Ireland
It is somewhat staggering to think that this time six years ago, commentators around the world were calling Ireland’s economic woes the “death of the tiger”, a reference to the country’s roaring pre-2008 Celtic Tiger period of growth. Just four years ago, the country staved off bankruptcy by accepting a €67.5bn ($87.4bn) bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the EU, in which the country’s credit rating was downgraded to junk as a gloomy portrait was painted of Ireland’s future.
As it turns out, the tiger was only injured. Ireland exited the bailout programme just before the turn of the year, and its credit rating has bounced back to A – with either a stable or positive outlook. And then, just this month, the country announced it was looking to repay €15bn of the €22bn still owed to the IMF. Ireland’s comeback may not yet be complete, but considering that, just a short time ago, its finances were threatening to sink the euro, the turnaround is somewhat staggering.
One of the driving forces behind the Celtic Tiger’s rise and fall and the ensuing resurrection has been its culture. Not averse to taking risks, the luck of the Irish – a phrase that can either mean particularly good or spectacularly bad luck – lends itself well to the bold outlook of the entrepreneur as well as the spirit of the country.
One of the aspects helping drive the resurgence has been Ireland’s tech transfer scene. After a few choppy years, it is bouncing back. Spin-out rates more than doubled year on year, with 34 delivered last year, along with more patents filed (119), licensing agreements (also 119) and invention disclosures (435).
Also bolstering the scene has been state-owned Enterprise Ireland and Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI), an organisation founded by Enterprise Ireland and the Irish Universities Association last year.
Enterprise Ireland’s impact has been immense. The organisation has established a reputation as one of the leading development agencies worldwide, and supports companies across Ireland through training, networking and investment, both direct, and through seed and venture funds it helps establish.
The latest seed and venture capital scheme, the fourth incarnation due to run between 2013 and 2017 and worth €175m, is looking to help create numerous seed and venture funds to support Irish enterprise. A notable example is the €32m set up with Bank of Ireland for Limerick University, which is investing purely in spin-outs and startups from the institution.
This and other initiatives are having a huge impact on campus innovation. Not only have Limerick spin-outs now attracted €80m in external funding and added 260 jobs to the local ecosystem but, rather than dismissing tech transfer as an afterthought, academics with industry in mind are now reaching across the aisle and getting to know the companies in the area in a manner unprecedented outside the halls of institutions such at Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the US.
KTI is also building its impact since its launch late last year. Different frommembership organisations such as the Association of University TechnologyManagers in the US and Canada, or PraxisUnico in the UK, KTI goes beyond training and events.
Alison Campbell, director at KTI, said: “KTI is about making sure that the technology transfer system actually works. Some of the things that we are charged to do is make sure that the national intellectual property protocol is revised, refreshed and works in practice, and to provide a set of guidelines on how the state wants research and industry to interact. We are responsible for streams of funding that go to tech transfer offices to support them operationally and professionally develop them, and we are responsible for monitoring and reviewing the technology transfer system in Ireland.
“We are also there to make it easier for investors and institutions to engage by making it easier to find opportunities and expertise. We provide guidelines online on how to work with universities if you are not familiar with working with them, and providing the resources and tools to make them easy to access. We have got about 160 opportunities online, and you can research expertise in a particular area with contact details for researchers and tech transfer offices you may need to contact to take things forward.”
Ireland has some way to go to get back to full sprint, but it has built solid foundations through a web of support involving industry, finance, universities and government.
Irish tech transfer offices
Commercialisation NUI Maynooth – NUI Maynooth
DCU invent – Dublin City University
DIT Hothouse – Dublin Institute of Technology
Gateway UCC – University College Cork
Ignite Tech Transfer Office – NUI Galway
Tech Transfer Office – RSCI
Tech Transfer Office – University of Limerick
Tech Transfer Office – Waterfood Institute of Technology
Trinity Research and Innovation – Trinity College Dublin
UCDinnovation – University College Dublin
Name/Fund Size/Kind
Bank of Ireland Seed and Early Stage Equity Fund/€32m/Seed
Bank of Ireland Startup and Emerging Sectors Equity Fund/€17m/Seed
Delta Equity Fund III/€105m/Venture
Fountain Healthcare Partners Fund I/€73m/Venture
Seroba Kernal Life Sciences Fund II/€75m/Venture
Ulster Bank Diageo Venture Fund/€75m/Venture