Listen and learn: Enterprise Ireland hits the road for Irish start-ups in ‘Founders Listening Tour'
Their experience, resilience, and ambition form the backbone of Ireland's innovation economy.
That's why Enterprise Ireland is currently hosting a Founders Listening Tour – a nationwide initiative designed to connect directly with entrepreneurs in every region. The goal is simple; to listen, learn, and ensure the right supports are in place to help Irish start-ups thrive globally.
Enterprise Ireland's purpose is to 'Accelerate Sustainable Irish Business', and its ambition is to support Irish-owned exporting companies to make an even greater contribution to the Irish economy through international growth and by creating thousands of jobs in towns and communities around the country.
Enterprise Ireland's recently published new strategy, 'Delivering for Ireland, Leading Globally (2025-2029)', sets out our four strategic objectives for the Irish enterprise base; Start, Compete, Scale and Connect.
Over the course of this five-year strategy, Enterprise Ireland will continue to enhance the pipeline of innovative and scalable start-ups and support their long-term, sustainable growth ambitions, with a goal of helping 1,000 new start-ups between now and 2029.
Irish-owned companies supported by Enterprise Ireland are economic cornerstones in communities around the country, these businesses currently employ 234,454 people, and almost two-thirds of these roles are located outside of Dublin.
The Founders Listening Tour takes in a number of locations around the country, and at these events we're hosting panel discussions and roundtable consultations with a cross-section of founders from companies of all sizes in multiple sectors. These conversations aim to identify challenges, evaluate existing supports and shape a stronger start-up ecosystem in this country.
It kicked off in TU Dublin in early May, where companies from the capital got together to share thoughts on the entrepreneurship journey. Those presenting at the event included JustTip, a fully automated contactless tipping and gratuities system, and Cognistream.ai, which has developed an artificial intelligence solution for market research companies.
Since then, we've organised two more events. The first was held at Galway's Portershed, bringing together companies from the local innovation cluster. The panel featured local founders Emma Meehan of KinetikIQ (formerly Precision Sports Technology), which leverages AI to enhance training accuracy and reduce injury risk, and Brandon Blacoe of ByoWave, a company dedicated to making gaming more inclusive. Both speakers shared valuable insights and participated in one-on-one consultations.
What we've learned from entrepreneurs so far is that funding and revenue generation continue to be key areas of focus
Our most recent event took place at GreenTech HQ in Wexford, attracting participants from across the southeast region. The panel included Max Shannon from Rylax.ie and Yvonne Jonson of Brand Builders.
Upcoming events are slated for Axis BIC in Cork, AlphaInnovation in Donegal, and IMR Mullingar in Westmeath, with the series concluding at a stakeholder event in Dublin later this month.
What we've learned from entrepreneurs so far is that funding and revenue generation continue to be key areas of focus for them, and they're always keen to have more ways to connect with investors and international customers.
Along with getting the right contacts, it can also be a challenge for companies to know which support programmes and initiatives are right for them, and where to apply for them. Clarity and accessibility around these types of support is a critical priority for founders.
Once complete, we intend to develop a roadmap of initiatives, focused on addressing the priorities shared by founders
Founders are also keen to access mentorship opportunities with successful entrepreneurs, and to find the right talent and encourage people to join start-ups. Once complete, we intend to develop a roadmap of initiatives, focused on addressing the priorities shared by founders. By harnessing this real-world insight, we can better support our new startup strategy, through our network of 42 offices in Ireland and around the world.
As the EU seeks to harmonise the European market as a great place to scale a business, we're also working with our colleagues in Brussels and elsewhere to ensure our programme of supports ties in with the European Start-Up and Scale-up Strategy.
If you're an existing or aspiring founder with ideas for supports or other feedback to share, drop a line to StartupIreland@Enterprise-Ireland.com or complete the Founders Listening Tour survey.
Conor O'Donovan is Head of Start-ups and Entrepreneurship at Enterprise Ireland
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Ireland does not satisfy international standard for election observation, group claims
The Government has been called on to reassess legislation around election observing after reported issues during the general election. Non-governmental organisation Democracy Volunteers sent a group of observers to Dublin and Kildare to observe but said that while the Government and "many individual returning officers" are welcoming, some were not. The group claimed Ireland does not fully meet the international standard for election observation as, in the case of a general election, observation is only possible where each individual returning officer gives their approval for it to go ahead. As a result, election observation can, and sometimes is, prevented by local returning officers, said director of Democracy Volunteers, Dr John Ault. "This is not an ideal situation as, despite the clear benefits of election observation, which the Irish Foreign Ministry contributes to around the world, as part of the EU and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) states, it does not fully allow observation of its own elections," said Dr Ault. "We therefore call on the Irish Government to reassess its legalisation regarding election observation to allow domestic and international observers full access to the voting process." Minister for housing and local government, James Browne, said his department actively seeks to facilitate the attendance of observers at any election or referendum whenever such requests are received. Mr Browne said requests from Democracy Volunteers have been facilitated in the past, including the most recent general election. The OSCE's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights undertook needs assessment missions in advance of the last four general elections, Mr Browne noted. However, on these occasions it did not deploy full election-related missions with the last full mission taking place ahead of the general election in March 2007. Responding to a question from People Before Profit-Solidarity TD Paul Murphy, Mr Browne said there are no plans at present to amend electoral law regarding election observation. "The legislation is kept under ongoing review and my department will continue to engage with all organisations involved in observing elections with a view to facilitating any future requests to observe at Irish elections," said Mr Browne.
The Irish Sun
4 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Three Irish EuroMillions players win life-changing 6-figure sums as punter narrowly misses out on massive €238m jackpot
THREE Irish punters are celebrating after winning big in tonight's EuroMillions draw. While one player was only one ball off the massive main prize of over €238 million, two players won €500,000 in the Plus 2 There was no winner of the EuroMillions jackpot tonight Credit: Alamy Over 60,000 players in Ireland won prizes in the One lucky player matched five numbers and one lucky star, winning an eye-watering €212,330. And the winning ticket was sold in Co There was no winner of the EuroMillions jackpot tonight, which was sitting at €238,816,941 - and rolls over to €250m for the next draw. Read more in Money The numbers in the main draw were 11, 13, 25, 27 and 40 and the two lucky stars drawn were 5 and 7. The numbers pulled in the Plus draw were 1, 3, 9, 10 and 12. Two Irish players matched all five numbers to win €500,000 each. The winning tickets were sold in Most read in Money And 75 players matched four of the numbers to get €2,000. It comes after Wexford-based Ballingly Joinery syndicate arrive at Lotto HQ to collect their €1,000,500 Lotto Plus Raffle prize The EuroMillions player has scooped a whopping €225,000. The The winning Quick Pick ticket was purchased on the day of the draw from Duffy's Service Station on Turlough Road in Castlebar, Co The winning raffle number in last night's The Mayo winner has claimed Ireland's ninth and final The limited series of special EuroMillions draws was designed to guarantee nine players a huge prize of €225,000 for all nine draws, every Tuesday and Friday during May. The previous winners were from A spokesperson for the National Lottery, Emma Monaghan, said: "While there was no winner of last night's EuroMillions jackpot worth €218,316,095, over 81,000 players in Ireland won prizes in the EuroMillions and EuroMillions plus games. "This includes one Raffle Ticket winner: I- SDZ-53784 from Castlebar, Co. Mayo, who scooped a life-enhancing €255,000 in our special EuroMillions Ireland Only Raffle draw." While there were no winners of the EuroMillions jackpot in last night's draw, which could have made someone €218,316,095 richer. The EuroMillions numbers drawn in the main draw were 4, 7, 14, 33, 36 with 1 and 5 as lucky stars. Only one player managed to match four numbers and two stars, winning themselves a huge prize of €1,557. 2 Three Irish punters are celebrating after winning big in EuroMillions in tonight's draw
The Journal
7 hours ago
- The Journal
'People's livelihoods at risk': Decision on opening of Skellig Michael to tourists due this week
A HIGH COURT judge will decide this week whether to lift a suspension on boating permits for ferries to and from the UNESCO heritage island Skellig Michael, saying the case requires top priority as 'people's livelihoods are at risk'. The permits have not been issued while legal proceedings are before the courts in the form of a judicial review of the tendering process. At the High Court today, Justice Garret Simons said he was 'staggered' by the assertion made by lawyers for the Office of Public Works (OPW) that it would need six months to prepare the case. He ordered it to be heard next month. Two companies, which were unsuccessful in their applications for the 2025 season, have made a judicial review application, resulting in a delay to the granting of permits. The season runs from May to the end of September. The OPW ran a competition in late 2024 to award 15 boating permits for summer 2025 serving the monastic island, which was chosen as a film location for the Star Wars movies, The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. However, in April 2025, two unsuccessful participants in the competition brought High Court proceedings challenging the outcome. The OPW has said that under Irish and EU law, they were then precluded from issuing permits for the 2025 summer season until legal proceedings were resolved. Advertisement Skellig Michael Boat Trips and Atlantic Endeavour Limited both dispute the process underpinning the granting of the licences, alleging it to be 'deficient' and 'without transparency' and have been granted permission for the challenge. At the High Court today, David Dodd BL, for the plaintiffs, told Justice Simons that nobody wanted to prevent boats from visiting the island. He said permits could be granted by the court in an interim fashion, as the issuing of a one-season permit was not a 'contract', as contended by the OPW. He said his clients are happy for the suspension to be lifted. Justice Simons asked Andrew Beck SC, for the OPW, why it would take six months to prepare for what the judge described as 'the most straightforward case of competition for licences'. Beck said there was discovery of documents needed, amendments to make and a possible issue around cross-examination. Justice Simons said he was 'staggered' that the case would take up to six months to get on and that there were 'livelihoods' at stake. The judge said the court would give the case 'top priority', adding that the court had 'gone out of its way' to facilitate an early trial. Justice Simons said he would rule on Thursday of this week on whether to lift the suspension of the permits. He adjourned the substantive hearing of the judicial review to 21 July. Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone... A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation. Learn More Support The Journal
