Galway native take first-hand look at start-ups facility’s success story

Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Mary Mitchell O’Connor, took a first-hand look at one of Galway’s employment success stories – the Galway Technology Centre that has trebled its number of companies in just three years.

The Minister visited the Centre in the IDA Business Park, Mervue, this week, accompanied by Minister of State for Gaeltacht Affairs and Natural Resources Sean Kyne and his fellow Galway West Deputy Hildegarde Naughton.

Ireland’s largest enterprise centre, Galway Technology Centre is currently home to 46 start-ups, growing companies and SME’s employing in excess of 230 people.

The Centre has experienced record growth since 2013 with a trebling of the number of companies based at the centre from 16 to 45.

A critical part of Galway’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, Galway Technology Centre has supported over 145 companies and 1300 high value jobs in the west since its establishment in 1994.

Galway Technology Centre is a key partner for the IDA, hosting several of the IDA’s multi-national clients and providing a ‘soft-landing’ for companies until they are settled into the region. GTC has supported many international companies over the years including EA Games, Avaya, Lumension and Wayfair.

The centre has recently completed the second phase of a €360K investment in its 50,000sq. ft. facility which included the refurbishment of the meeting rooms, public areas and lift installation.

The centre recently launched ‘thekitchen@gtc’ a new shared multifunctional tenant employee space for hosting talks, clinics and pitching events in an informal environment.

During the visit, Minister Mitchell O’Connor viewed the upgraded facilities and met with Frank Greene, Chairman Galway Technology Centre, members of the GTC Board, as well as a number of Galway Technology Centre clients including Black Pug Studio, IPSwitch, Hillwalk Tours and 9th Impact.

Mr. Greene discussed with Minister Mitchell O’Connor future plans for the provision of facilities and service enhancements at the centre which focus on fostering digital innovation through the growth of Digital Media Enterprises and encourage the emergence of new digital enterprises in a flexible structure with networking opportunities.