Country’s enterprise centres awarded €8.24m in funding – NACEC

NACEC Members meeting in Galway Technology Centre – February 2020
Country’s enterprise centres awarded €8.24m in funding
Grants will range in size from €10,000 to €150,000
Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Leo Varadkar, TD, has announced a total of €8.24 million in grants to 95 enterprise centres throughout the country under Enterprise Ireland’s Enterprise Centres Fund.
The funding is considered crucial for the future of the enterprise centre sector in Ireland as hubs around the country implement a recovery plan for businesses within their remit over the next six to 12 months.
Mr Varadkar said the funding made available through his Department would help enterprise centres all over the country modernise their facilities, protecting the health and safety of people working there and helping to secure jobs.
The 95 centres will receive grants ranging in size from €10,000 to €150,000.
A major analysis of the sector earlier this year shone a light on the devastating effects Covid-19 has wrought on enterprise centres in every county, with almost 88% of centres reporting a drop in income of between 21% and 80% as many of their entrepreneur tenants struggled to keep their own businesses afloat.
Among its stark findings were that while the vast majority of hubs had seen tenants closing their doors temporarily (83.5%), one-third (33%) of centres said some tenants have shuttered their businesses permanently.
The chairperson of the National Association of Community Enterprise Centres (NACEC), Gary O’Meara, welcomed today’s funding announcement, saying it was the culmination of months of research and collaboration between NACEC, Enterprise Ireland, the Dept of Enterprise and other key stakeholders from across the public and private sector, and which resulted in the publication of the Enterprise Centres/Hubs Covid-19 National Impact + Recovery Plan by NACEC last August.
He added: “Hubs, if managed correctly, have the potential to really drive economic activity and social prosperity throughout our regions and across rural Ireland, and I believe NACEC is now very well placed to help make these new future of work opportunities a reality.”
Mr O’Meara added that as traditional workplace dynamics have been overturned by Covid-19 and new social distancing requirements, enterprise hubs and co-working spaces are in an ideal position to provide a new ‘Hub-Home-HQ’ model as companies and their employees embrace new ways of working.
Julie Sinnamon, Enterprise Ireland CEO, said: “Over the past 20 years, enterprise centres have provided important infrastructure for entrepreneurs and are an essential part of the start-up ecosystem across Ireland.
“The centres, many of which are regionally based, provide space, connectivity, mentoring and support to start-up founders and teams, helping them to scale nationally.”
She added that the funding just announced would ensure that enterprise centres, many of which have been negatively impacted by Covid-19, can sustain their businesses, pivot and further develop their services to support the next wave of start-up companies.
According to the NACEC Strategic Plan 2019-2021 launched last year, its enterprise hub members supported over 5,500 jobs in over 1,800 businesses, with a salary contribution to the economy of €247.5 million per annum.
For-profit approvals:
Number | Applicant Name (Correct legal entity name) | County | Nuts III Region | Grant Amount (€) |
1 | Landingzone Ltd T/A Dogpatch Labs | Dublin City | Dublin | 150,000 |
2 | Republic of Work (Cork) Limited | Cork | South | 149,000 |
3 | CIT Innovation Centre DAC. T/A The Rubicon | Cork | South | 43,045 |
4 | Haslette Holdings Ltd. T/A ManorHUB | Leitrim | Northwest | 16,304 |
5 | Thurles Community Enterprise Centre Limited (TCEC) | Tipperary | Mid-West | 97,766 |
6 | Blackgate Innovation Ltd T/A Vision 85 | Portlaoise | Midlands | 46,800 |
7 | Vaaw Ltd/Culture Co-Working | Cork | South | 41,200 |
8 | Charlesford Ltd T/A The Spool Factory** | Roscommon | West | 67,500 |
9 | Mobile Clipboard Ltd | Galway | West | 10,905 |
10 | The Box CoWork Ltd | Kerry | Mid-West | 46,600 |
11 | HQ Coworking Space Ltd. | Kerry | Mid-West | 91,920 |
12 | Ardee Community Development Company Ltd. | Louth | Northeast | 105,420 |
13 | Ionad Fiontar Pobal Iar Dheisceart Dhun Na Ngall Teoranta | Donegal | Northwest | 10,648 |
877,108 |
Not-for-profit approvals:
Number | Applicant Name (Correct legal entity name) | County | EI Region | Grant Amount |
1 | Action Community & Enterprise CLG t/a ACE Enterprise Park | Dublin South | Dublin | 150,000 |
2 | Action Tuam Company Limited by Guarantee | Galway | West | 150,000 |
3 | Allenwood Community Development Association CLG | Kildare | Mid-East | 75,359 |
4 | Arclabs Research & Innovation Centre Waterford Institute of Technology | Waterford | Southeast | 119,830 |
5 | Arklow Business Enterprise Centre Ltd. | Wicklow | Mid-East | 99,820 |
6 | Athlone Community Development Association CLG | Westmeath | Midlands | 82,600 |
7 | Ballinasloe Area Community Development CLG Ballinasloe Enterprise Centre | Galway | West | 50,176 |
8 | Ballyhoura Food Centre (Hospital) DAC | Limerick | Mid-West | 28,480 |
9 | Ballyhoura Food Centre (Mitchelstown) DAC | Cork | South | 28,400 |
10 | BASE Enterprise CLG | Dublin Fingal | Dublin | 81,920 |
11 | Bia Innovator Campus CLG | Galway | West | 54,000 |
12 | Broadford Community Enterprise Centre CLG | Limerick | Mid-West | 40,000 |
13 | Brookpark Enterprise Centre CLG | Cork | South | 38,560 |
14 | Carlow Community Enterprise Centres CLG | Carlow | Southeast | 96,478 |
15 | Castleblayney Community Enterprise CLG | Monaghan | North-East/ North-West | 45,760 |
16 | Cavan County Enterprise Fund ** | Cavan | Northeast | 83,200 |
17 | Cavan Digital Hub DAC | Cavan | Northeast | 56,128 |
18 | Cavan Innovation & Technology Centre Ltd | Cavan | Northeast | 99,040 |
19 | Churchfield Community Trust | Cork | South | 37,502 |
20 | COLAB Letterkenny Institute of Technology | Donegal | Northwest | 150,000 |
21 | Cork Urban Enterprises CLG T/A Northside for Business Campus | Cork | South | 103,400 |
22 | County Kildare Chamber of Commerce CLG | Kildare | Mid-East | 17,416 |
23 | Creative Spark CLG | Louth | Northeast | 108,000 |
24 | Croom Community Enterprise Centre DAC | Limerick | Mid-West | 44,171 |
25 | Digital Hq CLG t/a Dún Laoghaire Enterprise Centre | Dublin Dun Laoghaire Rathdown | Dublin | 28,483 |
26 | Donegal County Enterprise Fund ** | Donegal | Northwest | 90,648 |
27 | Drogheda Enterprise Centre CLG | Louth | Northeast | 140,600 |
28 | Drumshanbo Enterprise Centre Company CLG | Leitrim | Northwest | 81,384 |
29 | Drumshanbo Community Council CLG | Leitrim | Northwest | 96,240 |
30 | Dublin Business Innovation Centre t/a Space@Dublin BIC | Dublin City | Dublin | 34,353 |
31 | Dublin Enterprise & Technology Centre T/A Guinness Enterprise Centre | Dublin City | Dublin | 147,000 |
32 | Dundalk Institute of Technology t/a Regional Development Centre | Louth | Northeast | 146,170 |
33 | Dungarvan Enterprise Centre CLG | Waterford | Southeast | 64,369 |
34 | Enterprise & Research Incubation Centre (ERIC) | Carlow | Southeast | 32,000 |
35 | Enterprise Castlerea Company Limited by Guarantee – T/A The Hub / An Chistin Food Hub | Roscommon | West | 52,500 |
36 | Ferbane Business & Technology Park CLG | Offaly | Midlands | 40,000 |
37 | Fumbally Exchange CLG | Dublin City | Dublin | 148,600 |
38 | Galway City Innovation District CLG | Galway | West | 149,978 |
39 | Galway Mayo Institute of Technology – GMIT Innovation Hubs- Galway (iHub Galway) | Galway | West | 101,442 |
40 | Galway Technology Centre DAC | Galway | West | 149,400 |
41 | Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology Innovation Hub Mayo | Mayo | West | 75,828 |
42 | Innovate Dublin Communities CLG | Dublin Fingal | Dublin | 145,024 |
43 | Institute of Technology Sligo T/A Innovation Centre at IT Sligo | Sligo | North-East/ North-West | 146,220 |
44 | IRD North Mayo – West Sligo (t/a Moy Valley Resources) | Mayo | West | 10,200 |
45 | Kells Community Enterprise Company CLG | Meath | Mid-East | 148,720 |
46 | Kerry Innovation Centre CLG t/a Tom Crean Business Centre | Kerry | Mid-West | 95,067 |
47 | Kilkenny Community Enterprise Centre CLG t/a The Abbey Business Centre | Kilkenny | Southeast | 86,880 |
48 | Killarney Technology Innovation Limited | Kerry | Mid-West | 75,600 |
49 | Leitrim County Enterprise Fund T/A The Hive ** | Leitrim | North-East/ North-West | 139,637 |
50 | Limerick Institute of Technology Questum Acceleration Centre | Tipperary | Mid-West | 112,322 |
51 | LIT Hartnett Enterprise Acceleration Centre (HEAC) | limerick | Mid-West | 87,525 |
52 | Ludgate Operations CLG | Cork | South | 117,152 |
53 | Meath Enterprise Centre Company CLG | Meath | Mid-East | 145,664 |
54 | Midlands Innovation and Research Centre | Westmeath | Midlands | 56,327 |
55 | Mitchelstown Community Forum CLG | Tipperary | Mid-West | 84,400 |
56 | Mol Teic | Kerry | Mid-West | 65,680 |
57 | Monaghan County Enterprise Fund ** | Monaghan | Northeast | 81,600 |
58 | National University of Ireland Galway Business Innovation Centre (BIC) – Innovation Office | Galway | West | 98,000 |
59 | Nexus Innovation Centre UL | Limerick | Mid-West | 145,394 |
60 | Nutgrove Community Enterprise Centre CLG | Dublin Dun Laoghaire Rathdown | Dublin | 39,896 |
61 | Offaly Innovation and Design Centre CLG | Offaly | Midlands | 69,760 |
62 | Partas CLG | Dublin South | Dublin | 64,000 |
63 | Portarlington Enterprise Centre CLG | Laois | Midlands | 67,840 |
64 | Portlaoise Enterprise Centre | Laois | Midlands | 88,000 |
65 | RDI Hub Company Limited by Guarantee | Kerry | Mid-West | 104,794 |
66 | S.C.C.U.L Enterprises CLG | Galway | West | 150,000 |
67 | Sneem Innovation & Technology Services CLG | Kerry | Mid-West | 77,808 |
68 | Social and Local Enterprise Alliance DAC | Dublin South | Dublin | 136,000 |
69 | St Paul’s Area Development Enterprise Ltd t/a SPADE Enterprise Centre | Dublin City | Dublin | 119,200 |
70 | Sustainable Ireland Cooperative Society Ltd & North Tipperary Green Enterprise Park CLG | Tipperary | Mid-West | 71,760 |
71 | Tangent | Dublin City | Dublin | 100,200 |
72 | The Community Enterprise Society CLG t/a Terenure Enterprise Centre | Dublin South | Dublin | 54,660 |
73 | The Media Cube | Dublin Dun Laoghaire Rathdown | Dublin | 120,000 |
74 | The Model County Enterprise Group CLG – Centre Enniscorthy | Wexford | Southeast | 98,400 |
75 | The Model County Enterprise Group CLG – Centre The Hatch | Wexford | Southeast | 52,800 |
76 | TU Dublin Tallaght Campus t/a Synergy Centre | Dublin South | Dublin | 89,390 |
77 | Tubbercurry Development CLG T/A An Chroí South Sligo Enterprise Centre | Sligo | North | 67,600 |
78 | UCD Nova Designated Activity Company | Dublin Dun Laoghaire Rathdown | Dublin | 132,043 |
79 | University College Cork | Cork | South | 105,480 |
80 | Waterford City Community Enterprise Centre CLG: Trading as: Waterford City Enterprise Centre | Waterford | Southeast | 80,503 |
81 | Westport Multi Agency Enterprise CLG TA Leeson Enterprise Centre | Mayo | West | 74,600 |
82 | Wexford Community Development Association Society Limited Trading as Wexford Enterprise Centre | Wexford | Southeast | 144,395 |
7,369,776 | ||||