to capitalise on the AI revolution

“Construction is high value so when things go wrong, it’s expensive. We’ve become that single source of truth.”

Marco Herbst, CEO, Evercams

Overview:

  • Enterprise Ireland’s RD&I funding enabled Evercam to apply AI and machine-learning algorithms to its time-lapse videos.
  • Cameras extract useful, actionable data for project managers, contractors and engineers and generate valuable reports about activity and progress.
  • Partnerships with installation companies are key to Evercam’s growth in international markets.

Construction cranes are redrawing the Dublin skyline and building rates are back at boom-time levels, transforming the city into a world-leading centre of finance and technology  — and Evercam, which supplies time-lapse and project management cameras to the construction industry, is capturing the progress as it happens.

“We’re putting cameras on construction sites for marketing purposes, for project management and for dispute avoidance,” shares Evercam CEO Marco Herbst, who co-founded the company with Vinnie Quinn in 2010.

“We wanted to use cameras for more than just security and we always felt that images and pictures could be used for a much more productive, proactive, communicative purpose to try and improve how people do their jobs,” Marco explains, adding, “We spent quite a while trying out different business models and industries until we found construction about four years ago.”

Evercam’s products are now used by a number of high-profile construction companies including BAM, SISK, Bennett and Stewart on projects for the likes of Google, Facebook, ESB and Central Bank, to name a few.

“Construction is high value so when things go wrong, it’s expensive,” Marco says. “And construction sites are complicated environments with lots of moving parts and a lot of issues around trust, what happened when and who did what. Pictures, images and video are just beautiful ways of capturing all that so that everybody is on the same page.”

 

Harnessing the power of AI

Evercam cameraTime-lapse is an incredible way to visually display progress but Marco and his team saw potential in video analytics, a technology that applies artificial intelligence and  machine-learning algorithms to video feeds — thereby allowing cameras to instantly recognise people, objects and situations.

“Customers were already using our videos to check how many trucks arrived at the construction site, how long the crane was on-site, how many people were on-site at any given moment, but we weren’t using video analytics,” Marco says. “We had the data, we had real customer problems to solve but we needed data scientists and hardware and for a company at our stage of growth, it could be risky to suddenly shift a load of our resources into an R&D project.”

That’s why Evercam decided to apply to Enterprise Ireland’s Agile Innovation Fund for support, which offers up to 50% funding to a maximum of €150,000 in grant aid for innovation projects with a total cost of up to €300,000.

With Enterprise Ireland’s support, we were able to buy GPUs (graphics processing units), hire developers and researchers, spend time in iterative dialogue with customers and spend time designing the product,” Marco explains.

“The Agile fund is a very holistic, wholesome support and Enterprise Ireland is happy to support all of those different moving parts, not just financially but also with advice, letting us know where to spend our energy.”

Evercam now combines the latest developments in machine learning and AI to construction site videos to extract useful, actionable data for project managers, contractors and engineers and generate valuable reports about activity and progress.

“We’ve become that single source of truth,” Marco states.

 

Next steps in Evercam’s growth strategy

Evercam’s customer base today is predominantly in Ireland and the UK, the latter of which relies on channel partners such as CCTV installers.

“From the customer’s point of view, the end-user, they get the time-lapse video which they need and want from their existing CCTV supplier which is great because they don’t need to have an extra person on-site — they can buy it from somebody they’re already working with,” Marco explains, adding, “That’s been key to us growing in the UK, particularly in London, and now we’re actively setting that up everywhere else.”

And the company’s products continue to evolve. One of the most popular features is Snapmail, which captures key stages in a project and emails them to those who need it. Another is a tool that compares before and after images from any point in time.

Evercam plans to open an office in New Zealand as well as grow its presence in markets such as Singapore and the US where it’s already started selling its cameras.

“Enterprise Ireland has been amazing at making introductions in new markets, from New York to Paris to Amsterdam, steering us towards the types of people we want to hire or the kinds of companies we want to talk to,” Marco says.

Learn how the Agile Innovation Fund can support your R&D ambitions.

 

GradStart

5 ways GradStart can help you to attract and retain graduates

Talent is one of the business world’s most valuable resources. The ability to attract, recruit and retain, ambitious, highly skilled employees is a must for every Irish company aiming for success in exporting markets.

Irish companies with the ambition to grow exports, will benefit from developing a competitive edge to attract the motivated and highly skilled talent they need. Enterprise Ireland’s GradStart offers just that. In addition to financial support, GradStart provides invaluable guidance on how to attract, retain and build long-term relationships with graduates.

Here are five ways GradStart can help you.

 

1. Know your strengths

Competing for top talent can be difficult for SMEs, due to competition for skills in the marketplace. In some cases, smaller businesses can also lack a dedicated department to focus on skills attraction and promoting the company brand. However, it’s important for Irish companies to develop a talent attraction strategy and articulate the strengths that make them attractive employers for many graduates.

Helen McMahon, senior executive for Client Skills with Enterprise Ireland, comments:

“There’s something really exciting about working for an SME. Employees have access to more business areas than they might in large multinationals, where roles are often strictly defined. Graduates get the opportunity to work with senior management teams, have more exposure to a range of processes and systems, and the potential for more responsibility at an earlier stage in their career development. Above all, there’s a chance to really make a difference in a smaller company.”

Accessing GradStart helps companies to gain confidence and expertise in these benefits in order to market them to the highly skilled people that can help their business to reach the next level.

 

2. Define the role

Be clear about the skills your company needs and remember that it should include both hard and soft skills. Hard skills include technical expertise and knowledge of a particular system or a way of working. Soft skills, such as the ability to build relationships; work as part of a team, manage people effectively, and creative problem solving, are just as important.

Helen explains: “To apply for GradStart, a company needs to have defined a specific role for a graduate, and there must be an underlying business case for the role.”

For example, a company may want to attract a graduate with specific skills attached to a particular project. Not only must the company be clear in their GradStart application about why those skills are needed, but it should also be clear on the importance of the project to the company’s overall development and export growth. Clarity on the job role and project will make your company more attractive to discerning potential employees.

 

3. Build a career path

Bright ambitious candidates are interested in more than salary and perks. Particularly at the outset of their career, good candidates want to know that a job will enable them to develop their skills and expertise.

Helen adds: “It’s vital to show graduates that you are thinking of their career path as much as they are. You’re looking to build a long-term relationship and you need to show them that you are committed to helping them grow and develop.”

Investing in a good employee’s development is one of the best ways of ensuring they stay with your company. Research indicates one common reason people leave companies is that they feel they have stopped learning and developing. Very often, they go in search of new challenges, rather than more money.

As part of the GradStart programme, you are required to plan a career path for your potential recruit, the focus on which can also be attractive to potential candidates.

 

4. Think long term

If a graduate employee eventually leaves your company, it is often wise to maintain a strong relationship with them. Opportunities to collaborate may appear later, or a role that suits them perfectly may be created within your company in the future. A strong relationship with previous graduate employees can also be an on-going source of valuable industry intelligence.

Helen comments: “When you’re recruiting a graduate, you aren’t just selling the idea of joining your company, you’re selling the idea of becoming part of an industry or sector. You want them to feel that this is an exciting industry with lots of opportunities. Even if they do someday move on from your company, it can be very beneficial if they stay within your industry.”

 

5. Use recruitment tools

As part of GradStart, you will be supported through the graduate recruitment process. You will be encouraged to advertise your new position on Enterprise Ireland’s dedicated website for graduate offers and initiatives – gradhub.ie.  This site is directly linked to GradIreland, which has access to 80,000 graduates approximately. You can, of course, source a graduate yourself. It is important to remember that, to qualify for GradStart, the employee can’t have previously worked with the company or be working there currently.

 

What does GradStart offer?

GradStart provides financial support for a company to recruit up to three graduates for a duration of two years each. The support covers 50% of a graduate’s yearly salary, up to a maximum of €15,000 a year in grant aid (ie a salary of €30,000) for two years.

For graduates with proficiency in a language relevant to the business role, the grant increases to 70% of the salary, up to a maximum of €21,000 a year for two years.

It is available for Irish graduates or for overseas graduates, based either in Ireland or overseas. The graduate must be paid by an Irish company to access GradStart funding.

Get the support you need to step into new markets.  Check your company’s eligibility on this link below.

Apply for GradStart now.

Barry Napier, CEO Cubic Telecom

CASE: How automotive disruption offers huge opportunities for Irish tech companies

The automotive industry is at a crossroads. In an era where digital technology is disrupting the status quo throughout the global economy, few industries are being so profoundly impacted as automotive.

Under pressure over emissions and sustainability, manufacturers are focused on transitioning from the internal combustion engine to a future of connected, autonomous, shared and electric vehicles,(CASE). Traditional supply chains are changing dramatically, as new technology providers force manufacturers to rethink where value can be created and by whom.

To assess the level of opportunity this offers Irish business, Enterprise Ireland asked a panel of experts what lies on the road head.

 

From hardware to software

Barry Napier, CEO of Irish company Cubic Telecom – who provides global mobile connectivity solutions for automotive manufacturers including Audi, Skoda and VW – believes the future will be driven by software rather than hardware.

“The mindset has changed,” he says. “Historically when you went to an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) and you said to them, we want to do something, there was panic in their faces because they had to go and change the hardware, and then there were multiple partners they had to talk to in order to do that.

“It’s easier to change software, so now they are looking to do as much as they can via software solutions, putting mainframe concepts into vehicles and then seeing how they can run that through the cloud. The mindset is there with the OEMs to make the car lighter, faster and doing it all via software.”says Napier.

Hiren Desai, Head of Strategy and Innovation North America for Continental, agrees that tier one suppliers will need to be able to create value by manufacturing intelligence rather than just parts.

Hiren says: “The supply chain is going to undergo disruption over the next 10 to 15 years significantly when it comes to software coming in and replacing all the hardware that companies are used to producing.

“Companies like Continental are experts in industrialisation, which essentially means manufacturing. Now, what we’re really talking about is having software factories able to produce intelligence, able to write code, able to produce artificial intelligence, that’s where it is heading.”

 

Automotive industry rethinks the car

Whether it is in vehicles that transport people, goods or freight, OEMs will be looking for partners who can help them meet this demand. Traditional players will have to adapt and make room for new entrants from non-automotive backgrounds.

For Dr Engelbert Wimmer, CEO and founder of German specialist automotive management consultancy and investment company E&Co (Entrepreneurs and Consultants), this level of disruption can be seized upon by Irish companies.

“We are reconsidering every bit and piece of the traditional car,” he says. “That means changing materials and a whole new supply chain because the concept and characteristics of a vehicle that you want to operate 90,000km a year on a shared mobility or on an autonomous platform will be completely different because the durability and ownership will be changing.

“This means we will need to change the materials that vehicles are made from – from the rubber in the tyres to the steel and the chassis. We need to do a lot on recycling and greening the car by what components we will need. For companies who have interesting materials, who operate in material science and can supply components that are recyclable, this is a massive opportunity.

“You’re not just talking about tech companies, you’re looking at companies such as plastic moulders, or in the textile sector. It could be somebody from surface technology. It could be somebody in glass technology. Glass is a super interesting surface with a lot of functions, such as integrated light and displays. All these technologies are being reborn at the moment.

“You’re looking at an awful lot of companies that couldn’t previously have looked at the automotive sector. Every time you have a disruption in that size and with this technology scope, new entrants will have a super chance.” says Napier.

 

Hub for CASE development

Many Irish companies enjoying success in the automotive sector are part of the Connected and Autonomous Vehicle (CAV) cluster, which is supported by Enterprise Ireland, IDA Ireland, Science Foundation Ireland, Department of Transport, and the Lero research centre.

With Jaguar Land Rover’s Centre for Networked and Autonomous Vehicles at Shannon and French vehicle technology giant Valeo’s facility in Tuam as members, CAV Ireland is fast establishing the West of Ireland as a hub for CASE vehicle development.

CAV companies collaborate to identify products and services which can capitalise on export opportunities in the automotive supply chain. It is an approach which Engelbert believes fits well with the future of mobility.

He says: “Whether it is software or materials, it is not about one company producing all this. It is about collaboration and partnership. The tool chain has many, many links that need to be linked together.”

5 ways to make the most of your Market Discovery Fund project 

Learning that your business has been approved for a support like Enterprise Ireland’s Market Discovery Fund is great news. But it is followed by an important question. How can you make the best use of that financial support to maximise its value to your business?

 

1.    Make the most of Enterprise Ireland’s resources

Use all of the resources available to you as a company supported by Enterprise Ireland while you carry out the project and conduct your research.

Your Development Adviser 

Stay in touch with your Development Adviser throughout the project. Let them know you’re interested in attending relevant market and sector events and they will keep you top of mind.

39 overseas offices* 

Make time to visit Enterprise Ireland’s most relevant overseas offices as part of your project. With offices in 39 locations worldwide, our advisers have expert knowledge of the markets and sectors of most importance to Irish exporters.

If you alert the in-market team to your visit well in advance, they may be able to arrange meetings with valuable local contacts. After your visit, remember to stay in touch with the market advisers you know to stay up-to-date with local opportunities and developments.

(*39 correct as of 3 December 2019, date of publication)

Market Research Centre

Conducting the right market research is vital to maintaining your competitive edge and enjoying successful export growth – but it can also cost time, money and resources for which your business must budget.

The information specialists at Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre offer a wealth of experience available to guide you to the most relevant reports and databases for your needs, and to provide support before and during your visit. They can help you to access current market research reports from some of the world’s leading publishers, such as Euromonitor International, Frost & Sullivan, and Mintel. The Centre is available free-of-charge to companies supported by Enterprise Ireland across the regional office network.

 

2.    Focus on your most promising markets

One important rule of thumb is to consider no more than three markets within a Market Discovery Fund project. Carrying out a market prioritisation exercise and comparing the potential of two or three markets within a region can be a smart use of this type of support.

Whichever markets you consider, remember that internet research alone will only take you so far. Travel to each market you are considering where feasible. You will learn far more on the ground than you can from behind a screen.

Also think carefully about the bandwidth (covering both people and finance) required to manage the project. Projects such as this typically take no more than six months, unless you recruit a graduate or entry-level executive to undertake a more substantial piece of research.

 

3.    Assess trade fair options

If you are planning to exhibit at a trade fair, try to visit the year or season before, so you can assess if it really is a good fit for your business. The most important factor to look out for is if the right kind of buyers and decision-makers attend.

If it is a big fair, spend some time establishing which is the right hall for your company to exhibit in. Being in the wrong hall is a waste of time and resources and can leave you and your team feeling frustrated.

If you decide to exhibit next time around, get in touch with the organisers as early as possible to find out costings or packages in addition to availability, as previous exhibitors are likely to be given priority.

 

 

4.    Know the claims process and track everything

You can find all the information and forms you need to submit your claim(s) to the Market Discovery Fund here. This includes:

  • Instructions for making your claim
  • The claim form
  • A claim form checklist
  • A timesheet template
  • A Director’s Statement template
  • A progress report form
  • More information on the claims process.

 

While at this point your application has been approved, it is vital to keep detailed records of all expenditure relating to your project. This can include:

  • Timesheets for employees, as relevant wages and salaries can be covered, subject to conditions outlined here
  • Receipts and invoices for all foreign travel and subsistence expenses directly related to the project. Remember these must be incurred by company employees supported on the project
  • The cost of purchasing reports and databases relating to a new market or sector (when relevant and not accessible through the Market Research Centre).

 

5.    Understand the value of what you learn

At first, it might seem disappointing if research indicates that a valid opportunity to bring your product or service to a particular market or markets does not exist. But it is actually a great lesson.

It is far better to be aware of this insight before committing fully to a market, as discovering a lack of potential later will cost your business much more.

Knowing which markets not to prioritise can be just as important as understanding which ones are most worth investing your time and resources. Refining your overall market strategy is a valuable outcome of a successful Market Discovery Fund project.

Remember, you must contact your assigned Enterprise Ireland Adviser to discuss your Market Discovery Fund application before you submit it. If you’re a first-time applicant, you need to register on the Enterprise Ireland Online Application System.

To discover how your company can take the step into new markets, visit: globalambition.ie/steps     

Alpha Wireless, CEO Fergal Lawlor

Loose Wires: Laois-based Alpha Wireless takes on the global market

“It’s our ability to innovate that sets us apart,” explains Lawlor. “If the right antenna does not exist, we are committed to creating it.”

Fergal Lawlor, CEO Alpha Wireless

Overview:

Alpha Wireless is a market-leading specialist in high performing, superior quality antenna solutions covering macro to small cell antennas.

The company exports to 22 countries worldwide and has opened its first research and development office in Australia.

Enterprise Ireland supports include research and development projects, trade shows, market development programmes, and access to overseas networks.

By the time Fergal Lawlor discovered that the company he worked for was closing, he was already too invested to stop: “By then I had been a designer for two very innovative antenna companies that were disruptive in the market and were coming out with new products and challenging the incumbents that were there,” he says. “I had seen how that worked and I very much liked being part of that.”

Lawlor had spent several years designing wireless solutions with Argus Technologies in Australia, before returning to Ireland to work for an independent company, Sigma Wireless: “We were working on a number of innovative designs in the 3G space at the time,” he explains, “We had good products and we understood what the customer was doing.”

In 2005, US company PCTEL bought the Finglas-based business. “In 2007, they closed their Irish operations.”

 

Unfinished business

For Lawlor, there was too much good work being left behind in Ireland: “I didn’t feel we were finished, so to speak. I knew the antenna designs, I knew a lot of the customers we were talking to, and I knew there was a skilled workforce in Ireland.”

Lawlor approached Enterprise Ireland, who helped him to conduct a feasibility study into the potential for continuing some of this work.

We looked at the various market segments that I had been working in previously,” he says. “Because we were a newer company, we had to come in with something that wasn’t already there…

We came up with the conclusion that, yeah, there is a potential market there in this new emerging WiMAX for 4G. We went ahead and set up Alpha Wireless in 2007.”

 

Global ambition from the middle of Ireland

Lawlor describes the gruelling process of expanding from a small office to a global business: “From day one we aimed at becoming a global player. Enterprise Ireland helped us through multiple rounds of funding, market development programmes, research and development projects, and trade shows. They also really helped us with contacts. This market is changing all the time. By focusing on new solutions, we have been able to break into overseas markets from our headquarters in Ballybrittas, Co. Laois – smack bang in the middle of Ireland.”

Lawlor’s previous designs had been tailored primarily for tier-one operators like Vodafone, and o2. “As a new company starting up, there was no chance we were going to be able to sell back into those tier one customers,” he explains, “so we picked a different market segment – WiMAX for 4G – where there wasn’t this existing relationship with vendors going back over the years. We were able to bring our expertise working with these tier ones to this market. It allowed us to go in and become the preferred antenna company for many radio vendors in this emerging market.”

 Alpha Wireless had soon won their first contract from Israeli company, Airspan Networks.

“A meeting with Airspan in Israel brought an opportunity to participate in a trial in Romania – giving just 12 hours’ notice. Martin Barrett quickly responded by booking a flight to Romania and hand-carried the AW3023 antenna for the forthcoming trial. All testing went very well, and the trial resulted in Alpha Wireless winning a contract for 1,500 antennas.” This is testament to Alpha Wireless’ agility and responsiveness providing fast and efficient solutions for their customers.

As the company grew, he brought in some of the designers and engineers who had worked together at Sigma: “We started our business by taking the good learnings to build something new,” he says. “The way we broke in was by finding new markets and knowing what kind of customers we wanted: we wanted customers who needed solutions that weren’t available off the shelf; where we could go in and work really closely with them to create a solution.”

 

How Alpha Wireless has built its foundations

As a young company, Alpha Wireless was one of Enterprise Ireland’s 15 new companies at their exhibition stand at the Pavilion in Dublin. “Sometimes it’s hard to quantify what you get out of these fairs, but you have to keep going to them. It helps to raise awareness and to scale up. We exhibited at a show in Chicago,” adds Lawlor, “which Enterprise Ireland also funds, and that’s how we got Samsung back in 2010

Now, the company is at a level where they have their own booth at these fairs: “Today, the Mobile World Congress Barcelona is our most important show.”

 

Support on the ground

“As you start getting access to bigger customers, you need local support,” says Lawlor, “and Enterprise Ireland helped us to understand local markets and set up offices in the US. They were able to connect us with operators and make the right introductions. Because of them, we have been able to do things that you normally have to wait much longer for.”

Only 12 years’ from its inception, Alpha Wireless has now become a market-leading specialist in high performing, superior quality antenna solutions covering macro to small cell antennas. The brand now exports to 22 countries worldwide and last year it opened its first research and development office in Australia.

“It’s our ability to innovate that sets us apart,” explains Lawlor. “If the right antenna does not exist, we are committed to creating it.”

To find out more visit alphawireless.com.

Senoptica aims to reduce food waste through smart packaging with Commercialisation Fund

Senoptica aims to reduce food waste through smart packaging with Commercialisation Fund

Senoptica aims to reduce food waste through smart packaging with Commercialisation Fund 2

“The bottom line is that without the Commercialisation Fund, Senoptica wouldn’t exist.

Dr. Rachel Evans, Co-founder, Senoptica Technologies

Key Takeouts:

  • Senoptica Technologies has developed innovative technology that identifies the gas content of modified atmosphere packaging.
  • Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund supported a feasibility study and technical and commercial development of the technology.
  • The company is currently negotiating a licensing agreement with Trinity College Dublin prior to spinning out from the university.

Case Study: Senoptica

As part of her PhD studies, Dr. Rachel Evans developed a novel idea for an optical sensor technology, but it wasn’t until one of Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Specialists knocked on her door many years later that the transformation of the idea into a commercial product began.

“At the time I was a lecturer in Trinity College Dublin and one day a Commercialisation Specialist stopped by to find out if I was involved in anything that was appropriate for Enterprise Ireland funding. I had been thinking about how I could develop the sensor technology and identify a specific application for it.

“The Commercialisation Specialist advised me to carry out a feasibility study to test the market, which I did, with support from Enterprise Ireland. They helped me to find someone with experience in the food sector to act as a consultant on the study and he was critical in identifying where the market might be for the technology. We found that a lot of companies were interested.”

Senoptica aims to reduce food waste through smart packaging with Commercialisation Fund 3With strong indications that there was a market for the sensors, particularly in the meat industry, the next step was to do a proof of concept study. In 2013, Evans secured Commercialisation Fund support and in 2014 brought Dr. Steve Comby, a postdoctoral researcher and a specialist in molecular optical sensors, on board for the project.

“Rachel and I had matching and complementary skills so we had all the expertise we needed from the point of view of technology to make the project successful,” says Comby.

By the end of the project the technology was proved at a small scale but it was not industry ready.

 

Support to increase the technology readiness level

“We needed to adapt elements of our product to enable us to create something that is more industrially relevant and that could be manufactured in large quantities,” says Comby. “So we applied for a follow-on Commercialisation Fund.”

Evans explains: “The market isn’t interested in 5–10 years’ development time, they want the technology now. But there’s a huge leap from doing something in a lab on a small scale to doing it on an industrial level. In the first Commercialisation Fund project we were producing an A4 size of film, by the second we were producing 5km of film. We couldn’t have achieved that scaling without Enterprise Ireland’s support.”

Further support came from CRANN, the Centre for Research on Adaptive Nanostructures and Nanodevices and AMBER, the centre for Advanced Materials and Bio Engineering Research, both in Trinity College, which supplied bridge funding to keep the project going between the first and follow-on Commercialisation Funds. Importantly they also gave the team access to a portfolio of companies.

“As an academic you can be reluctant to speak to industry, but CRANN and AMBER knew how to do that, which was extremely helpful. They are still very supportive,” says Comby.

Senoptica aims to reduce food waste through smart packaging with Commercialisation Fund 4Evans admits that the pathway to commercialisation wasn’t straightforward.

“We needed to develop an approach to integrating our sensor formulations within food packaging. There are a lot of stakeholders in the food industry’s production and distribution chain so we had to talk to many different companies and that was really challenging.”

But the team found that with the project’s Commercialisation Specialist working in tandem with Trinity’s Technology Transfer Officers and the Commercialisation Manager at AMBER, they had a powerful network of support.

“The Commercialisation Specialist was very helpful in making contacts and setting up meetings. The support I got internally in Trinity from Technology Transfer Officers and the Commercialisation Managers at Amber was also hugely important in getting us to the stage we’re at,” says Evans.

Throughout the project the team met regularly with Enterprise Ireland advisors. “That was useful as they had an overall view while we were immersed in the technology, so they could see challenges or solutions to challenges that we’d overlooked,” says Comby.

 

From concept to company

Senoptica was incorporated in 2018 and, to complement Evans’s and Comby’s skills, Brendan Rice joined as Chief Executive Officer to focus on business development. His appointment was facilitated by Enterprise Ireland’s Business Partner Programme.

“Brendan’s appointment was essential for the development of the company. We needed to strengthen the business side of things and Brendan has extensive experience in the food industry. He was able to quantify the size of the opportunity,” says Comby.

By then Evans had taken up a full-time position in Cambridge University and although she remains a director and consultant to the company, its future development will be driven by Comby and Rice.

“I had to let go and that’s been really hard as the technology was my idea,” she says. “The reality is that there are few academics who will quit their jobs to become CEO of a company so someone else has to take it forward and you have to let go and look at the bigger picture. The important thing for me is to focus on what my motivation was in bringing my idea to market and how much satisfaction I will get from seeing it launched.”

Senoptica aims to reduce food waste through smart packaging with Commercialisation Fund 5Having taken the early stage research to successful industrial scale production, Comby is well placed to direct the future development of the technology. And he feels he has acquired new skills along the way.

“I’ve learnt about project development, scheduling, scaling up and achieving clear deliverables. I also learnt massively from the interactions with industry representatives,” he says.

“I’d say to others, if you think you have technology that could be commercialised start with the feasibility study and you will find out if people are interested in what you are doing. And don’t be afraid, because the Commercialisation Fund is a great support.”

For more information about applying for Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund, contact your Technology Transfer Office.

Help your company grow by using the Market Research Centre

With Brexit a reminder of the importance of diversifying and discovering exciting new export opportunities, Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre can help.

Conducting the right market research is vital for businesses to maintain their competitive edge and enjoy successful export growth. According to a recent Enterprise Ireland survey, more than four out of five businesses plan to diversify into the Eurozone – a smart move given its potential export market value of €38bn alone.

Enterprise Ireland-supported companies can benefit from support in their plans to expand their reach. Here are five ways that our Market Research Centre can help.

 

1. Access world-class market research

Conducting market research before exporting into new markets can cost time, money and resources for which your business must budget. The Market Research Centre can help by providing access to up-to-date premium market research reports from some of the world’s leading market research publishers, such as Euromonitor International, Frost & Sullivan, and Mintel.

The Centre provides access to:

  • Country reports
  • Global company profiles
  • Industry sector reports
  • Trend forecasts.

The Centre is available free-of-charge to companies supported by Enterprise Ireland across the regional office network.

With some individual reports costing tens of thousands of euro, the potential value of using the service is immense.

 

2. Know your markets

When planning to export, the most important step is to learn as much about your new target market as possible. Accessing the latest research available through the Market Research Centre will help you to understand potential export regions and the competitors already operating there. Questions you should consider include:

  • What is the size of the market?
  • Who are the big players?
  • Is there a dominant brand in the market

       

      3. Know your channels

      When Abcon, an abrasives and industrial hose manufacturer from Co. Cavan wanted to increase exports to the Eurozone after the Brexit referendum, they needed to understand the markets that would help to grow the business.

      With a high volume of sales driven by internet searches, accurate information about the names of products in local languages proved essential to underpinning successful international digital marketing tactics.

      Lyn Sharkey, Sales and Marketing Director for Abcon, says that the Market Research Centre’s information specialists helped the company to obtain such information, in addition to lists of potential leads and trade events to attend – all of which would have been far more difficult to source alone.

       

      4. Insights about your customers

      Understanding the demographics of a market and the competitors already succeeding there is of little value unless you also understand your new potential customers, and how your offerings should be tweaked or positioned to best appeal to them.

      One of the most vital considerations for any company is: “what does your customer want, and how does it differ from what you’re already doing and delivering?”.

      When Irish Dog Foods, the Naas-based pet food manufacturer, was planning to enter the South Korean market, they asked these same questions. The company turned to the Market Research Centre to learn which customers it should sell to.

      “One of the things we learned during our market research is that there are practically no large dogs in Korea,” says Darren Keating, Marketing Manager of Irish Dog Foods. “That meant we specifically targeted the owners of small dogs. That information came from the Market Research Centre.”

       

      5. Guidance from information specialists

      The Market Research Centre’s information specialists have a wealth of experience and are available to guide you to the most relevant reports and databases for your needs, and to provide support before and during your visit.

      Sometimes the best support is reassurance from a specialist that you are heading in the right direction, allowing you to use your time efficiently.

       

      Contact Us

      Contact the Market Research Centre to discuss your research request and to arrange a visit to our centre in Dublin or to any of our eight regional office hubs.

      Phone: +353 (1) 727 2324

      Email: market.research@enterprise-ireland.com

      Opening Hours: Monday-Friday 9am-5pm

      How Cala Medical turned academic research into life-saving technology

      How Cala Medical turned academic research into life-saving technology

      Key Takeouts:

      • Cala Medical, a spin-out from the University of Limerick, has developed a ground-breaking treatment for sepsis.
      • Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund supported the technical development of the product and the validation of its commercial potential.
      • The company has recently secured funding to enable it to move to clinical trials.

      Case Study: Cala Medical on Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund

      Getting research out of the laboratory and into the marketplace requires vision, hard work, commitment, teamwork and more than a dash of courage. That’s something Dr. Jakki Cooney, Chief Scientific Officer at Cala Medical, a spin-out from the University of Limerick, knows only too well.

      The tenured academic, who still works part time as a senior lecturer, was researching an enzyme that destroys a molecule called C5a, with her colleague Todd Kagawa, when the prospect of commercialising their work raised its head.

      “We realised that we could turn this enzyme into a powerful therapy for sepsis. There was no going back from that. I felt we were obliged to go down the commercialisation route,” says Cooney.

      I’m an academic, get me out of here!

      Cala Medical on Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund 2

      “One of the issues for me was that I don’t have a commercial bone in my body and no desire to be CEO of a company,” says Cooney. “I knew I’d need support on the business side. I was aware of Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund and with help from the university’s excellent research office I filled in the application form. Then I reached out to a former colleague, Dr. Brian Noonan.”

      With 16 years as Director of Research at AstraZeneca in the US, Noonan’s background was turning science into products. “I’d known Jakki for many years,” says Noonan. “I knew the quality of her work and came on board with the project, initially part time. My first role was to work with Jakki and Todd to turn a really interesting research idea into something commercial, looking at how we could fine tune it and find a market for it.”

      The financial support provided by the Commercialisation Fund was essential in enabling Noonan and Kagawa to join Cooney on the team.

      “I knew how important it is to fund the skills level that you need on the project. I needed senior staff and Enterprise Ireland recognised and supported that. Their input at this stage also helped to hone the project,” says Cooney.

      With the team established and Commercialisation Fund supports in place, including a dedicated Commercialisation Specialist, the team set about developing its proof of concept.

      “One of the challenges for me at this stage was what I call backfilling,” says Noonan. “The initial product and data were great but because the team weren’t originally thinking about it as a product there are things that you have to go back and do to make the story more complete. There’s a different set of criteria that have to be looked at if you want to bring something to market.

      “It can also be a challenge to distill the idea down into something that you can pitch to investors so it was my job to work with Jakki and Todd to cut through the detail to achieve that.”

      As they worked to achieve proof of concept, the team was supported Case Study: Cala Medical on Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation 3by the Commercialisation Specialist who facilitated introductions and enabled access to Enterprise Ireland’s library of specialist reports.

      Cala Medical spun out in 2017 and since then has strengthened its team with the addition of business and clinical experts. It secured follow on-funding from Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-up Fund and has also attracted angel investment.

      “Our next step is to move to clinical trials over the next two to three years, with the prospect of then achieving CE marking and getting to market within four years,” says Noonan.

       

      Facing the challenge as a team

      Cooney admits that there are pressure points along the commercialisation journey. “There was a period between the Commercialisation Fund project ending and getting investors on board, when the company just couldn’t pay out salaries. I still had my university work but Todd and Brian had to run on faith. We got through it because we were committed and stubborn, and it’s paying dividends now,” says Cooney.

      “Academics can be shy and unwilling to come out of their labs but it’s important that their ideas do get out. This experience has taught me not to be afraid; if another idea came along I would definitely go for it. I understand what’s involved on the business side now but I still couldn’t do that side of it. I believe the team is as important as the idea. Look at your skills and get other people on board to do what you can’t. And make use of the support available.”

      For more information about applying for Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund, contact your Technology Transfer Office.

      AudioSource 2

      Revolutionary sound separation technology takes AudioSourceRE from the Beach Boys to commercial success

      Key Takeouts:

      • AudioSourceRE, a recent spin-out from Cork institute of Technology, has developed innovative audio separation technology.
      • Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund supported the development of the product and research into its commercial potential.
      • The company has launched three products and is developing the technology for wider application.

      Case Study: AudioSourceRE on Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund

      When the Beach Boys come calling to ask if they can use your technology, you know you’ve done something right. In 2012, Dr. Derry Fitzgerald, who had spent 12 years researching the manipulation of audio in Cork Institute of Technology, got such a request.

      “They asked me to use the audio separation technology that I’d developed to split some songs that had been recorded in mono and remix them in stereo. I ended up getting credited on four Beach Boys reissues!” says Fitzgerald.

      It was more than enough to convince him that he was on to something that had commercial value.

      “I knew then that the tech was ready to be used in the real world and I began thinking about how I could make it commercially useful, because at that stage it was just a bunch of scripts on my computer that nobody else could use.”

      Fitzgerald applied for Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Feasibility Study, which enabled him to do some market research. He then embarked on a Commercialisation Fund project, carried out in Cork School of Music in CIT, to develop his first commercial product.

       

      Preparing for spin-out

      “I’m not a business guy, I’m a tech guy. So as part of the project I had to find a business partner and I did that through Enterprise Ireland’s Business Partners Programme,” says Fitzgerald.

      Businessman John O’ Connell, now CEO of AudioSourceRE, was one of the business partners contacted by Enterprise Ireland. He recognised that there was potential in the technology but that more needed to be done.

      “I met Derry and he showed me what the technology was,” says O’Connell. “It was in a very raw state so I gave some feedback and asked him to give me a call when it reached the beta stage, when it could be shown to some people in the market. Nine months later, I got the call and went back and started working with Derry to create a minimum viable product.”

      The team focused on creating a prototype and got the opportunity to demonstrate it at Abbey Road Studios in London. The feedback was very positive.

      AudioSourceRE, a recent spin-out from Cork institute of Technology, has developed innovative audio separation technology

      “At that stage, John came on board full time and started to develop the business plan for the company, so that left me able to focus on making the software as good as possible. He pushed us to clarify what we were trying to get out of the project,” says Fitzgerald.

      O’ Connell explains: “There’s a lot of research required to find out if something that’s created in a university can be developed into a commercial product. So, it takes a lot of work to get to spin-out stage. One of the biggest challenges is that the world of academia and the commercial world are poles apart in terms of mindset.”

      It’s a sentiment echoed by Fitzgerald. “Personally I found the biggest challenge was getting things done faster, and moving on to the next thing. It was about changing the way I worked.  I learnt an awful lot about things I never expected to learn about – how business plans are structured, financial aspects, day-to-day business operations. So I went relatively quickly from being a very traditional academic researcher to someone who had a strong business head.”

      With O’Connell’s input the project became more focused, developing a strong commercial roadmap that enabled the team to progress quickly towards a commercially feasible product. Feedback from musicians and audio professionals helped clarify what the market wanted and just three months after setting up the company in 2018, AudioSourceRE launched its first two products, DeMIX Pro and Essentials, at a major music fair in New York.

      AudioSourceRE, a recent spin-out from Cork institute of Technology, has developed innovative audio separation technology

      The journey continues

      “We’ve been selling products for the last year, relying on the initial seed fund money that John and I put in and funding we got through Enterprise Ireland’s Competitive Start Fund, but we know there is still a way to go to make a profitable business,” says Fitzgerald. AudioSourceRE on Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund

      O’Connell and Fitzgerald are now in discussions with venture capitalists and Enterprise Ireland about getting investment to grow. “We feel that we’re at the point now that with a little more R&D we can open up a whole range of creativity for audio manipulation,” says O’ Connell.

      With plans to have nine employees by the end of year one, and to use AI to complement Fitzgerald’s skills, the company has a strong sense of where it is going.

      Reflecting on the journey so far, Fitzgerald says: “My experience of spinning out AudioSourceRE has been overwhelmingly positive, so my advice to other academics would be, be brave and go for it. Start off with the objective of creating something that can be sold in the real world, not just completing an academic project.”

      O’ Connell adds: “Getting a business person on board as early as possible on the journey will really help with guiding the direction of the project, deciding where the funding should be spent, and where the research should be focused to find out if it’s really suitable for commercialisation.

      “Enterprise Ireland’s support was invaluable. We were able to ask for advice and get introductions to other people who have done something in a similar field. They give you the opportunity to take something and with a little bit of investment see what the commercial potential is.”

      For more information about applying for Enterprise Ireland’s Commercialisation Fund, contact your Technology Transfer Office.