Tag: #ENTERPRISE

SCÁLA Can Accelerate Your Business Growth.

SCÁLA, the accelerator programme from Local Enterprise Office Donegal, is now open for applications. Scála is targeted at high-potential start-ups and business expansions in the county. 

This exciting programme is unique to Donegal and is built by investors for entrepreneurs. Applications are open for entrepreneurs and senior managers of businesses with the potential to scale their business from Donegal. 

SCÁLA Donegal will target start-up entrepreneurs with the potential for fast growth in a range of sectors such as Tech, Engineering, Blue Economy and Health Sciences. See https://www.localenterprise.ie/Donegal/Training-Events/Scala/

SCÁLA has a particular focus on businesses with the potential for fast growth in sectors such as Tech, Engineering, Manufacturing, Health Sciences and the Blue Economy. This programme also encourages potential spin-outs from existing firms in the county and region, while introducing participants to potential investment funds.

Speaking about the SCÁLA Accelerator, Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council, Cllr. Niamh Kennedy said: ‘’Over the past few years we have seen a number of very positive business expansion plans in Donegal across a range of industries. This programme provides an opportunity for further organic growth in these and other high-performing sectors.’’

 

Jon Geary of Little Mamma’s Gelato, who is a recent past participant of SCÁLA, pictured with co-founder Linda Geary. 

Jon Geary of Little Mamma’s Gelato, who is a recent participant in the programme, said: “SCÁLA provided me with the confidence to grow my business, by helping me to identify a market fit product, build a team and assist in finding relevant funding. The connections made and the expertise gained through this programme were crucial for us as we work towards scaling our business.”

Local Enterprise Office Donegal is collaborating with Skillfluence to implement the programme. Skillfluence provides bespoke training programmes designed to accelerate the needs of entrepreneurs and empower them to translate research into commercial opportunities.

Jamie McCallum of Skillfluence who is running the SCÁLA programme for Local Enterprise Office Donegal

Brenda Hegarty, Head of Enterprise at Local Enterprise Office, Donegal, said: “SCÁLA focuses on giving participants a deep understanding of the factors that can drive success, along with the skills to build financial models that stand up to investor scrutiny and industry engagement. The programme will also provide mentorship from leaders in their field, so participants will get valuable insights and advice on ways to adapt their business model as necessary. We will select up to twelve businesses based on the scale of ambition of the founder(s), the potential opportunity in the market chosen, and, most importantly, the businesses we believe can be supported  the most through the SCALA programme. We would encourage potential candidates to apply now and give yourself the best possible chance to be accepted.”

Brenda Hegarty, Head of Enterprise at Local Enterprise Office Donegal.  

The deadline for applying to this programme is midnight Friday, 11th April 2025. Following this, up to 12 businesses will be selected for the accelerator, which commences on April 30th, 2025 and will run for 11 weeks, concluding on July 16th, 2025. For more information on the programme and how to apply, visit: https://www.localenterprise.ie/Donegal/Training-Events/Scala/ 

Dublin aviation analytics solutions company Aerlytix secures grant of €455,000

Dublin based aviation analytics solutions company Aerlytix has announced that it has secured a grant of €455,000 through Enterprise Ireland’s Research, Development & Innovation (RD&I) fund. This will directly support the development of new products and services to optimise the airline industry’s analytical capabilities around fleet planning and financing.

The company, which was founded in 2020, has also announced that it plans to create 23 new jobs by 2027 focusing mainly on technical and software development roles.  Eight of these new roles have already been filled in recent months.

This R&D project aims to create analytics software, designed with airlines, that drives fleet optimisation and enables better financial risk management. This will support the sector to resolve technical challenges, increase employment in Irish aviation companies and drive international business growth.

Speaking at the announcement at Aerlytix’s Dublin HQ, Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment Peter Burke T.D said, “I wish to commend the team at Aerlytix on its recent success. Aviation is a key driver of our economy, supporting both direct and indirect employment, and provides crucial connectivity for tourism and business. Ireland is a world leader in aviation leasing whereby more than 65% of the world’s aircraft are leased here.

Aerlytix continues to make significant inroads into critical segments of the aircraft leasing industry. By providing tangible solutions through innovative analytics technologies, the company is helping to reduce inefficiencies for the sector and accelerate digital transformation across individual organisations. Aerlytix has significant growth plans to further enhance its offering and scale its talented team here in Dublin and I wish the company the very best.”

Commenting on the announcement, Aerlytix Finance Director, Órla Kearney said: ‘The grant funding from Enterprise Ireland’s RD&I Programme accelerates development and delivery of our next generation technology project for customers.  This investment program is propelling Irish-based technology companies forward. We are excited to extend and scale our aviation technology solutions to a broader set of international clients.”

Speaking on the RD&I fund, Kevin Sherry, Interim CEO, Enterprise Ireland said: Driving substantially increased investment in Research, Development and Innovation (RD&I) by Irish businesses is a key priority in Enterprise Ireland’s new five-year strategy, ‘Delivering for Ireland, Leading Globally’. That increased investment in innovation is a key driver in the success of Enterprise Ireland’s client base both in Ireland and in international markets.

Research shows that businesses that invest in innovation have 2.5 times higher turnover and 4.7 times greater exports than companies not investing in RD&I. Aerlytix has made great progress in a short space of time to develop innovative proprietary analytics solutions for the aviation sector, an area where Ireland leads the way globally in aircraft leasing. We are delighted to support Aerlytix growth plans with significant RD&I funding targeted at supporting the company to deliver accelerated growth across global markets, develop key R&D projects, and create highly skilled new jobs in Ireland.”

Dell Technologies Accelerates Enterprise AI Innovation from PC to Data Center with NVIDIA

Marking one year since the launch of the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA, Dell Technologies announces new AI PCs, infrastructure, software and services advancements to accelerate enterprise AI innovation at any scale.

Successful AI deployments are vital for enterprises to remain competitive, but challenges like system integration and skill gaps can delay the value enterprises realize from AI. More than 75% of organizations want their infrastructure providers to deliver capabilities across all aspects of the AI adoption journey driving customer demand for simplified AI deployments that can scale.

As the top provider of AI centric infrastructure, Dell Technologies – in collaboration with NVIDIA – provides a consistent experience across AI infrastructure, software, and services, offering customers a one-stop shop to scale AI initiatives from deskside to large-scale data center deployments.

Expanded Dell AI infrastructure portfolio is engineered for right-sizing high-performance needs

At the center of the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA is industry-leading, end-to-end infrastructure that powers AI innovation across industries from startups, to governments, to the world’s largest enterprises and cloud service providers:

New Dell Pro Max portfolio sets the standard as the AI developer PC

As the global leader in workstations that feature NVIDIA’s most powerful professional graphics, Dell expands and innovates the Dell Pro Max high-performance AI PC portfolio to meet the needs of today’s AI developers, power users and specialty users. The portfolio offers a versatile range of powerful AI PCs designed for demanding tasks – from light AI development, data analysis and design simulation to training, inferencing, and fine-tuning the most complex LLMs, before deploying at scale.

  • The new Dell Pro Max with GB10 packs exceptional performance in a compact and power-efficient form factor. This AI developer workstation features the NVIDIA GB10 Grace Blackwell Superchip, a system-on-a-chip based on the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture. Delivering up to one petaflop (1000 TFLOPs) of AI computing performance and 128GB of unified memory, AI developers can develop, train and test models before deploying on other Dell infrastructure offerings.
  • The new Dell Pro Max with GB300, at the top end of the high-performance PC range, gives AI developers and data scientists a computing class of its own – bringing server-level compute to a desktop. With the new NVIDIA GB300 Grace Blackwell Ultra Desktop Superchip, the system delivers up to 20 petaflops of AI computing performance, 784GB unified system memory (up to 288GB HBME3e GPU memory and 496GB of LPDDR5X CPU memory) and the fastest networking solution with NVIDIA ConnectX-8 SuperNIC to power the most intensive and largest AI workloads, training up to 460billion parameter models.
  • New Dell Pro Max notebooks and desktops offer outstanding power, reliability, and scalability. Equipped with NVIDIA RTX PRO TM Blackwell Generation GPUs and Intel® Core™ Ultra (Series 2), AMD Ryzen-powered Copilot+ PCs with AI experiences and AMD Threadripper processor options, along with a new bold and elevated design, users can drive productivity across every intensive workload. Learn more about all the Dell Pro Max announcements here.

 

New Dell PowerEdge servers and networking drive AI acceleration for enterprises

  • Dell PowerEdge will support the NVIDIA Blackwell Ultra platform, including the upcoming NVIDIA HGX B300 NVL16, NVIDIA GB300 NVL72 and NVIDIA RTX PRO™ 6000 Blackwell Server Edition, delivering systems with up to 288GB of HBM3e memory to handle complex AI models with speed and scalability.[vi] These forthcoming servers will offer peak AI cluster performance with 800 Gb/s throughput with NVIDIA ConnectX-8 SuperNICs.
  • Dell PowerEdge XE7740 and XE7745 servers will be available with the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA. These servers are currently available with up to eight NVIDIA H200 NVL GPUs, which includes a five-year subscription to NVIDIA AI Enterprise software, including NVIDIA NIM and the NVIDIA Llama Nemotron models for reasoning, making them a powerful platform for Gen AI fine-tuning, inference, and agentic reasoning applications, as well as high performance computing (HPC) workloads. They will also support up to eight NVIDIA RTX PRO™ 6000 Blackwell Server Edition PCIe GPUs which can more than double the AI performance and greater flexibility when integrating AI workloads into business processes.
  • The new Dell PowerEdge XE8712 server featuring the GB200 NVL4 platform powers the next generation of accelerated AI compute, supporting up to 144 NVIDIA B200 GPUs per Dell IR7000 rack. These liquid-cooled systems are tailored for AI model training and complex HPC simulations, offering a scalable solution that optimizes performance and enhanced computational efficiency, while helping reduce operational costs and saving data center space.

Learn more about the additions across Dell servers here.

 

Dell data management innovations help customers take control of their data to fuel AI innovation 

The Dell AI Data Platform with NVIDIA is an integrated solution that empowers enterprises to deploy agentic AI and other AI applications securely, through always-on, direct access to high quality structured, semi-structured and unstructured data. This platform combines Dell enterprise storage with NVIDIA accelerated computing, networking, and AI software, allowing for continuous data processing and robust data management services for AI deployment. It integrates seamlessly with the NVIDIA AI Data Platform reference design, providing enterprises with optimal infrastructure to unlock the full potential of their business data through AI-driven insights and problem-solving. Dell Data

 

Management Services provide a systematic approach to ensuring data discovery, integration, automation, and quality.

At the core of the Dell AI Data Platform with NVIDIA is Dell PowerScale storage, which is now validated for both the NVIDIA Cloud Partner Program as well as the new NVIDIA-Certified Storage designation for enterprise AI factory deployment with NVIDIA Enterprise Reference Architectures. Recent software and hardware innovations allow PowerScale to improve GPU utilization by delivering 220% faster data ingestion and 99% quicker data retrieval than previous generation systems[vii]. These advancements help PowerScale surpass NVIDIA DGX SuperPOD requirements to scale AI deployments efficiently and reduce training times. Dell PowerScale’s scale-out architecture can now serve every AI performance need.

Dell Technologies also announces support for NVIDIA Dynamo, which allows customers to free up GPU memory by offloading KV cache data from GPU-accelerated nodes to Dell storage like PowerScale. Learn more about additional

Dell PowerScale and Dell Data Lakehouse advancements here.

 

New AI solutions and services deliver expanded AI capabilities

The Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA adds new solutions and services to power and simplify AI deployments, to highlight a few:

  • Dell simplifies Agentic AI by integrating NVIDIA’s AI-Q Blueprint and AgentIQ Toolkit in the NVIDIA AI Enterprise platform, featuring NIM, NeMo Retriever and AI Blueprints, and new NVIDIA Llama Nemotron models for reasoning, empowering organizations to build robust AI agent platforms from enhanced capabilities. The new Dell Accelerator Services for RAG implement and optimize agentic-based solutions with integrated business data, maximizing ROI.
  • Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA validates the NVIDIA Run:ai AI orchestration platform, providing enterprises with tools to optimize GPU resource utilization, manage complex workloads and accelerate AI workflows on-premises.
  • Dell Services for GenAI Digital Assistants now aligns with NVIDIA’s scalable blueprint architecture, transforming enterprise self-service with a humanistic, multilingual solution.
  • The Dell AI Code Assistant offers a fully on-premises, enterprise-grade coding assistant that includes the highest standards of flexibility and data privacy. The solution offers accurate, and context aware code suggestions powered by agentic AI tools and advanced context engine. Dell Implementation Services for AI Code Generation then implement and fine tune code assistant models.

Michael Dell, Chief Executive Officer, Dell Technologies said, “We are celebrating the one-year anniversary of the Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA by doubling down on our mission to simplify AI for the enterprise. With seamless NVIDIA hardware and software from desktop to data center, only Dell delivers the consistency and reliability organizations need to support AI initiatives. We are breaking down barriers to AI adoption, speeding up deployments, and helping enterprises integrate AI into their operations.”

Jensen Huang, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, NVIDIA said, “Every industry is racing to build AI factories to produce intelligence. NVIDIA and Dell are partnering to deliver the industry’s broadest, end-to-end AI infrastructure, giving enterprises everything they need to develop, deploy, and scale AI. From deskside workstations to data center-scale AI factories, this platform will power the next wave of AI-driven breakthroughs.”

Read what customers are saying about Dell AI Factory here:

Availability

  • Dell Pro Max desktops and laptops will be available beginning March 2025 with more releasing in the coming months.
  • Dell Pro Max with GB300 and Dell Pro Max with GB10 will be available later this year.
  • Dell PowerEdge XE7740 and XE7745 servers supporting NVIDIA RTX PRO™ 6000 Blackwell Server Edition PCIe GPUs will be globally available later this year.
  • The Dell PowerEdge XE8712 will be globally available later this year.
  • All components of the Dell AI Data Platform with NVIDIA are available globally now.
  • The Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA delivering Agentic AI is available globally now.
  • The Dell AI Factory with NVIDIA validating NVIDIA Run:ai’s orchestration platform is available globally now.
  • The Dell AI Code Assistant is available globally now.

Irish SMEs can now apply for support for new AI Acceleration programme

Galvia AI, one of Ireland’s leading AI companies, has today announced that eligible Irish SMEs can now avail of support from Enterprise Ireland’s Digital Discovery grant for its new AI-Accelerator programme.

The Galvia AI-Accelerator is a 5-week, hands-on  programme, with the first cohort beginning in January 2025, and is designed to help Irish SMEs across Ireland integrate transformative AI solutions into their businesses.

The company is expected to run one Accelerator per quarter, which costs a total of €4,995. Applications are open for SMEs in all sectors across all of Ireland and can be made at: http://www.galvia.ai/accelerator.

Tap into the potential of AI

The AI-Accelerator is designed to simplify AI technologies and help SMEs from all across Ireland to tap into the potential of their data by offering practical, cost-effective solutions through the power of AI technology.

The AI-Accelerator will be delivered in a hybrid format at Galway’s innovation hub Platform94, and includes options of virtual sessions and in-person workshops. Key partners for the programme include Platform94 and law firm Byrne Wallace LLP, who will deliver workshops on the legal implications of AI.

Participating SMEs will collaborate with the programme’s experts to develop machine learning models and applications tailored to their specific needs, using their own data to create custom solutions that generate revenue, drive engagement and ensure sustainable growth.

By the end of the programme, participants will have a clear understanding of what to do with their data and a strategic plan of how to integrate AI into their business.

The aim of Enterprise Ireland’s Digital Discovery grant is to incentivise and support companies to introduce new digital technologies and solutions into their operations. Eligible companies must be supported by Enterprise Ireland, and can now apply for 80% net funding from Enterprise Ireland to participate in the Galvia AI-Accelerator.

Commenting on the announcement, John Clancy, CEO of Galvia said: “We are hugely appreciative and delighted that Enterprise Ireland is offering support to Irish SMEs that wish to participate in our AI-Accelerator programme.”

“Integrating new technologies can be daunting, but our mission is to show that organisations don’t need huge resources to unlock the power of their data. Our program will guide participants toward a better understanding of how to leverage their data effectively and strategically, providing a clear pathway for integrating AI into their operations.”

Ruairí Ó hAilín from Enterprise Ireland said: “Enterprise Ireland is committed to supporting Irish-owned companies to start, grow, scale and to achieve their global ambition.  Helping companies further understand the capabilities of digital tools such as AI, as they seek to introduce new technologies and solutions into their businesses is key to driving sustainable growth and competitiveness in export markets. We encourage all companies to explore how digitalisation can help their business to grow, including businesses who are eligible to utilise the Digital Discovery grant.”

HP Wolf Security Offers Unique Business PC Protection Against Physical Cyberattacks

HP Inc. has announced the launch of HP Enterprise Security Edition, a unique suite of security capabilities designed to enhance the physical security of HP business class PCs. HP Enterprise Security Edition includes multilayered safeguards to protect PC hardware and firmware from targeted physical attacks, while giving IT admins unparalleled visibility to help detect unauthorised firmware, and component tampering throughout a device’s lifecycle.
The rise of hybrid work and Work from Anywhere (WFA) has increased the risk of PCs being compromised by attackers with brief physical access, underscoring the need for protection and visibility into the integrity of devices throughout their lifetimes. Over half (51%) of ITSDMs are concerned that they cannot verify if PC, laptop or printer hardware and firmware have been tampered with during transit. This visibility helps to mitigate the risk of targeted attacks that gain a persistent foothold within a company.
HP Enterprise Security Edition help defends against such attacks by preventing harm to hardware and firmware layers in the PC, while also enabling IT teams to check if hardware and firmware have been altered by malicious third parties during a device’s lifetime.
Neil Dover, HP Inc Ireland Country Manager, comments:
“Physical attacks are riskier and more difficult to perform, so they are typically targeted and organised – for instance, as part of a nation-state campaign or corporate espionage. But the lucrative market for selling access to corporate networks means more opportunistic attacks – spotting an unattended PC and briefly plugging in a ThunderboltTM device – could be worth the risk for a cybercriminal.”
Dover continues, “By tampering with device hardware and firmware, attackers can gain an almost undetectable foothold on a device, which could help them gain access to a corporate network or mount destructive attacks. This is attractive to bad actors, providing them with unparalleled visibility and control – and multiple ways to monetise.”
To combat these physical cyber threats, HP Enterprise Security Edition equips PCs with the following multilayered protection capabilities:
  • Firmware Lock: User-controlled lock implemented at the firmware level and used in conjunction with HP Sure Admin. Once Firmware Lock is activated, HP Sure Admin’s cryptographic password-less authentication process is used to unlock the PC. This provides substantially stronger protection than a standard operating system lock when a PC is left unattended, preventing a bad actor from even being able to interact with system boot or attempt to start the operating system.
  • Platform Certificates: These digital certificates enable customers to validate that hardware and firmware components have not been modified since manufacturing, such as disk, memory, processor, BIOS/firmware version, or PCIe devices and the trusted platform module. This offers visibility and detection of unauthorised modification of device hardware and firmware components.
  • Sure Start Virtualisation Protection: Pre-boot protection from malicious or compromised third-party hardware being plugged into a ThunderboltTM/USB C or PCIe port. Third-party firmware runs inside a micro-virtual machine, protecting device hardware and firmware, and preventing the device from being infected by malicious third-party firmware.
HP Enterprise Security Edition delivers platform integrity protection capabilities by ensuring the hardware and firmware beneath the operating system are more secure and resilient to physical attacks. This enables organisations to manage risk to their endpoint device supply chain by validating hardware and firmware integrity prior to device onboarding. Importantly, this will help organisations implement strong governance and controls over the security of their PC hardware and firmware across their device lifecycle. Finally, end users can be confident and reassured that their sensitive data is protected however and wherever they work.
Neil Dover, HP Inc Ireland Country Manager, comments:
“Securing PCs from physical attack is often overlooked, but if bad actors want your data badly enough, they’ll go to any lengths to obtain it. Whether it’s from executives traveling for work and leaving a laptop in an insecure hotel room or stepping away in a cafe to buy a coffee, there are many ways devices could find themselves exposed.”
Dover concludes:
“Preventing cyber-attacks on the hardware and firmware of a device is key to maintain integrity of an organisation’s PC endpoint supply chain. HP Enterprise Security Edition introduces new defensive capabilities for PC hardware and firmware. This will help safeguard data and protect the integrity of the PC fleet, while shining a light on threats lurking below the operating system surface, where traditional security tools can’t go.”
The new HP Enterprise Security Edition is available for select PC platforms.

Enterprise Ireland doubles size of delegation to Slush Finland as exports to the Nordics soar

Enterprise Ireland, has announced it will be doubling its presence at Slush Finland this year, to showcase 24 of the country’s most innovative companies. This increased presence at Slush, the largest gathering of venture capital in the world, reinforces Enterprise Ireland’s support for Irish businesses to scale and succeed in global markets and follows strong interest from client companies in the Nordic region.

Enterprise Ireland client companies have nearly doubled their exports to the Nordic region over the past five years, growing from €877 million in 2018 to €1.7 billion by 2023. This impressive growth highlights the success and achievements of Irish companies in the wider Nordic market, where over 560 Enterprise Ireland companies export to the region.  The Nordic region has become a key export market, on par with other major European export destinations such as Germany, the Netherlands, and France.

Director of Nordic Region Hannah Fraser says “As Enterprise Ireland’s Director for the Nordic Region, I’ve seen how well the Nordics’ focus on innovation and sustainability aligns with Ireland’s strengths. We’re thrilled to double our presence at Slush this year, bringing 24 clients to connect with global partners and investors. The Nordic market has become a powerhouse for Irish businesses, with exports nearly doubling over the past five years to €1.7 billion and more than 560 Irish companies thriving in the region. This strong partnership continues to open exciting growth opportunities.”

For several years, Enterprise Ireland has built a strong presence at Slush, a showcase of groundbreaking innovation where start-ups, industry visionaries, and global investors come together. Slush offers Enterprise Ireland clients unparalleled opportunities to expand their reach in the Nordic market and beyond. Recognising the importance of this event to Ireland’s innovation landscape, the Finnish Embassy launched Ireland’s 2024 presence at Slush with a celebratory mixer on November 7th, once again highlighting the close ties and shared commitment to innovation between Ireland and the Nordic region.

Speaking on this, Ambassador of Finland to Ireland Leena Gardemeister, said, “We are excited by the growing interest from Irish businesses in both Finland and Slush, which has become a key platform for connecting innovators and investors globally. The collaboration between Irish and Finnish companies continues to thrive, and we look forward to further strengthening these ties in the future, driving new opportunities for growth and innovation on both sides.”

The Enterprise Ireland clients attending Slush 2024 include Konree Innovation Ltd, Sonalake, Numra, Cytidel, Vaultree, Tracworx, Lua Health, Lative, Spanish Point Technologies, Galvia, Manna Drone Delivery, EVERYANGLE, Ardanis Technologies Limited, Provizio, Chirp, Coroflo, VRAI, W4 Games, RDI Hub Company, Equal1, Binarii Labs, Oblivious, Tracworx & Outmin.

Enterprise Ireland Approves Over €55 Million in Funding to Drive Decarbonisation in Irish Businesses

Enterprise Ireland (EI) has approved over €55 million in funding to support the decarbonisation of Irish businesses. Approved under the Environmental Aid scheme and EI’s Green Transition Fund, the funding has benefited more than 400 Irish companies since June 2022, reducing CO2 emissions by an estimated 130,000 tonnes. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment also allocated a further €300 million in June this year under the Environmental Aid scheme to support EI’s broader commitment to advancing sustainable growth among Irish companies.

These figures were announced as more than 500 industry leaders, policymakers, and sustainability experts attend Enterprise Ireland’s inaugural Sustainable Enterprise Summit, which is taking place today, 5 November, in the Dublin Royal Convention Centre in Dublin 8.

Ireland’s commitment to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, and a 51% reduction by 2030, requires decisive action within the enterprise sector, with a 35% reduction in on-site industrial emissions required by 2030.

EI client companies that qualify as large industrial emitters (those regulated by the EU Emissions Trading System – “EU ETS”) have already made significant reductions, with support from this funding. Since 2021, these companies have reduced emissions by 13%, which indicates good progress towards the 2030 target.

The inaugural Sustainable Enterprise Summit marks a significant step forward in supporting Irish businesses to meet national climate targets and transition to a sustainable future. The summit will spotlight how Irish companies can integrate sustainability into their core strategies, thereby enhancing competitiveness while addressing the global demand for greener, climate-resilient products and services.

Jenny Melia, Executive Director of Enterprise Ireland, said: “With over €55 million in funding approved to date, we are enabling businesses of all sizes to reduce their carbon footprint, harness cost savings, and position themselves at the forefront of the low-carbon economy. We’ve made significant strides in helping companies adopt more sustainable practices, but as we look toward our ambitious 2030 and 2050 targets, we recognise there is more to do. Enterprise Ireland will continue to strengthen its support for businesses on this journey over the coming years, enabling companies to turn sustainability from a challenge into a competitive advantage.”

Minister of Trade Promotion, Digital & Company Regulation, Dara Calleary TD highlighted his Department’s ongoing commitment to supporting businesses on their decarbonisation journey: “Decarbonisation is no longer optional; it’s essential for resilience in today’s competitive landscape. By supporting businesses in their transition, we’re ensuring that Irish companies not only meet climate targets but also thrive in a decarbonising world.”

The Sustainable Enterprise Summit will highlight success stories from Irish companies who have leveraged sustainability as a growth opportunity and will offer practical insights and support mechanisms to aid businesses in their journey toward a sustainable, competitive future.

Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from industry leaders as well as a several Irish companies, ranging from start-ups to SMEs and multinationals, with contributions from leading Irish companies including Diageo, Dairygold, Techrete, Aerogen, Watershed, Portwest, Version1, and Carbery.

Heidi Davis, CEO of Peri has been awarded the Enterprise Ireland High-Potential Start-Up (HPSU) Founder of the Year for 2024

Heidi Davis, CEO of Peri has been awarded the Enterprise Ireland High-Potential Start-Up (HPSU) Founder of the Year for 2024. The company uses AI enabled technology to personalise the management of menopausal symptoms. The Peri, a wearable device helps users regularly update how they are affected by their symptoms and provides insights to guide women toward a personalised management plan.

The Founder of the Year Awards acknowledges and celebrates the commitment that entrepreneurs and start-ups have made to build world class companies of the future.  There were nine finalists for the 2024 Award, all of whom were voted for by their peers and have taken part in Enterprise Ireland’s High Potential Start-Up (HPSU) Founders Forum over the last year.

Barry McCann, Nua Surgical, Mark Kirwan, Positive Carbon and Alison Liddy, Relevium Medical were also acknowledged for their companies’ achievements to date and voted as runners-up on the night. Other finalists include: Darren O’Reilly, Whole Supp; Criona Turley, Capella; Aidan Finn, Binarii Labs; Raj Lyons Chohan, Affinity EV2 and Mike McGrath, Kwayga.

Now in its sixth year the HPSU Founders Forum, continues to grow with over 450 founders having participated to date from a variety of sectors including digital technologies, medical devices, fintech, food, engineering and construction.

The Founder of the Year 2024 was decided by a judging panel which included representatives from Enterprise Ireland, VentureWave Capital, Endeavour Ireland and Credit Logic.

Mark Barrett, Group CEO of APC and VLE Therapeutics, which specialises in the research, digitalisation and manufacture of medicines also joined the event to share his perspective on leadership and scaling a global business.

On receiving the award Heidi Davis, winner of the HPSU Founder of the Year Award for 2024 said, “I am deeply honoured to receive this award, particularly as the nominees are selected by Founder peers. Enterprise Ireland has been with us all along on our start-up journey and we look forward to working them as we launch the peri to market in 2025. Our ultimate aim is to grow the business globally, bringing the peri to the women of the world, allowing them to live healthier and more productive lives.”

Addressing the Awards ceremony, Michael Carey, Chairman, Enterprise Ireland said: “The Founder of the Year Awards promotes Ireland’s ecosystem of entrepreneurs who have displayed the potential and commitment to building their businesses and set their sights on global markets. We are delighted to build on the success of the Awards which is now in its sixth year, and the Founders Forum which acknowledges and celebrates high-performance, innovative Irish start-ups. I wish to congratulate Heidi on winning this year’s Award and also pay tribute to the other finalists, all of whom were shortlisted by their peers, which is a real testament to their potential and future success.”

Record Numbers for National Womens Enterprise Day 2024

A new record attendance for National Women’s Enterprise Day was set at events that took place across the country today (October17th).  Over 2,200 female entrepreneurs and women in business attended the 14 Local Enterprise Office led events nationwide, the most that has attended the day since it’s inception in 2006.

It was also revealed that so far this year 64% of those who availed of training this year by the Local Enterprise Offices were women and that 61% of the participants in the Local Enterprise Offices Start Your Own Business programme in 2024 have been female.

Breege Cosgrave, Co-Chair of National Women’s Enterprise Day 2024, said; “It is fantastic to see a record turnout for this year’s National Women’s Enterprise Day.  Since Covid we have seen how important these events can be for helping female entrepreneurs and women in business to grow their networks and see there is support out there within their community to help get them started and to grow their businesses.  

We have 14 fantastic events across the country covering everything from getting started and funding through to digitalization and sustainability.  There’s something for everyone and some amazing businesses and female entrepreneurs telling their stories of how they got started and overcame challenges.  National Women’s Enterprise Day is vital for showcasing the very best of our female entrepreneurs and showing those who hope to take that leap in the future that the support is there.”     

This was the 18th year of National Women’s Enterprise Day (NWED) and the theme of this year’s event was, “Making it happen”.  The event aims to encourage businesswomen to take that next step whether that be to act on an idea, grow their business or take steps to change or innovate in their business.  The event also highlights the supports available to early stage small businesses from funding and grants to mentoring and training.

Some of those that took part this year included Aimee Connolly, founder and CEO of Sculpted by Aimee, Anne Heraty founder of CPL Resources, Oonagh O’Hagan of Meaghers Pharmacy, broadcaster and entrepreneur, Norah Casey, Martina Fitzgerald of Scale Ireland, entrepreneur Chupi Sweetman and broadcaster and podcaster Sile Seoige.  They were joined at the events across the country by a host of female led small businesses and start-ups are telling their story of how they began and made it happen with their ideas.

The Local Enterprise Offices also run a number of initiatives to foster entrepreneurship across the country. These include Local Enterprise Week, the National Enterprise Awards, the Student Enterprise Programme, Local Enterprise Village at the Ploughing Championships and Local Enterprise Showcase. The Local Enterprise Offices in local authorities are funded by the Government of Ireland through Enterprise Ireland.

Established in 2014, the Local Enterprise Offices are the essential resource for any entrepreneur looking to start a business or any small business that is looking for support or advice to help them grow. Since their inception eight years ago, the Local Enterprise Offices have helped create over 75,000 jobs across the country. The LEOs work with thousands of client companies across Ireland in a diverse range of sectors offering mentoring, training, expert advice and financial supports to small businesses.

For more information on National Women’s Enterprise Day go to www.LocalEnterprise.ie/NWED