The projects that are getting startups to think outside the Silicon Docks
Groups around Ireland are taking it on themselves to build networks in smaller towns and cities.
BACK IN 2014, Sean O’Sullivan issued a rallying call to entrepreneurs. The SOSV founder asked them to stop worrying about how previous policies have stifled startups – and instead to do something proactive to change their environment.
In a report for the Entrepreneurship Forum, the Irish-American businessman and investor encouraged “like-minded folk to rise up and build the culture we need and to collectively lift ourselves above this mess from the banking and property crisis”.
Two years later, it appears some people have answered his challenge.
Startup hubs and new communities where entrepreneurs can get together have begun popping up around the country like mushrooms after rain.
And instead of being in competition with other cities and towns, the leaders of the projects want to see their models replicated across Ireland.
Startup Ireland co-founder and community manager Eoin Costello said the handful of local initiatives that had emerged so far were the beginning of what needed to become a nationwide, grassroots movement.
Recently, he has personally been involved in the Digital Dún Laoghaire project, which is trying to entice a cluster of high-growth tech companies to set up in the south Dublin region.
“If we can create a blueprint and learn from the other initiatives around the country, the key goal for us is to share that and run workshops and say to towns around the country that we will help them reduce the risk for this type of project,” he tells Fora.
“We will show what worked with our stakeholder group, what the biggest obstacles were and how to tap into both local, national and international entrepreneurs.”
He says the group is hoping to lock down space in Dún Laoghaire for the digital hub this year and then spread the word to other areas of the country about how they can also develop a startup network from scratch.
The Mill, Drogheda
Footsteps
Digital Dún Laoghaire is following in the footsteps of other groups that have built successful communities of early stage businesses, sometimes in regions not traditionally associated with cutting-edge innovation.
One of those projects is The Mill in Drogheda, which has been up and running since 2014 and is trying to develop the northeast as a hub for payments firms, as well as young businesses in other sectors.
The Mill business development manager Breanndán Casey says the aim is to break Drogheda’s mould as merely a commuter town for Dublin.
“There’s a lack of understanding about the Drogheda region from a national perspective. Because it’s a commuter town, people move to Drogheda but all their business interaction is in Dublin.
“Part of our role is to show that there is a support structure if they want to set up in the Drogheda region. It’s no disadvantage. We have the right learning facilities, broadband, hot desks and informal networks. I feel they are not missing out on anything by not being based in Dublin.”
The region has a history of large manufacturing operations, with both Coca-Cola and building materials giant CRH having bases in and around Drogheda for decades.
Casey says tapping into the goodwill of those big companies has been the foundation for The Mill, with the organisation taking several sizable donations from corporations to date.
“Large businesses are contributing on a philanthropic basis, based on the idea that it’s good for the town and will eventually be good for other businesses as well.
“We also have smaller companies contributing and, I think from all their perspectives, it’s a statement that businesses in Drogheda are there to help each other.”
The reception area in The Mill
Be loud
Besides its success in raising funds to keep the initiative ticking over, Casey says one of the main reasons The Mill has come together is that those behind it have been very vocal about the work they are doing.
He says if you’re not shouting from the rooftops when setting up a startup hub, you risk ending up in competition with your neighbours.
“You can’t be quiet about these things and I think that is what has happened in the past. You could have had two different groups trying to set up the one enterprise centre in the same area.
“For instance in Ardee, which is about 25km outside Drogheda, they have an enterprise centre and they have developed a northeast food hub. It’s important for us to realise that’s what they’re doing and there’s no point trying to compete with them because both of us will lose out.
“But equally, we can tie in with what they are doing because we have an agri-tech programme that we developed … and it means we’re not competing for the same pot of money.”
Ludgate Hub project director Grainne Dwyer is of the same mindset as Casey. She has been at the forefront of developing the co-working space in Skibbereen, based out of an old bakery, in a bid to attract digital businesses to the town.
Since the space opened in April, 15 other villages and towns have got in touch to ask for advice on emulating the same model, she says.
“There is enough of the cake to go around. The point of our project was really to be a blueprint and the test bed for rural areas, one that you could literally pick up and drop down in Dingle, Dungarvan or anywhere else.
“We meet with every group and the advice we give them is that this didn’t happen overnight. It was a tough slog and a lot of going around cap in hand to service providers.
“We sold the vision that this is an experiment, we’re confident it will work and asked anyone who would listen for donations of services and time.”
A selection of Ludgate Board members with former minister for communications Alex White and SIRO CEO Sean Atkinson
Corporate funding
When it comes to corporate input into startup communities, some are taking a more hands-on approach than others.
Bank of Ireland last year set up its own co-working space for startups in Dublin’s Grand Canal Docks called Workbench. A bit like a library on steroids, the space is free to use and operates on a first-come, first-served basis, with lots of room to host of events.
The company’s head of innovation, David Tighe, says getting directly involved with startups helps the bank identify early stage companies it could either invest in – or new products it could use.
“From the banks perspective, what’s in it for us? We get to meet fantastic businesses with great products. A good example of that is one of the businesses we met through the project called Deposify – it’s a great Irish startup that we have enjoyed working with.
“Eventually through the Delta Venture Capital Fund, we ended up investing in them as well. So it became this really strong relationship where we built with them.
“We’re finding these businesses really early. To date, we have ended up investing in one business and bought four products off the shelf from Irish businesses either through the Workbench or through the events we run.”
Tighe says the bank has also opened a facility in Galway after its positive experience in Dublin, while it plans to invest in more co-working spaces in Limerick and Cork before the end of the year.
International appeal
Getting a project off the ground without state funding or a corporate chequebook can be a challenge, however.
In the case of the Ludgate Hub, its backing has come solely from private sources, while the direction is via a 12-person board stacked with heavy-hitters from the likes of Vodafone, Glen Dimplex and Google.
Although it was a tough slog getting hold of funding for the project, everything has started to fall into place over the last few months.
Dwyer says many people initially told her it would be near-impossible to attract international companies to come to a town in west Cork – but since then they have been proven wrong.
The steering committee had originally planned to attract mostly local businesses to Skibbereen, but it has since taken commitments from companies based everyone from London to South Africa.
“A month ago I got an email from a guy who is based in LA. He said had been following us online and he’s moving his family to Skibbereen after being here on holidays before and asked me to keep a desk free for him.
“Our biggest ammunition is our diaspora. Skibbereen, like a lot of other places, was drained of people. Since we had a soft launch last August, we have had people from 360 companies from all over the world telling us they used to live in Skibbereen and offering to help in any way.”
Options open
Another digital hub tempting startups outside the Pale is The Portershed in Galway.
Its co-founder, internet entrepreneur John Breslin, says having people take it upon themselves to develop startup centres around the country is an important move towards levelling the playing field between the capital and the rest of Ireland.
“Balance is important. It’s great to have Dublin attracting the big companies who want to be there and certainly other startups will want to be there to be part of the ecosystem.
“But I think there are also companies who want to be based elsewhere. I was talking to a startup this week and they did a tour of Ireland – and they were torn between Galway and Dublin. You have to provide options to people who may not want to be in Dublin.
“They might want a different lifestyle or simply might want to avoid competing with other companies for talent.”
The Portershed opened its doors in April and it already has 12 companies using its space.
Breslin says one of the challenges in setting up the Galway hub was getting the funding needed to create the right space. AIB has been the main backer to date, while some support has also come from Enterprise Ireland.
“Funding is obviously a challenge. We had a lease for a building, but we needed money to do it up and renovate it. You’re talking about a couple of hundred thousand to make that happen.
“We were also looking to rent the space for a sufficiently long enough period that it makes commercial sense to plough money into it. We had to convince our landlords, CIE, that we had a vision for Galway and the ability to make it happen.”
