€10m+ raised by Regional NDRC Pre Accelerator Alumni over the last 3 years

NDRC, Ireland’s national startup accelerator, and an initiative of the Department of Enterprise, Climate and Communications (DECC), is celebrating three years of building a thriving startup ecosystem across the country. They have announced a 2-year contract extension to continue supporting entrepreneurs and their ambition to make Ireland the best place in Europe to build a startup company. 

NDRC operates through a network of innovative startup hubs, led by Dogpatch Labs in Dublin with PorterShed in Galway, RDI Hub in Kerry and Republic of Work in Cork, connecting various startup stakeholders.

The founder-first, entrepreneur-led focus woven throughout programmes has led to over €56M+ being raised by startups who participated in the programmes over the last 3 years alone, and €180M+ by the entire NDRC portfolio during the same period, resulting in 650 jobs created, and thousands of individuals supported via educational aspects.

Significantly, the NDRC Programmes have had significant regional impact with over €10m being raised by Startups from outside the Greater Dublin Area over the past 3 years alone.

Accelerator startups raised over €35M+ which includes a raise of (€1.35M) by Mayo-based cyber startup Cytidel. In three years, €21M+ was raised by Pre-Accelerator alumni. A notable example of this early-stage success includes Galway-based ByoWave – a video game controller for gamers with disabilities (€2.4M).

Entrepreneurs countrywide enjoyed the support and often exclusive mentoring from a range of multinational companies and expert mentors including Genesys, IBM, LibertyIT, Open.AI, Google, Stripe, Fidelity, ESB, Microsoft, and Unilever.

Ian Browne, NDRC MD for the past 2 years commented on NDRC’s impact on startups, “In a period of momentous change in both the macro and micro environment, we’ve continued to instil this ‘founder-first’ mentality, adapting to startups’ real-time needs, and delivering programmes, which are entrepreneur-led and reflect growing startup trends – whether that’s new topics like Deeptech and Generative AI, or the introducing one of Europe’s first SAFE instruments on ‘founder-friendly’ investment terms to Irish startups.”

Mary Rodgers, CEO at PorterShed said “NDRC has been a pivotal element of our suite of programmes and has provided PorterShed with the opportunity to reach every corner of the West and North West through our hub and spoke model. NDRC’s always-on model has ensured that PorterShed has an offering for Tech Founders at every stage and timing of their entrepreneurial journey. We look forward to building on the success of the NDRC programmes, and welcome news of the 2-year extension.”

A key element of the NDRC is reinvesting into new initiatives that support the creation of world-class digital companies and funding pilot programmes including Founders Talent Accelerator, 2050 Sustainability Accelerator, First Fridays for Startups, Patch Youth Accelerator, and the NDRC Women Entrepreneurs Network. Some West of Ireland participants that have benefited from these initiatives include:
Rishabh Chandaliya, a published PhD in AI, embarked on his startup journey through an Explorer Weekend at PorterShed. It was at this weekend that showed his huge founder potential and was scouted for Founders. In phase one of Founders, Rish met his co-founder and CEO Steve (ex-Stripe & Meta), who had a completely different and complementary skill set to him. Together they built ShodenAI and secured €100k from the Founders investment committee, followed by pitching at the largest NDRC Demo Day yet. John Denny, a standout secondary student from the Bish in Galway, earned a spot in Patch’s Accelerator program. Within just 48 hours at Founder Weekend in PorterShed. The 17-year-old not only built a startup but also clinched the ‘Best Pitch’ award with his groundbreaking MVP for ‘Scamurai’ – an innovative AI system designed to eliminate phishing sites by targeting their infrastructure.

Masterclasses: the meticulously tailored Masterclasses with UCC’s BIS class, UL’s Business course and Unversity of Galway’s Innovation & Entrepreneurship MSc exemplify the proactive approach in fostering innovation at the academic level

Over the last 3 years, NDRC also introduced and open-sourced launching founder-friendly SAFE investment instruments which was viewed 10,000 times in Ireland, and has facilitated over 600 introductions to international investment funds, resulting in over 15 of these investing in Irish startups from Ireland and abroad.

To access the full report, please visit ndrc.ie/impact-report-2024