The RDI Hub Kerry, along with three other partners, has been awarded the €17 million contract to run the National Digital Research Centre (NDRC) for the next five years.
The Killorglin-based RDI Hub and its partners Dogpatch Labs in Dublin, Portershed in Galway and Cork’s Republic of Work have been selected to manage the service, which is Ireland’s national start-up accelerator programme.
They will deliver mentorship-driven accelerator and pre-accelerator programmes, and pre-seed funding to entrepreneurs across Ireland.
These programmes will take place in Kerry, Cork, Dublin and Galway, with applications opening in the first quarter of next year.
The National Digital Research Centre was established in 2006 to invest in very young digital enterprises and start-ups.
The RDI Hub Kerry, along with its partners Dogpatch Labs, Republic of Work and Portershed will invest in globally-focused, ‘high impact’ startups, to create world-class internationally scalable Irish companies.
CEO of the RDI Hub in Killorglin, Liam Cronin, says this will ensure the best investors, advisors, researchers and technologists are accessible to all globally ambitious entrepreneurs, regardless of where those entrepreneurs are in the country.
The NDRC programmes will be delivered via ‘a hub and spoke model’, which sees each hub interacting with other emerging hubs, universities and incubators in its region to accelerate entrepreneurial support across Ireland.
This bid was supported by five of Ireland’s top venture capital firms - Act, Atlantic Bridge, Delta Partners, Frontline, and Polaris Partners and they’ve have committed to providing expert support and best practices; there’ll also be international partnerships with Ignite and Google for Startups.
The contract win coincides with the launch of the Irish Tech Hub Network, made up of Dogpatch Labs, Portershed, Republic of Work, and RDI Hub, with other best-in-class innovation hubs Ludgate Hub Cork and Ormeau Baths Belfast.
The network will collaborate to share knowledge and resources to drive innovation across the island of Ireland.
