From tech enthusiast to industry innovator – How Immersive VR is revolutionising education

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“It’s not just the money that HPSU provides. It’s the information, contacts, and the advice they give you.”
David Whelan, Founder, Immersive VR Education

Overview:

  • Immersive VR Education was founded in 2014 based on the belief that virtual reality has the power to transform how training and educational content is delivered and consumed globally.
  • The business was ushered into the New Frontiers Entrepreneurial Development programme before qualifying for High Potential Start-Up support, which was used for product development, talent acquisition, conference attendance and more.
  • Today, Immersive VR Education has a staff of 40 people and sales of its applications and education licenses are growing at an average of 50% each year.

 

Case Study: Immersive VR

David Whelan is a self-taught web developer and all-round tech enthusiast. When he came across the first model of the Oculus virtual reality headset on the fundraising website Kickstarter, he was intrigued. The recession had hit Ireland and money was tight, but Whelan still spent his last €300 to purchase the cutting-edge product.

Inspired by the new technology, Whelan built one of the very first review websites for virtual reality. He realised that, despite the potential power of this tech to impact learning, most existing VR content consisted of video games and entertainment. It’s true that NASA and several medical research facilities were using virtual reality for training, but access to these experiences was extremely expensive. He had identified a glaring gap in the VR market: educational material for the average consumer. That’s when Whelan decided to start his own virtual reality business: Immersive VR Education.

Whelan was convinced that his idea held merit for educators worldwide, but in order to make it happen, he needed funding. He paid a visit to his local Enterprise Ireland office in Waterford, bringing along the VR headset.

“When pitching my idea, the first thing I had to do was explain VR,” says Whelan. “Then I would let them try it. People were always blown away by the experience. They definitely thought I was crazy, but they could see I was committed. It’s hard to deny the power of VR once you’ve tried it.”

Enterprise Ireland agreed that the start-up had huge global potential. Immersive VR Education was ushered into the New Frontiers Entrepreneurial Development programme with the goal of eventually qualifying for High Potential Start-Up support. Its partnership with Enterprise Ireland generated funding used for product development and enabled Whelan to bring his wife and co-founder, Sandra, on staff. The start-up’s HPSU development advisor, who came from a similar business and technical background, suggested applying for grant funding, so it participated in the HPSU Feasibility Study, which contributed toward costs to attend conferences in relevant industries.

 

Enterprise Ireland introduced Immersive VR Education to their overseas offices in places like New York, Tokyo, and London. Whelan says these international teams were extremely helpful and happy to advise whether the new VR products would be well received within their respective markets.

Whelan says, “I couldn’t have started a business anywhere but here. Enterprise Ireland vetted us and vouched for us, which gave investors confidence in our business idea. This opened important doors to funding and helped us to no end.”

 

Shoot for the moon

Most of the early fundraising went toward building Immersive VR Education’s first application: the Apollo 11 virtual reality experience. Whelan describes the 1969 moon landing as “a shining beacon in history.” He and his team of developers worked hard to build a virtual reality experience that would transport viewers directly to the surface of the moon with the Apollo 11 crew. He believed that this type of immersive learning would mean much more to students than simply reading about the event in a textbook.

When the demo for Apollo 11 VR was launched, Facebook used it in conjunction with the release of its new Oculus headset. The partnership gave Immersive VR Education the remaining funds needed to complete the application. When all was said and done, Apollo 11 VR cost about $100,000 to build and went out as a top title on the Oculus Rift VR headset. Since then, the application has generated over $2 million.

 

Education for everyone

Following the roaring success of Immersive VR Education’s first application, it began to build out its business and hire more staff. Whelan took the education angle to a whole new level, creating a virtual university where educators can teach anyone in the world via its virtual classrooms.

“We want a future where education is accessible to everyone,” says Whelan. “I fully believe there is another young Einstein out there, missing his chance to change the world because he doesn’t have access to quality education. We’re here to change that.”

Immersive VR Education hopes that in the future, we will see virtual universities around the world. Whelan dreams of providing the opportunity for students to attend a physics class at MIT in the morning and literature at Oxford in the afternoon. He also sees potential for exposing home-schooled students to the social benefits of the classroom experience, helping to alleviate isolation for children who are not involved in traditional schooling. The possibilities, he says, are endless.

 

Exceptional growth with Enterprise Ireland

Today, Immersive VR Education has a staff of 40 people. Sales of its applications and education licenses are growing at an average of 50% each year. The company sells products online globally, with its highest numbers coming from the US, UK, and Korea.

Although Immersive VR Education flew through the official HPSU programme in just under three years, Whelan says that Enterprise Ireland is still very much part of their daily operations. They regularly send advisors to Waterford, provide advice and industry connections, and enable access to further support and grants.

The company’s latest goal is to expand and hire more staff. Recently, it availed of the Enterprise Ireland GradStart programme, which Whelan says is invaluable when it comes to sourcing new recruits. Immersive VR Education expects to see exponential growth over the next three to five years as the company continues its work of revolutionising education around the globe.

Is your business ready to take the next step towards becoming a HPSU? Contact our Start-Up Enquiries Team to find out more.

Click here to learn more about becoming a HPSU or contact our Start-Up Enquiries Team to find out more.

Is your business ready to take the next step to becoming a HPSU? Click here to learn more or contact our Start-Up Enquiries Team

How Manna Drone Delivery is changing the global delivery industry

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“Indigenous tech is at a huge disadvantage compared to FDI companies. Enterprise Ireland gives us policy support and the advantage we need in order to scale.”

Bobby Healy, Founder, Manna Drone Delivery

Overview:

  • Serial entrepreneur Bobby Healy of CarTrawler fame founded Manna Drone Delivery in 2017 to revolutionise food delivery.
  • The High Potential Start-Up team provided invaluable logistical support, training, and market access.
  • Healy plans to begin scaling the company globally in the next 18-24 months.

Case Study: Manna Drone Delivery

Bobby Healy is an experienced entrepreneur, but his latest idea is probably his most revolutionary yet. For the last three years, he’s been building Manna Drone Delivery, a service with which he plans to revolutionise the world of online food delivery. Healy says he noticed that major food platforms don’t deliver to suburban Ireland. The reason? It is nearly impossible to drive or deliver food profitably. The practice is cost-prohibitive but still needed in many areas. He saw an opportunity to use new technology as a solution to the problem: drones. Healy founded Manna and began hiring experts who could turn his idea into reality.

A computer programmer by trade, Healy began his career writing video games for Nintendo. Since then, he has founded and led two successful businesses, including CarTrawler, the world’s largest mobility marketplace for airlines. Healy’s programming expertise was also the foundation for his drone delivery idea. Over the last two years, the Manna team has built and tested custom software, hardware, and batteries. They are also working with aviation regulators in multiple markets about airspace law. The end goal is to “make a 3-minute, low-cost food delivery service as pervasive as running water in Europe and the USA.”

“Anywhere there’s an economy where food delivery is growing, we should be there. By 2021, we’ll begin to scale and then enter markets everywhere.” says Healy.

The entrepreneur’s last two businesses were supported by Enterprise Ireland, so it was only natural that Healy went to them with his newest idea. He says that onboarding with the High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) team was a straightforward process.

“The HPSU team were always available to meet and help us understand what they needed for us to qualify. It’s not a rigid organisation. They do everything they can to take care of formalities in the background as you get going on the work,” Healy says.

 

HPSU making headway on foreign soil

Currently, there are 23 people working for Manna. Healy says that with Enterprise Ireland’s guidance, he plans to begin commercially scaling the company in the next 18 to 24 months. He predicts HPSU will be invaluable when it comes to logistical support, training, and market access. He plans to lean on HPSU as he pushes Manna’s service into the global marketplace.

One of the biggest challenges to launching international drone operations is airspace regulation. Flight rules vary from country to country and Healy’s team will need to negotiate with lawmakers in each region where they hope to fly. The partnership with Enterprise Ireland will be crucial for gaining permission to operate in foreign airspace. The key to success is access to the people who control those regulations.

“Enterprise Ireland is there to help with introductions to regulators in foreign countries,” Healy says. “They offer an industrial international presence.”

Healy admits that his company is facing some inordinately large challenges, saying it is probably the most complex business you could build. Manna must find solutions for custom cloud services, market integration, new hardware, regulations, certification, and licensing. On top of everything else, there is the matter of finance. Healy says the first hurdle in fundraising was educating and convincing investors that his idea was viable. The scale and audacity of the plan can be hard to fathom for some.

Healy says, “Most businesses are predictable and believable. Ours is beyond cutting edge. We’re doing something totally new, but we’ve overcome disbelief and begun to successfully raise significant levels of capital.”

The international business community has shown faith in the fledgling company’s new ideas. In addition to regulatory access across borders, Enterprise Ireland has been working to assist Manna throughout the fundraising process.

“The team in San Francisco have been instrumental in opening doors for us as we raise funds,” says Healy. “They give us respectability and prominence in the industry.”

 

Sights set on more than just food

Manna is launching as a food delivery service, but Healy says the start-up won’t stop there. He decided to hone in on the food industry because the volume of potential deliveries is so high. Healy says this will allow the new business to be capital efficient. Once the infrastructure is in place, however, it plans to also roll out services for pharmacies, hardware stores, butcher shops, bookstores, and anything else that fuels a local economy.

In order to reach these goals, Healy says talent acquisition will be important. As drone technology continues to develop, Manna will need more high-quality technicians, designers, and programmers on board to keep up. He predicts that the company’s ongoing relationship with HPSU and Enterprise Ireland will once again be valuable as it scales.

“A small start-up company needs an endorsement that says, ‘These guys are a team to work with’. We’re competing with the big guys for talent, so HPSU helps address that imbalance.” says Healy.

 

Is your business ready to take the next step to becoming a HPSU? Click here to learn more or contact our Start-Up Enquiries Team.

Arab Health

How Irish – UAE partnerships are shaping the future of healthcare

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Imed Abnoun, market executive for Enterprise Ireland Dubai, outlines partnership opportunities for Irish medtech innovators in the UAE and across the Gulf region.

Imed Abnoun, Enterprise Ireland Market ExecutiveAs part of its Brexit response, Enterprise Ireland has focused efforts on supporting Irish companies to identify new market diversification opportunities, including the Gulf region, which has become an important market for Ireland. Entering a new export market is an important strategic decision for any company but with the right preparation the rewards can be mutually beneficial.

The Middle East’s largest healthcare exhibition, Arab Health 2020, took place in Dubai in January, demonstrating that the healthcare sector provides a strong example of how Irish pharmaceutical and medtech companies can enter the market or expand further to meet rapidly rising demand in the UAE and wider Gulf region for world-class innovative products, services and expertise across the full spectrum of the healthcare sector.

 

Healthcare opportunities in the UAE

In the UAE alone, this strong demand is clear with market analysis estimating that spending on healthcare will reach $3.6 billion by 2030. Irish healthcare companies are ready to forge new partnerships with healthcare providers in the UAE to provide patients with the latest world-leading innovations that further enhance the patient experience, improve patient outcomes, and supply lifesaving technologies that are used in healthcare systems worldwide.

Ireland and the UAE already have strong economic ties and mutually beneficial partnerships, including across the healthcare sector. Take, for example, the partnership in Dubai that Martin Dunne, the Director of Ireland’s National Ambulance Service has focused on. Martin has been actively supporting the Dubai Ambulance Service in the provision of training for paramedics, equipping them with world-class life-saving professional training and development. Ireland’s National Ambulance Service, in partnership with the Higher Colleges of Technology in Dubai, provides the curriculum and accreditation for diplomas in emergency medical services that train paramedics and advanced paramedics with life-saving skillsets that benefit Dubai and the UAE.

The partnership is a good example of health diplomacy in action, through country-to-country institutional collaboration that mutually benefits all parties, both public and private sector and country-to-country bilateral relations, and ultimately leads to lives being saved in Dubai.

However, the collaboration goes further than education and training. The Dubai Ambulance Service is equipped with cutting-edge Irish hardware and software related to patient and paramedic safety, operational efficiency, and fleet maintenance and diagnostics. Irish company Acetech, a global manufacturer of vehicle intelligence solutions for emergency service fleets, provide this hardware and software.

At Arab Health 2020, we saw further collaboration between the 14 Irish companies hosted on the Ireland pavilion in the medtech, digital health and pharmaceutical sectors and healthcare providers from across the region – resulting in 10 major contract signings. The companies showcasing their world-leading expertise included:

 

From its life sciences sector, with a vibrant pharmaceutical industry that exports almost €70 billion annually, through to the innovation of the medtech sector, with exports of €12.6 billion to over 100 countries worldwide, the Irish healthcare industry is a big success story. In the UAE alone, 40% of all Irish goods exports last year were pharma, wellness and medicines-related. Ireland is a global leader in the medtech industry and will seek to leverage its innovative expertise to meet the demand in the region in a sector estimated to be worth $31.6 billion by 2025.

The UAE and Ireland recognise the significant mutual benefits that arise from collaboration and partnership. Arab Health 2020 added a new chapter to this, helping to shape the healthcare services of both countries to benefit their people.

Dmac Media Director of Sales

Dmac Media – attracting new talent with GradStart

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“Tech graduates are highly desirable and form a key part of our growth plans.  We had issues competing for that talent and GradStart allowed us to offer a much more attractive package to graduates.”

Dave McEvoy, Sales Director, Dmac Media

Overview:

  • Dmac Media is a web design agency offering a full suite of web solutions including web design, eCommerce platforms, content management and digital marketing.
  • With offices in Dublin, Sligo and Cork the company used Enterprise Ireland’s GradStart initiative to attract fresh graduate talent and drive business activity.
  • The GradStart programme offers salary support of up to 70% for the employment of graduate talent to assist companies when expanding into new markets.

1. What attracted you to get involved in GradStart?

Tech graduates are highly desirable and form a key part of our growth plans.  We had issues competing for that talent and Enterprise Ireland‘s GradStart allowed us to offer a much more attractive package to graduates.

 

2. What did GradStart allow you to do that you wouldn’t have done otherwise?

Bringing in fresh talent to our business allowed us to focus more heavily on business development as a daily activity rather than a paper based plan.

 

3. What challenges and/or opportunities did GradStart help you address?

With qualified personnel we had lower training and induction costs this allowed us to keep up in a fast paced sector in a sustainable way.  The challenge (as always) was finding the right graduates.

 

4. Which areas of the business did the graduate contribute to?

Our graduates have broadened both our technical skillset as well as our graphic design and process management skills.  The impact was noticeable from day one.

 

5. How did participating in GradStart impact your business positively?

GradStart gave us a headstart on developing new products which in turn has brought our entry into new markets considerably closer.

 

6. Were there any learnings from your participation in GradStart that you have taken forward into your business?

We have evolved from a company with very standard and fixed methodologies to one that is now willing to experiment and develop better strategies.

 

7. Would you recommend GradStart to your business peers? If so, why?

Yes, it gives you time to focus on the business rather than just working in the business.

Learn more about GradStart and how it can support your business growth.

Loci Orthopaedics

How the Innovation Partnership Programme is helping Loci Orthopaedics de-risk product development

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“NUIG has the expertise and the equipment to develop this technology much faster and more efficiently that we would be able to do in-house.”

Dr. Brendan Boland, Co-founder, Loci Orthodopaedics

Overview:

  • Galway company Loci Orthopaedics is developing innovative implants to address unmet need in the orthopaedic extremities space.
  • Enterprise Ireland’s Innovation Partnership Programme enabled the company to work with experts in the National University of Ireland, Galway (NUIG) to optimise technology to improve implant fixation.
  • The company will be undertaking its first clinical trials in Europe later this year.

Case study: Loci Orthopaedics

‘Thumbs, shoulders, knees and toes, knees and toes’ is (almost) what the song says, and it more or less sums up the orthopaedic space within which NUIG spin-out company Loci Orthopaedics is operating. Co-founded in 2017 by Dr. Brendan Boland (CEO) and Gerry Clarke (CTO), the multi-award-winning company is targeting the fastest growing area in orthopaedic medicine – orthopaedic extremities.

“In 2013, I became a fellow in the BioInnovate programme, where I met Gerry. We identified the unmet clinical need of treating upper limb arthritic conditions. That led to the establishment of Loci Orthopaedics and the development of our primary product, the InDx implant, which can mimic the complex motions of the thumb base joint,” explains Boland.

The company then began work on a second product, a shoulder implant. Recognising that achieving good primary fixation is problematic for patients with poor bone stock, it licensed OsteoAnchor – technology that had been developed by Dr. Noel Harrison of the School of Engineering at NUIG, who is a leader in the field of additive manufacturing (3D printing).

“The OsteoAnchor technology allows implants to better adhere to the bone by providing a roughened surface that the person’s own bone can grow into….” 

We felt that this technology fitted our focus but we needed to optimise its effectiveness and de-risk it to give us the confidence to invest in developing new products using it. Having benefitted in the past from excellent support from Enterprise Ireland, we turned to its Innovation Partnership Programme for help,” says Boland.” 

 

The power of partnership

The Innovation Partnership Programme enables companies to access expertise within universities and research institutes and covers up to 80% of the cost of a research project. With NUIG’s recently opened Advanced Manufacturing Lab (developed by Dr. Harrison) located just metres from Loci Orthopaedics, it made sense to ask Harrison’s team to lead the Innovation Partnership Programme project.

“They have the expertise and the equipment to develop the OsteoAnchor technology much faster and more efficiently than we would be able to do in-house,” says Boland.

Dr. Eimear O’Hara is the technical lead and project manager. “It’s an ambitious six-month project,” she says. “We’re taking a concept implant and doing the design, prototyping and mechanical testing here in the lab, where we have extensive 3D printing capability. The deliverable will be a metal 3D printed shoulder implant.”

The Innovation Partnership Programme will deliver benefits to both the company and the university.

“As well as de-risking the technology, the Innovation Partnership Programme validates it to external parties because the project goes through commercial assessment,” says Boland.  “And there’s the potential for the Innovation Partnership Programme collaboration to lead to further innovation.” 

From NUIG’s perspective it’s the chance to engage with industry to get insights into real world applications of 3D printing and to demonstrate the capability of its 3D metal printer.

“This kind of collaboration also informs the content of my lectures, helping to keep Mechanical Engineering students up to date about additive manufacturing processes, materials and product design,” says Harrison.

“It’s the first time we’ve used the 3D metal printer for an industry-based project. We’re hoping that many more companies will be interested in working with us on using our suite of 3D printers, not just in the medtech space but across all manufacturing,” he adds.

 

The journey to market

With the combined value of the markets for its shoulder and thumb base implants currently sitting at around US $2 billion, the outcome of the Innovation Partnership Programme project will be an important milestone for Loci Orthopaedics, enabling it to take the next steps on its journey to market.

“Our primary market is the US and this year we’ll be making a regulatory submission relating to our InDx product in advance of commercialisation in the US in 2021. We’re aiming to do our first clinical trial of InDx in Europe in June and are anticipating commercialisation in the EU in 2022,” says Boland.

The same process will apply to the shoulder implant, following about two years behind.

“Meanwhile we’ll have an active in-house innovation and R&D programme. We’ve already secured patents, have four more filed and 16 more in development. Over the next five years we’re hoping to roll out a whole suite of products.”says Boland. 

Until the products hit the market the company will run lean, maintaining just three staff and using manufacturing and processing partners. Financing currently comes from €6 million secured from seed funding, grants and prizes.

 

The Innovation Partnership Programme experience

Loci Orthopaedics received a grant of €85,000 from the Innovation Partnership Programme and contributed €16,000 to the project.

“For a modest sum of money, we are getting a great deal of work done, a good bang for your buck, as they say. Moreover, applying for the Innovation Partnership Programme grant is relatively straightforward and Enterprise Ireland ensures that the IPP agreement clearly sets out what is expected from each party and what each will get out of it, for example, in the area of intellectual property or how new innovations resulting from the project will be handled. This project is enabling us to add to our R&D pipeline and increase our product portfolio,” says Boland.

Dr. Harrison encourages companies to think big when considering the Innovation Partnership Programme: “A company may have a technical problem that they need help on but they’re thinking about it in terms of their bandwidth. Through the Innovation Partnership Programme, they can get access to a university’s massive suite of equipment, expert personnel and state-of-the-art facilities.”

 

 

Beats Medical CEO Ciara Clancy

Beats Medical: changing the approach to neurological disease

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“It’s a huge honour to be supported by the European Commission and really push the limits of what we are doing with this technology….this grant will support us in having the impact we’ve always wanted to have.”

Dr. Ciara Clancy, CEO, Beats Medical

Overview:

  • Founded in 2012, Beats Medical is a game-changing medtech company developing new ways to treat Parkinson’s disease, speech and fine motor skills.
  • It has received feasibility funding, CSF and HPSU support from Enterprise Ireland.
  • In September 2019, Beats Medical was awarded a co-financing grant of €2.4 million from the Horizon 2020 Enhanced European Innovation Council Accelerator Pilot.
  • Today, Beats Medical delivers therapies to people in more than 44 countries and has offices in Dublin and Lisbon.

Case study: Beats Medical

At the age of 22, Ciara Clancy set up Beats Medical, a game-changing medtech company determined to find new ways to treat Parkinson’s disease. “From the start, I was interested in what is now called ‘digital therapeutics’,” she says, “It’s an established field of healthcare now, but then there was no name for it.”

 

Falling short

As a practitioner, Clancy was impressed by the ability of ‘metronome therapy’ to alleviate Parkinson’s walking symptoms. Through an auditory cue system, the therapy replaces the brain signals that are impaired by the disease, helping to overcome the shuffling walk, shortness of breath and freezing so often associated with the disease. While she had no doubt about the efficacy of the therapy, Clancy wanted her clients to enjoy its benefits not only in the hospital, but in their own homes.

 

“For people with neurological conditions,” Clancy explains, “the symptoms vary not only from person to person but from day to day and hour to hour – no one solution fits all.” 

This means that the therapy must be tailored regularly and precisely, making it challenging to prescribe it as ‘homework’.

If she could find a way to deliver these therapies remotely, however, Clancy believed she could dramatically improve the lives of countless people living with Parkinson’s, giving them more control over their symptoms every day.

When, in 2012, Clancy founded Beats Medical, her aim was to design a device that would give those with Parkinson’s access to therapy between hospital visits. She needed to create a device that could analyse individual needs and generate tailored metronome therapy prescriptions.

“I had support from Enterprise Ireland at this stage,” explains Clancy, “as well as feasibility funding and Competitive Start Fund (CSF) support. The initial years of research were about seeing if it was even possible to do this.”

 

The next step

It was soon clear that Clancy was onto something. In 2015, she was named Laureate for Europe at the Cartier Women’s Initiative and the same year Beats Medical became one of Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-ups, giving Clancy the financial support needed to start building a team.

“One of the first people I brought on board was Dr. Wui-Mei Chew, a medical doctor and researcher specialising in molecular medicine,” says Clancy. “We had met at university.”

A year later, she won Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur and Best Established Business awards, which together earned her €60,000 via an investment fund from Enterprise Ireland and the Local Enterprise Offices.

With their hard-won R&D funding, the team spent two years developing algorithmic and analytical processes and building the initial prototype. They then went on to test the device with a number of Irish universities, as well as with the UK’s largest Parkinson’s charity, Parkinson’s UK.

After some trial and error, Beats Medical had developed a core technology platform that could deliver cost-effective daily assessments and individually tailored therapy to clients.

 

The risk

Despite these developments, it wasn’t all plain sailing for the young company. Not satisfied to stop there, Clancy had her sights set on expanding the technology to treat speech and fine motor skills. Beats Medical reported financial losses two years running while it tried to develop and expand its product but continued to make its existing device available to those with Parkinson’s.

This tenacity paid off. In 2018, Clancy’s company launched one of the first digital therapeutics in Europe to attain direct reimbursement, with the Beats Medical Dyspraxia app covered by Vhi Healthcare.

Today, the company employs twelve people and has offices in Dublin and Lisbon. It delivers therapies to people in over 44 countries.

 

Change on the horizon

Beats Medical has seen for itself how ambition can threaten financial viability. For SMEs like this, the high risk associated with innovative solutions can prevent ideas from reaching their full potential.

This is where Horizon 2020 comes in. The EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation aims at helping to mitigate the hurdles to scientific development and innovation in Europe by supporting high potential SMEs. The fund provides direct financial support to selected SMEs, as well as nourishing innovation capacities.

The Horizon 2020 Enhanced European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator Pilot is an incarnation of its ‘SME Instrument’. The pilot has €149 million funding available to distribute as grants to 83 SMEs and start-ups around Europe.

“We applied for the EIC Pilot to be able scale up our current core technology platform in order to further deploy the technology in more disease areas,” says Clancy.

In September 2019, Beats Medical was one of eight Irish SMEs to be awarded the pilot’s full-cycle business innovation support. It received a co-financing grant of €2.4 million, as well as coaching and mentoring.

“For us, it’s a huge honour to be supported by the European Commission and really push the limits of what we are doing with this technology,” says Clancy. “Now, we can expand our product and research activities to multiple neurological conditions. We want to continue to better treat these patients and inform the health sector as a whole. The grant will support us in having the impact that we’ve always wanted to have.”

The EIC Pilot will fund a two-year project as part of Clancy’s ambitious five-year plan to not only transform the way neurological conditions are treated but generate a better understanding of the brain. Already, the company has started new and promising research, and has just been assigned their EIC business coach.

“The EIC Accelerator Pilot is a great programme,’ adds Clancy. “It’s really important that other companies focused on deep research and innovation know about this.”

 

Speaker at Ambition North America

Joining the American tech revolution

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When Alan Turing devised his eponymous computer he could have had no idea that it had set in motion multiple technological innovations so disruptive the effects will likely eclipse the last Industrial Revolution.

That’s according to SKOUT CYBERSECURITY CEO, Aidan Kehoe, whose foray into the US market 15 years ago led to the foundation of his global business. The technology set in train by Turing has led to seismic shifts that we have still yet to fully grasp and is fueling innovation in artificial intelligence, privacy, big data, blockchain, connected cities, cloud computing, voice, audio, augmented and virtual reality.

 

Innovation key to getting heard in US market

They are megatrends, according to Kehoe, who asked delegates at Enterprise Ireland’s Ambition North America event: “Do you want to be part of the megatrend or deal with the consequences of it?”

The question posed is important because, according to Kehoe, the US economy has embraced megatrends. Innovation is seen as a key driver in business and is part of the US business psyche. Any value proposition that speaks to innovation and solves megatrend problems and pain points will get a hearing in the US.

“To understand the American business mind, you have to realise they start from the perspective that they have no choice but to make it. That, in itself, acts a great driver for innovation,” says Kehoe.

In almost every sector, from AI, machine learning, fintech, medtech, agritech, pharma, life sciences and beyond, the US leads, and thrives on, innovation. More patents are filed in the US than any other country; in fact, it files three times as many as its nearest competitor, Japan.

It’s why, if you have an innovative solution, be prepared for the US to at the very least, give you facetime.

 

Don’t try to be all things to all people

As the world’s largest economy, currently enjoying a decade of unbroken growth –  last year nudging 4.95% – and a GDP of $20.49trn, the US remains the prize export market. But exporters attempting to ‘break’ America can run into common pitfalls, not least viewing the United States as a single business monoculture.

David Walsh, CEO of Netwatch, which has 250,000 customers in North America, told delegates that the US is “where you go to scale” but warned:

“You simply cannot be all things to all people over there. You have to be clear what you can deliver and even clearer on what you can’t. It’s effectively 50 different markets sharing the same bit of land. We concentrated on four key markets and built on that. California is not the same as Texas and neither are the same as the East coast.” says Walsh.

Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre at its Dublin HQ in EastPoint (and via eight regional hubs), together with grant funding such as the Market Discovery Fund, will help you to put boots, not only on the ground but in the right place to build your network.

Once in the US, do not fall into the trap of trying to bootstrap your operation, said Rob Rae, co-founder of Littus, the business development consultancy.

“Time and time again, the biggest and worst mistake we see is firms falling into the DIY trap, trying to do it all themselves. It’s only natural, Irish firms are entrepreneurial and it’s worked in other markets in the past and in Ireland but this is a different ball game. Spend your money on expertise at this early stage because it will save you many multiples later on, if what you did on your own goes wrong.”

He told the conference: “Above all bring a value proposition to the table. Don’t go to the US hoping to be the best Irish tech company there is. Go there to be the best tech company in the US that happens to be Irish.”

Key to planning is securing visas for your team in the early stages. Business visas will help for initial networking and sales but ultimately you will

need resident work visas and the paperwork can be lengthy and detailed both in time and scope, added Rebecca Mancini, Corporate Immigration Attorney at Clark Hill.

“The climate under the current administration is ‘buy American, hire American’ so in bringing skilled staff from abroad, you need to demonstrate why a US citizen could not do that.” For Irish firms with IP and trade secrets that cannot be replicated, this should be emphasised and should help the process to get key personnel in place, added Mancini.

If you have your market fit and personnel in place, be prepared for being able to scale, said SKOUT’s Aidan Kehoe, a sentiment echoed by Monaghan-based forklift manufacturer, Combilift.

“Our sales doubled in the last three years in North America,” said the firm’s North American Sales Director, Anthony Rooney.

For Kehoe, he had no doubt that riding the current internet megatrend was fundamental to the firm’s success.

“We’re in cybersecurity. Even if we weren’t any good, we would probably be doing very well indeed. That’s what riding the megatrend means.”

 

Learn more about doing business in the USA and Canada and the Enterprise Ireland supports available.

Ambition Benelux: Breaking into Benelux

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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

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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.”

team discussing market research plan

Access premium business intelligence reports with the Market Research Centre

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The main ways client companies can utilise the Enterprise Ireland Market Research Centre

 

If you are interested in entering a new market or diversifying into a new sector, Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre can help. Read how you can best use this Enterprise Ireland support.

Conducting market research can help to reduce business risks and assist your company to map out its journey to growing exports. To support client companies, Enterprise Ireland has invested in access to premium business intelligence databases in Market Research Centres in Dublin and eight regional hubs.

But how can you best access the Market Research Centre? Follow these five steps to make the most of your time there.

 

  1. Create your research objective

First, consider what the information you need will be used for and in what type of resource it is likely to be found. Resources provided by the Market Research Centre include:

  • Market reports
  • Country reports
  • Industry and sector reports
  • Company listings for lead generation
  • Trend forecasts
  • Journal articles

All of this information and research is provided by respected publishers and can only be accessed by clients within the Market Research Centre. The Centre’s information specialists work with a range of providers to ensure your company has access to the most up-to-date knowledge available. Once your research objectives are clear, then you are ready to take the next step.

 

  1. Explore the databases online

Get a sense of the databases you would most like to access at the Market Research Centre online before you make an appointment. You can even search for specific report titles here. By preparing in advance, and checking in with the Market Research Centre before your visit, you can ensure that relevant material is available when you need it and that your time is spent efficiently.

 

  1. Book an appointment

Contact the Market Research Centre to discuss your research request and to arrange a visit to the main centre in Dublin or to any of the eight regional office hubs. Currently there are facilities in the following Enterprise Ireland regional offices: Athlone, Cork, Dundalk, Galway, Shannon, Sligo, Tralee and Waterford.

To book your appointment, contact:

Phone: (01) 727 2324

Email: market.research@enterprise-ireland.com

Opening Hours: Monday-Friday, 9am-5pm.

 

  1. Stay up-to-date and social

The Market Research Centre blog is the best place to find the latest information about resources. This includes the most recent reports available to Enterprise Ireland clients, arranged into categories that are easy to search. From country-specific reports to individual sector research and Brexit-focused news, visiting the blog regularly will give you a sense of the breadth and depth of research and information available to consult during your visit.

You can also follow the Market Research Centre on Twitter to stay up-to-date with its latest news.

 

 

  1. Get guidance from information specialists

One big advantage of using the Market Research Centre is that you’re no longer alone. The Centre’s knowledgeable information specialists are readily available to guide you towards the most relevant reports and databases for your needs. The Market Research Centre’s information specialists can also help you to determine which reports are most relevant to your needs, or assist you with developing a plan of action on which sector or country you should start researching.

Conducting the right market research is vital for businesses to maintain their competitive edge and enjoy successful export growth. With Brexit a reminder of the importance of diversifying and discovering exciting new export opportunities, get the right support from Enterprise Ireland’s Market Research Centre.

Evercam drone install

How Agile Innovation enabled Evercam to capitalise on the AI revolution

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“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

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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.