Horizon 2020: Supporting transformation in the agri-food sector

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“There were multiple challenges, including a substantial amount of EU politics at the start with many partners wanting to take the lead, but we were determined to keep DEMETER rooted in Ireland.”

Kevin Doolin, Co-ordinator of the DEMETER project and Director of Innovation at Telecommunications Software & Systems Group

Overview:

  • TSSG, part of the Waterford Institute of Technology, is leading a project that aims to transform Europe’s agri-food sector through the rapid adoption of advanced Internet of Things technologies, data science and smart farming.
  • The DEMETER project is being significantly funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme.
  • With 60 partners, 18 countries and 20 pilots, DEMETER is one of the largest Horizon 2020 projects coordinated by an Irish entity and is expected to have significant impact across the agri-tech sector in Europe, and beyond.

The European Union has identified smart farming as a key component in supporting sustainable agriculture and food production, protecting natural resources and boosting food safety. At the heart of this is the need for new technology and standards to achieve full supply chain interoperability.

This is the subject of DEMETER, a large-scale, €17.7m Horizon 2020 project involving 60 partners across 18 countries, 6,000 farmers and 38,000 devices.

At the helm of DEMETER is Kevin Doolin, Director of Innovation at Telecommunications Software & Systems Group (TSSG), an internationally recognised centre of excellence for ICT research and innovation and part of the Waterford Institute of Technology.

“The situation now is that you have various different elements in the agri supply chain – machinery, warehouses, trucks, sensors and so on – but none of these systems talk to each other so it’s impossible to get a holistic view from farm to fork,” explains Doolin.

“With DEMETER we’re trying to connect those elements, so we’re developing new industry standards, writing software for platforms and building interfaces.”

DEMETER’s goal is nothing less than the digital transformation of Europe’s agri-food sector and it includes a series of 20 pilot programmes that aim to demonstrate the impact of the technology.

A key deliverable is the DEMETER Dashboard. “This will give farmers an instant update on the status of their farm. It’s a precision support system that provides information to assist decision making, and increase productivity and efficiency,” says Doolin.

 

 

The Horizon 2020 process

The first step in the Horizon 2020 process is building the consortium, which Doolin did using his extensive network of contacts and the opportunities afforded by networking events run by the Commission.

“It’s important to identify a core set of partners that you can rely on to help write the proposal. Within DEMETER there are about 10 partners that did most of the heavy lifting on that, and then we drew on expertise from the other partners when required.

“We also engaged quite heavily with Enterprise Ireland’s National Contact Points who were able to introduce us to additional partners. And the EI financial support we got to write the proposal was really important.”

As a highly experienced Horizon 2020 co-ordinator, Doolin was aware of the challenges a project of this size, one of the largest ever coordinated by an Irish entity, presents.

“There were multiple challenges, including a substantial amount of EU politics at the start with many partners wanting to take the lead, but we were determined to keep DEMETER rooted in Ireland,” says Doolin.

Co-ordinating 60 partners is an ongoing challenge but one that is mitigated, says Doolin, by having good work package leaders.

“Each Horizon 2020 project is structured into a number of work packages with specific roles. If you have a good team of work package leaders you can leverage them very heavily to co-ordinate the overall effort.”

Moreover, the challenges are offset by the benefits.

“Horizon 2020 enables us to engage in large-scale work, with a substantial group of partners from across the agri supply chain. We have access to technology providers, research and academic experts, real works users and policy makers,” says Doolin.

 

Walk before you run 

Involvement in a Horizon 2020 project can be as a partner organisation or as co-ordinator. Doolin strongly recommends starting as a partner.

“I estimate the level of work involved in being a participant versus co-ordinating to be about 1:10, so I think the best place for institutions to start is by partnering on a proposal and maybe taking a work package leader role where you’re involved in writing the proposal. After you’ve done a few projects you can go down the route of co-ordination, starting with a small project.”

Doolin also advises engaging early with Enterprise Ireland to find out the project topics that are coming up in the next Horizon round of funding, and starting to build the consortium before the Commission launches the call for proposals.

“After the call you’ve only three months to write the proposal, which isn’t a lot of time,” he says.

“It’s also important to tell Enterprise Ireland what proposals you’re writing or you can end up in a situation where different entities in Ireland are writing competing proposals when in fact we should be collaborating. Enterprise Ireland is the mechanism for bridging that gap.”

Within the DEMETER project €1m of funding has been reserved to be given out to new partners who want to join the programme.

“We’ll be issuing our own mini-calls for proposals starting on September 16, inviting SMEs and farmers and so on to come up with a small project idea that will test elements of DEMETER in different scenarios.

“These open call projects are something that I think industry in Ireland needs to take advantage of. It’s a really good way for companies to get into Horizon 2020 and get quite a bit of funding to do just one trial of the technology.”

For advice or further information about applying for Horizon 2020 support please contact HorizonSupport@enterprise-ireland.com or consult www.horizoneurope.ie

 

Transport & Logistics Industry Update – Webinar

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The Covid-19 pandemic, Brexit and the re-shaping of transport routes brought a very turbulent start to 2021. Logistics and transportation companies involved in the movement, storage and flow of goods have been directly impacted and had to rapidly adapt to changing business landscape. Irish companies exporting their products or importing components or raw materials need to follow and understand these trends to stay competitive.

This Enterprise Ireland webinar identifies these challenges and examines current developments with a panel of industry experts.

The webinar is chaired by Enterprise Ireland’s Director UK & Northern Europe Marina Donohoe with insights from:

 • Gopal R, Global Leader, Supply Chain & Logistics, Frost & Sullivan

• John Ward, Managing Director, Maurice Ward & Co. Ltd Ireland

• Richard Nolan, CEO, Nolan Transport – Nolan Group

 

Register now to attend the webinar.

Enterprise Ireland’s top tips for entering the Singaporean market

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Singapore, the gateway to SE Asia, is the regional business hub for ASEAN and the wider Asia Pacific region, providing stability and highly educated workforce, making it the perfect location to create a base.

If you are considering doing business in Singapore, please be sure to explore our top tips to enter the market below and also be sure to reach out to our team in Singapore

  • Singapore’s English dominated business environment and business-friendly legal and tax systems give Irish companies at every stage of development the opportunity to establish a business presence in Singapore at relatively low risk.
  • Singapore’s highly-educated workforce, political stability, excellent air transport links, developed infrastructure, transparency in business operations and Western business practices mean that many companies adopt a “hub and spoke” approach, using Singapore as a base from which to access opportunities in neighbouring markets.
  • Singapore’s business language is English and it is spoken throughout the island among all ethnic groups.
  • Singapore has the highest per capita spend on healthcare in ASEAN, which averages 4% of GDP, and this is expected to increase annually as the Government seeks to invest in quality healthcare infrastructure and services making it an attractive market for medical device and life science companies.
  • Singapore is seeing increased activity in the Life science sector. There are opportunities for client companies currently selling into the pharma and medical device supply chain in Ireland as many of the same global multinationals also have strong presences in Singapore e.g. Roche, Pfizer, GSK.
  • Singapore is a top-three global financial centre and therefore a key market for companies involved in financial services and fintech. Key activities include FX, wealth management, commodities trading, hedge funds & treasury.
  • There are over 210 banks and approx 1200 Financial Institutions registered in Singapore. Notable changes in the financial sector include the liberalisation of the banking market with the awarding of five digital banking licences in December 2020; the launch of the Variable Capital Company as an entity for new investment funds in Singapore, and the embrace of fintech and automation by the sector in enhancing competitiveness and innovation.
  • Punctuality is a sign of respect in Singapore. It is best to inform your Singaporean counterpart if you will be late.
  • Modesty and humility are key values in Singapore, therefore it is important not to “oversell” during initial meetings with Singaporean counterparts.
  • The decision-making process in Singapore is done collectively and up through the hierarchy, and therefore it may take more time than you are used to.
  • Over 200 Irish firms are already active in this market thanks to EI assistance, contact the local MA here.

For more be sure to check out our Going Global Guide 

If you would like to know what to prepare ahead of your first MA call, click the graphic below

Key questions to ask at your Dutch 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 Dutch market, 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 Amsterdam and be sure to check out our Going Global Guide.

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

Webio puts IP at the heart of the design process

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“Every day as a start-up, there is something out there that can kill you.” Paul Sweeney, EVP Product at Webio.

It’s clear that Sweeney does not take the success of his firm Webio for granted. He’s under no illusion that every day is a competition – and every day to come will be a competition. It’s pretty much the life of the start-up.

In the fast-paced world of software development, where product cycles are increasingly shorter and market disruption is a given, a business with a bright idea needs all the support it can get to future-proof growth.

 

How Webio protects its big ideas

The Irish software firm Webio, which specialises in automating messaging, chatbot and voice interactions between companies and their customers, relies on very smart AI and machine learning at the heart of its product. Organisations use its ‘conversational middleware’ solution to process the host of customer enquiries that have migrated to messaging apps such as WhatsApp or Messenger. Companies that have adopted it have seen costly contact centre phone calls decrease and payment and collection rates increase, so it’s no surprise that Webio’s code is in demand.

It’s a big idea – and one that’s worth protecting. The automated SMS market alone is worth €60 billion annually and the market for chatbots and automated voice command CRM such as Alexa is “silly numbers”, says Sweeney. As a result, the firm placed the utmost value on the protection of its code – its intellectual property – at the heart of its design and business process.

Sweeney, Webio’s EVP Product, said the company started early with protecting its intangible assets starting early on with its branding, the first and most visible part of a company’s intangible value.

“As part of your Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) strategy, having a really tight brand strategy is underrated. And when you’ve got a tight brand you can push through some of the noise,” he said.

It helped the company to frame what to trademark and copyright. To further push their visibility and brand strategy they started their sector-specific ConverCon – the Conversational Interface Conference strand, even though the company was in its infancy.

But with one of the core goals to make their software ‘white label’ for use at scale, they had to carefully think about protecting the core part of their IPR.

Webio turned to Enterprise Ireland which has several supports in place to encourage SMEs to address IPR culture within their organisation such as the IP Start Grant and IP Plus Grant.

“When you look at many of the technologies today getting to market you can build on many other different softwares. What the IP Start programme helped us do was focus very specifically on the key aspects of our software that were going to make a difference in the long run and that were going to be IPR defensible positions,” said Sweeney.

“So we used that programme to identify one core thing that we did that was important and once we had that focus, we concentrated on how that bit impacted the rest of our platform and concentrated on being really good at that bit.”

This would allow the firm to make the right call on whether to move from retaining the piece of IP as a trade secret or moving into registration of a patent, he added.

 

IP underpins company growth

It’s a move which, according to new research, is likely to aid the firm’s growth. A new joint study from the European Patent Office (EPO) and the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO), found that SMEs that applied for patents, trademarks or designs early on were more likely to experience high growth compared to those that did not.

The study showed that SMEs with at least one IP right are 21% more likely to experience a growth period and 10% more likely to become a high-growth firm (HGF), compared to those without IP rights. Furthermore, firms with EU-level IP rights, as opposed to national level, are even more likely (17%) to become an HGF.

Sweeney added ‘‘What this programme has helped us to do is focus in on one particular area and understand that on that vector lies IPR potential. And if you concentrate on it, it could turn into either a trade secret – which you’re happy to keep under the hood – or be something that you’re willing to describe and put into a patent.

“As a result, we’ve identified that we can go down either path – and we know now how to cascade that to other parts of the software to make our company more valuable.”

It’s a path that has required management team buy-in from the get-go.

“Make no mistake. Management time is the most expensive time to spend. This is a non-trivial process that requires a lot of knowledge. But at the end of it, we, as a company, had a very clear understanding of our IPR.

“And its value”, added Sweeney.

 

Learn more about the innovation supports available from Enterprise Ireland.

Pestle & Mortar CEO Sonia Deasy

Read how Irish skincare company Pestle & Mortar is perfecting sales around the world

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Kildare woman Sonia Deasy and her husband Padraic have always had global ambition in business. Unfortunately, their first enterprise, a highly successful photographic studio, couldn’t deliver it.

“No matter how much we did, we knew we couldn’t scale it,” says Sonia.

Photography did, however, provide the inspiration for a business that could scale. In 2010, while attending a trade conference in the US, Sonia watched other photographers at work.

“We were always photographing normal people but at these events, other photographers were photographing models and they’d bring along make-up artists. I’d see them prepping their skin before the shoot. I noticed that a lot of models don’t have good skin. They’re up late and work really long hours.”

The make-up artists were using a product that seemed to have a transformative effect.  On further investigation, she discovered it contained a super ingredient, hyaluronic acid.

Though HA is common now, at the time it was almost unknown in Ireland. Where it was available, it cost hundreds of euro.

Deasy reckoned there was enough of a gap in the market to make it worth her while to develop her own product, initially working with a laboratory in Taiwan, a contact she got through her brother.Pestle & Mortar product range

After three years in development, in 2014 she had a product ready to bring to market. She called the brand Pestle & Mortar, a nod to her heritage. Deasy’s parents are Indian and a family member was a ‘medicine man’, whose work crushing herbs inspired the name. It also captured both the best of what is natural with the innovation of science.

She and Padraic built an e-commerce website for what would be, she fully expected, an online only business.

 

Pestle & Mortar goes global

An early slot on a TV magazine show resulted in immediate sales however and calls from Brown Thomas and Arnotts followed. A subsequent stand taken at a cosmetics trade show at the RDS sold out and attracted 120 more retail stockists nationwide.

But it was an appearance on US shopping channel QVC that provided the business with its biggest fillip. It was the channel’s first Irish skincare brand and Pestle & Mortar sold out in just seven minutes. “It was monumental,” she says.

That led to its first international retail order, to supply Bloomingdale’s throughout the US. Today, Deasy regularly appears on QVC in London, helping to grow UK sales too.

Pestle & Mortar HQ in KildareWith the help of Local Enterprise Office Kildare, the business took on new staff and, in 2017, the couple closed the photography studio completely to concentrate on Pestle & Mortar.

Within 18 months, it had launched a second product. Today, it has an entire range, some of which were developed and manufactured in Germany but most of which are made in Ireland. “Because we are Irish-based, we felt we should have products that are made in Ireland and which use Irish ingredients. We are very proud of that,” she says.

Pestle & Mortar was the overall winner of the LEO National Enterprise Awards in 2019 but by the time it received the award it had already attained Enterprise Ireland High Performance Start-Up status.

In 2018, the company had revenues of €3 million, which Deasy predicts will double by the end of 2019. Some 30% of its revenues are generated online, with the rest coming via distributors and wholesale customers worldwide.

With Enterprise Ireland’s help, Deasy spent much of 2018 and 2019 developing its international distributor networks. “My commercial team was out in Indonesia, Dubai and China,” says Deasy, who today employs 27 staff.

The business moved from its original base, a 1500 sq ft converted photographic studio, into a new 10,000 sq ft facility in Kildare, giving it space to grow. She invested €500,000 in the fit out alone, to create a showroom fit for a worldwide brand.

 

Get support for market discovery

“Ireland has just 4.5 million people, our ambition is to think global,” says Deasy, who retains public relations agencies in London and New York to support the brand in those markets. Every three months she travels to both to meet with bloggers and influencers. “It’s all personal, it’s all hands on,” she says.

Enterprise Ireland facilitates this. “We wanted to transition from the LEO to Enterprise Ireland as soon as possible because we knew we could really use Enterprise Ireland’s resources. Thanks to its Market Discovery Fund, my commercial team has been out to its China office six times, which provides us with both contacts and office space,” she says.

“Distribution is key for us and Enterprise Ireland’s team helps us with contacts. If you choose the wrong distributor it can ruin your business in a country and even worldwide. Enterprise Ireland’s offices became our eyes and ears on the ground.”

When Pestle & Mortar recently won a global beauty product award in Dubai, at a ceremony she couldn’t attend, “Enterprise Ireland staff collected our award for us”.

All of the support Enterprise Ireland provides helped to reinforce Deasy’s belief that she was doing the right things. “It confirms the fact that this is what you should be doing, you should be going global, and ‘we can help you do that’. That is the message you get from Enterprise Ireland.”

Today Pestle & Mortar retails in the US, UK, Sweden, Denmark, Thailand, Indonesia, Russia, Hong Kong and China, as well as the UAE. What’s more, “We’re only starting,” says Deasy, whose medium term plan is to grow turnover to €40 million.

From there, the sky’s the limit. That’s the beauty of a scalable business. “If you can get to €40 million you can get to €100 million. After that it’s just numbers.”

Learn how the Market Discovery Fund can support your diversification plans.

edtech

Edtech for the workplace: opportunity or obligation?

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As AI and automation change the nature of work and jobs rapidly over the coming years, edtech innovations must be ready to help people and organisations keep pace.

Jean Hammond of LearnLaunch, an edtech accelerator and innovation hub based in Boston, was keynote speaker at a conference organised by Enterprise Ireland and The Learning Forum in Dublin in June. At Impacts and Future Trends in the EdTech and Corporate Learning Landscapes, Enterprise Ireland-backed companies met industry experts and investors, to hear how education is changing, and the opportunities that change presents.

As automation becomes more widespread, the importance of soft skills – including complex problem solving, critical thinking and teamwork – will persist. In her keynote presentation, Jean asked: “Why do we call them soft skills? Because they’re really, really hard.”

 

Edtech is an unstoppable force

Edtech innovation is accelerating, as the ways people learn in school, university and the workplace undergo a major transformation. Workforce education is about to become intricately entwined with people’s careers, Jean explained: “We’ve had a history of thinking that there was a period of time, four years in college, and then you worked for ten years and then maybe went away for two weeks, or went back to education for a year, but that’s not what the world looks like now.”

This is a challenge facing society as a whole, Jean noted. She advised delegates not to solely focus on the next great start-up or innovation: “Don’t spend all your time thinking about the innovators. Think carefully about the innovation adopters. What does it take to adopt change?”

Industries must interact with edtech entrepreneurs and signal what they need, in order for start-ups to create the solutions required. If the market fails to tell innovators what it wants, it’s extremely unlikely that innovators will be able to develop the right solutions.

Jean described her role linking companies with start-ups: “I have probably seen over a thousand different edtech start-up business plans over the last ten years. We know what people are out there trying to work on.”

 

Impact of big data and machine learning

Technology has moved at an amazing pace over the past few decades. Jean advised that big data and machine learning will drive change even faster: “Machine learning can analyse any system and find out where there are problems, where there are issues, and then go and provide a way to address these.”

The challenge for edtech is to react to change in time, so that people can transition into new roles before their old tasks become automated or obsolete. Jean commented, “We need to make the systems and processes of learning and deliver them where we need them.”

 

Today’s edtech market

She explained that only about 2.7% of the global education market is currently digitised: “Probably it will max out at around 12% because we’ll always have teachers, we’ll always have humans as a part of the system, but across the next few years, there will be a lot of change.”

The market globally is worth around US $5.75 trillion, with that value projected to rise to US $10 trillion by 2030. Jean explained that education is the biggest sector to ever undergo digital transformation.

Delegate John O’Donnell of Irish curriculum management company Akari Software asked Jean about lifetime learning and how it may disrupt universities. Jean noted that a level of transformation is inevitable but that universities provide quality credentials and should start offering “bites of learning that can be delivered over and over again into a set of stackable credentials.”

After reaching a high in 2015, venture capital investment in edtech fell but is now rising again. A LearnLaunch study looked at where funding for edtech resides: “Clearly there are some things happening in formal education to bring an increased amount of skill training into the higher education and community college, or sometimes even high school. Then the workplace is delivering both functional skills and soft skills, with a high rate of company formation in technology.”

Jean said that some of the most intriguing innovations were the next generation of learning management systems (LMSs), new e-learning tools, advanced ways of looking at assessment and analytics, and credential management.

Companies who have never invested in edtech previously are entering the market (such as Walmart) and long-time funders are entering the process earlier. Jean explained that earlier engagement is intended to “push those start-ups in the direction that they need because start-ups will listen if you tell them what to do. They care about your opinion so they will be steering themselves to try and meet your needs.”

This is advanced strategic thinking, which will help ensure companies have the tools they need to upskill their workforce: “I don’t just think edtech is the opportunity of the decade, I think that we have to do this.”

Learn how Enterprise Ireland invests in new technologies with our range of innovation supports.

Business opportunities are heating up in Iberia

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Irish travellers visit Iberia in their droves – at least two million last year alone. But while we have long since exported our tourism to Spain and Portugal, the same cannot be said for Irish firms.

Given the proximity of Iberia’s Eurozone neighbours, with a GDP five times that of Ireland and offering gateways to growing domestic markets, as well as to Latin America and Africa, Irish exporters should take a closer look.

While Spain and Portugal joined Ireland, Italy and Greece as the hardest-hit economies during the crash, they have emerged, like Ireland, as reformed models showing above-average Eurozone growth.

 

New opportunities in Spain

Spain is the powerhouse of the peninsula with the country’s real GDP and job growth set to exceed that of the euro area for the fourth year in a row.

With 10 times the population of Ireland, Spain is the much larger market opportunity with a GDP of €1.2 trillion and a 2019 growth rate forecast at 2.1% by the IMF. While unemployment remains high at 14.7%, in key sectors such as telecoms, banking, travel tech and services, it has a wealth of expertise, as would be expected from a country home to telecoms and banking giants Telefónica and Banco Santander.

Spain’s logistics infrastructure is excellent, hosting two of Europe’s biggest airports in Madrid and Barcelona, while its 46 ports serve the Atlantic and Mediterranean, and its internal rail network is one of the most advanced in Europe. It has the digital infrastructure to match and ranks fourth in the world for e-government services.

 

Spain’s business renaissance

While the market has been perceived as more difficult to enter for exporters, this is changing as Spain continues to experience a post-crisis renaissance. Language remains a traditional barrier for entry, as does the country’s regional devolution, which poses challenges to marketing and product fits between areas.

At Enterprise Ireland’s Ambition Spain and Portugal event in Dublin, delegates heard how exports of companies supported by the agency totalled €338 million last year. Spain is a knowledge-based economy, where services account for around three-quarters of economic activity, the conference heard.

Irish firms may look to some of the strongest growing sectors, such as telecommunications, life sciences and agriculture. Telecoms is expected to grow to around €21 billion by 2022, with agriculture growing to some €27.4 billion.

Opportunities are there for Irish firms with innovative solutions willing to put in the market research, Gedeth Network founder Juan Millan told attendees.

“Irish companies are very well known for their innovation and their technology,” said Millan. “Consequently, we are very interested in Irish offerings in medtech, life sciences and fintech.”

Exporters should be aware that Spain acts as a bridge beyond the Eurozone, thanks to longstanding trade links from its colonial past to Latin America.

“It’s a good place to access decision-makers for firms in Latin America, as they have headquarters in Madrid and Barcelona,” he said. “And remember, Irish firms have great access to North America, the UK and Australia, which is equally of interest to Spanish firms. There is a natural synergy to be had and you should use this if you have activity in these markets as part of your negotiating position.”

Tourism remains huge at more than €180 billion per year – half the GDP of Ireland – and offers opportunities to Irish firms in travel tech. “Think not only about the sun and sangria,” Millan said. “But all the solutions you can offer to that market.”

 

Economic growth in Portugal

Being the smaller neighbour has not stopped Portugal transforming into a high-income advanced economy with a high living standard. Its growth forecast at 2.2% for 2019 is ahead of the likes of Germany, with unemployment steady at 6.8%.

The country’s major cities, Lisbon and Oporto, are the country’s major industrial hubs, with Lisbon accounting for banking and financial services, oil and gas and ICT hubs – and is now home to the world-class Web Summit founded in Dublin – while to the north there is a focus on manufacturing. Tourism is a valuable sector looking for travel tech solutions in a market centred mainly in the Algarve and expected to grow from around €22 billion last year to €27 billion by 2023.

Like its bigger neighbour, Portugal’s colonial legacy sees strong trade links remain, offering gateway trade opportunities to not only Brazil but African markets such as Angola.

According to Professor Jorge Sa, from the Swiss Business School, Portugal presents an untapped export opportunity to Irish firms worth around €3 billion. “There are great chances for firms working in pharma, organic chemicals, electronic equipment, essential oils, machinery and plastics,” he said.

 

Enterprise Ireland supports for expanding to Iberia

Accessing either market requires thorough research, and there are, of course, traditional barriers to entry such as mature supply chains and language issues, but there are a range of Enterprise Ireland supports to aid firms looking to future-proof their export sales including the Market Discovery Fund and GradStart, which provides up to 70 per cent of two-year salaries for graduates with relevant market language skills.

In the meantime, Enterprise Ireland’s office in Madrid is ready to assist Irish companies with ambitions to be more than just tourists to Iberia.

Man with lightbulb representing Innovation

Agile Innovation Fund: Easier than ever for companies of all sizes to access R&D funding

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It is now easier than ever for Irish companies to access R&D funding to improve their products and services and compete internationally.

That was the message from Enterprise Ireland and the national network of Local Enterprise Offices to representatives from more than 60 companies who attended a research, development and innovation event recently in Dublin.

Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs pledged to use the Agile Innovation Fund to support companies of all sizes as they to seek to open new export markets and grow – promising a fast, flexible and simple application process.

 

Find more information about the Agile Innovation Fund here.

Speaking at the Agile Innovation Workshop, Eoghan Hanrahan, Enterprise Ireland Regional Director for the Dublin Region and Regional Development, said: “In doing R&D, companies have to challenge the norms, do something different, look at achieving some kind of technical innovation to try and future-proof their company.

 

Get support for Agile Innovation

“We recognise that R&D can be challenging but it is a very important step for any business to take and it’s also important that they are supported in doing so. Enterprise Ireland and the LEOs are here to assist people and companies who want to invest in R&D. The Agile Innovation Fund offers up to 50% funding to a maximum of €150,000 in grant aid.”

Irish companies are spending less on R&D than most European competitors. Latest Eurostat figures show that spending in 2017 equated to 1.05% of GDP, almost half the EU average of 2.07% and well behind R&D leaders Sweden, Austria, Denmark and Germany – all of whom spent more than 3% of GDP.

Of the €3bn that was invested in R&D in Ireland, €1bn was spent by indigenous companies. It is notable that in 2007, Ireland spent a higher percentage of GDP (1.23%) on R&D than it did in 2017.

Joe Madden, Manager of In-Company R&D Supports at Enterprise Ireland, told the workshop that the Agile Innovation Fund was designed to counter the belief among SMEs that funding R&D is too costly and that securing state support for projects is too complex and geared towards larger operations.

 

Flexible and fast access to Agile Innovation funding

“The Agile innovation fund was introduced at the beginning of 2018 as a response to a very steep fall off in applications for R&D support,” Mr Madden said. “Companies were telling us that the standard R&D application process was too complicated and very often they would have a project finished before they even knew whether they were going to get approval to do it.

“We needed to introduce something much more flexible, much faster and where the funding wasn’t as high so that we could apply a less onerous process for evaluating and approving applications.”

The main feature of the Agile Innovation Fund is its fast turnaround time, with an application process that results in decisions in a few weeks rather than several months. More than 90 companies have drawn down around €20m in funding since it was launched last year, with 90% of them rating the application process as relatively simple in a survey.

Madden added: “There are only two documents required to apply for the Agile Innovation Fund, an online application form and a project plan. The project plan is what the technical assessment of the application is based on. The technical assessors are looking for two things: is this eligible R&D and are the costs reasonable. To be eligible R&D, there has to be technical uncertainty – this means the project must demonstrate some kind of product or process development technical challenge.

“Total expenditure on any single application is limited to €300,000, so if your project spend goes to €300,001, it is not eligible for funding. Typically for a smaller company, the funding would be 45% of the total cost, which equates to a maximum grant of €135,000. If a small company collaborates with a partner, this funding can rise to 50% and therefore the limit increases to €150,000.”

The goal of the Agile Innovation Fund is to increase the amount of spending by indigenous companies of all sizes on R&D across the economy.

 

Local Enterprise Office support

Oisin Geoghegan, Head of Enterprise at LEO Fingal, advised companies that are not Enterprise Ireland clients to get in touch with their Local Enterprise Office.

He said: “Providing assistance and funding for R&D projects or innovation is one of the core reasons why the Local Enterprise Offices are here. R&D is not just about wearing white coats and having a lab. Most of the businesses we are dealing with could potentially apply for and receive R&D grants

“We want to see more applications from SMEs and the LEOs will work with you to give you advice and guidance on the application process. It’s called Agile for a reason, the application process is straightforward, it’s online and we want to see applications processed and approved quickly.”

Apply for the Agile Innovation Fund now.

Irish fintech

Nordics are embracing Irish fintech innovation

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Tom Holgersson, a senior fintech advisor based in Enterprise Ireland’s Stockholm Office, describes why Irish fintech is thriving in the Nordic region.

“Similar to the Irish approach, the Nordic financial services industry is quite innovative. They are willing to both leverage and embrace new technologies to drive revenue and reduce cost,” says Stephen Florence, Account Director at Fenergo.

Irish fintechs have been active in the Nordics for years, with an increasing number targeting growth in the region. Success has been built on shared attitudes to innovation and the potential of both markets to develop as globally significant fintech hubs.

Both benefit from thriving tech scenes. Sweden is second only to Silicon Valley in terms of the number of unicorns – multi-billion-dollar tech companies – produced per capita. According to data from OECD, Sweden has 20 start-ups per 1,000 employees, compared to five in the US. Companies like Spotify, King and Skype are household names.

 

Impressive growth of Irish fintech

Over the past few years, the Irish fintech sector has grown impressively. Since 2014, Enterprise Ireland has invested in more than 80 fintech start-ups. That portfolio generated more than €1 billion in revenue in 2016.

In the Nordics’ rapidly growing sector, Sweden stands out. According to Nordic Tech List, Swedish companies attracted over 75pc of total fintech capital invested in the region in 2017. Well-known fintechs include Klarna, iZettle, Trustly and Tink.

Established Irish players, including Fenergo, Monex, Rockall Technologies and Corvil are known to many in the Nordics. Meanwhile, a new breed of companies is emerging, which includes Ammeon, Boxever, Cambrist, Leveris, AQMetrics and Know Your Customer.

 

Innovative solutions for global issues

Innovative fintechs have focused on solving problems across the global financial services industry. The mix of companies blending finance and tech has supported disruption, advancing new ways to understand, test and prove adherence to compliance regulations.

Solutions span a range of applications across regulatory reporting, risk management, Know Your Customer (KYC) compliance, anti-money laundering, secure messaging and transaction monitoring. The biggest opportunities stem from banking and finance regulations that apply globally.

Fenergo’s ability to solve challenges for global banks is proving an advantage in the Nordics. Stephen says, “The Nordic region has multiple regulatory jurisdictions, languages and currencies. Some form part of the European Union – Finland adopted the euro, Denmark and Sweden did not and neither Norway nor Iceland are members of the EU. This poses complex compliance challenges for financial institutions that are operating across the region. As we have a rules-based engine, we can support multiple regulatory demands with one instance of the solution. If we look at our current client base, most are global institutions who have experienced and solved the same challenges that financial institutions in the Nordics are currently facing.”

Beyond regtech, developments in big data, payments and cybersecurity are compelling.

Like other industries, banking faces the opportunity and challenge of leveraging real-time data and becoming more customer centric. Analysing large volumes of data will enable banks to better predict and tailor solutions for individual customers.

The area of payments is also creating challenges, with the landscape facing disruption due to changes in the value chain. Payments regulations are putting banks’ revenue under pressure and removing barriers to entry, as changes in customer behavior and increasing digitalization opens the field to new local and international players. Innovative fintech solutions are driving banks to offer customers more engaging and interactive services, with most exploring options in mobile wallets, loyalty cards, blockchain, account aggregation across multiple banks and foreign exchange services.

 

Regtech & Cybersecurity

The importance of cybersecurity continues to rise, as threats become more sophisticated. Most banks face challenges in malware, phishing attacks and fraud, complicated by the growing importance of customer centricity – providers must strike a balance between ease of use and security. Innovative products are emerging in biometric security, customer identification tools, malware detection and pattern recognition.

Enterprise Ireland has published a regtech white paper, which explores solutions beyond the customary compliance and regulatory requirements. It shows how regtech enables transformation across business functions by better utilising data and insights.

Download the white paper here.

This article was originally published in the Sunday Independent.

Key questions to ask at your US Market Advisor meeting

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Ireland would fit into the US 130 times over and as you probably know there are cultural differences between the north and south, as well as the east and west coasts. For this reason, it’s important not to treat the US as one market, instead view it as 50 markets with four time zones. 

You should keep the following questions front of mind when having your first meeting with our dedicated team. 

  • What is the awareness of Ireland in this state?
  • What are the core sectors and what sectors should I avoid in this state?
  • Will I need a local partner company?
  • What kind of obstacles should I expect when entering the market in this state?
  • What local competitors are active in this market?
  • What taxes, charges or hidden costs should I be aware of?
  • Are there any social/political instabilities in this state that could affect my business here?
  • Are there any environmental instabilities in this state that could affect my business here?
  • What social norms should I be cognizant of when engaging in meetings with local people?
  • Will I need to set up an office in the state?
  • Will I need to hire local staff?
  • Can I relocate Irish staff in this region?

Set up a call with our team in the US today 

For more be sure to check out our Going Global Guide 

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

Swiss time

Smart Swiss production creates opportunity for Irish suppliers

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Jens Altmann, a market adviser based in Enterprise Ireland’s Dusseldorf office, explains why Irish exporters are looking to Switzerland.

Fittingly for an alpine country, Switzerland offers a mountain of opportunity for Irish businesses. Although small, at just over half the size of Ireland, Switzerland is highly business-focused, boasting the second-highest gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in the world.

The Swiss manufacturing sector includes many familiar names due to an Irish presence. These include ABB Technologies, a global leader in power, robotics and automation technology, and Liebherr, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of construction machinery, helping to shape technological advances across many industries.

The development and implementation of digital applications is supported by the country’s infrastructure, data governance, education and workforce, subsidies, and other factors. Continuous development at Switzerland’s high level requires a comprehensive and reliable supply chain. That creates a variety of opportunities, particularly for companies developing smart manufacturing and industrial internet of things (IIoT) solutions.

Ralf Guenthner, Senior Partner at Swiss consultancy TEAM-FACTORY, comments, “Most technology companies in Switzerland are aware of the value IIoT and digitalisation could create for them. Developing a new mindset and holistic approach, combining technology, organisational changes and human behaviours, as well as building up a strong ecosystem, would boost value realisation.”

Ireland’s IoT industry is one of the most dynamic in the world, with companies largely focused on the industrial space, and providing software, platforms, sensors, integrated circuits, antennas, and more. Irish companies target a range of sectors including manufacturing, transport, logistics and engineering, with the aim of increasing operational efficiency, improving productivity, and enhancing health and safety.

 

Focus on Innovation

Last year, Enterprise Ireland hosted a trade mission to Zurich to help Irish companies explore IIoT opportunities in Switzerland. Over two days, 10 Irish companies engaged with industry associations, visited Swiss world-class manufacturers, and attended a targeted workshop and networking session.

Swiss multinational Schindler was one company Irish attendees visited during the trade mission. Schindler is well known for its elevators, escalators, and moving walk-ways, carrying both people and materials, and connecting vertical and horizontal transport systems through intelligent mobility solutions. Schindler’s futuristic PORT Technology lab in Switzerland showcases their ideas for innovative new transit management systems and urban living concepts.

Based in Zurich, ETH University is famous for cutting-edge research in areas such as microelectronics and robotics, and is one of the world’s top ten institutions. Enterprise Ireland collaborated with the university to host an afternoon workshop that brought together Irish companies and Swiss industry experts.

Compelling questions addressed during the session include – How do machines optimally collect and share data with other machines? How can they operate with increasing autonomy? Which applications are most impacting the development of IIoT and Machine to Machine (M2M)? How can opportunities for suppliers of everything from antennae and chips, to sensors and software, be captured?

 

Irish Swiss relations

Enterprise Ireland’s Dusseldorf office is focused on helping IoT companies to identify and exploit opportunities arising from the digitalisation of Swiss industry, and across the wider German-language region. We are extending our engagement with Swiss companies and industry leaders to actively promote Ireland as a technology provider for the IIoT value chain.

Switzerland’s high-tech leadership and the collaboration with suppliers from an international value chain, combine to make it a high-potential market for growing new business and technology partnerships.

Brigid O’Donovan, technology business consultant facilitating collaboration between world-class Swiss and Irish technology organisations, confirmed the potential of Swiss-Irish collaboration, noting, “Both countries are well positioned to take advantage of the productivity and economic growth opportunities of digitalisation.”

There is now a significant opportunity for Irish companies to become part of Switzerland’s enhanced value chain. That is a summit worth achieving.

 

This article was originally published in the Sunday Independent.