Skillnet Innovation Exchange announced its first deal of 2024, bringing to 13 the number of deals signed by members of Ireland’s marketplace for innovation.   The latest deal was signed in February after Horse Sport Ireland published a challenge via Skillet Innovation Exchange to identify a solutions provider for an urgent and complex data cleansing project. Miagen, a provider of advanced CPM solutions with a specialisation in data integration and process flow automation was successful in its submission and pitch to the sporting body. From challenge to deal it took only 10 days – the fastest deal yet.   The Horse Sport Ireland deal comes from Digital for Sport, a joint initiative between Skillnet Innovation Exchange and Sport Ireland, that was created at the end of last year to accelerate the digital transformation of sport in Ireland.   This follows the previous deal which saw Intersport Elverys sign a deal with Energy Elephant. Elverys joined Skillet Innovation Exchange as part of its search for solutions to a variety of sustainability challenges. Innovation Exchange member, Energy Elephant, was able to propose a one stop shop for solutions covering energy, water, waste and scope three for supply chain and won the contract.

Congratulations to our Regional Partner, The Mill Enterprise Hub Drogheda, on unveiling a €229M economic impact finding during its 10th birthday celebrations. What an amazing event to mark a decade of success.   THE MILL ENTERPISE HUB UNVEILS €229M ECONOMIC IMPACT FINDING AS PART OF ITS 10TH BIRTHDAY CELEBRATIONS   FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   May 10th 2024 Drogheda, Ireland – On Friday, The Mill Enterprise Hub Drogheda officially celebrated its 10th Birthday. The event, which had close to one hundred in attendance, contained a number of speakers and fireside chats and was also the launchpad for the new three-year strategy for The Mill Enterprise Hub for the period 2024 – 2027. As part of the celebrations, The Mill also unveiled its 10-year economic impact report.   Economist, Dr. Pat McCloughan of PMCA Economic Consultants unveiled his economic impact study which measured the contribution of The Mill Enterprise Hub for the period 2014 – 2023. Commenting on the report, Dr. McCloughan described the findings of this report as being “very significant” and identified that companies located in the Mill had generated a combined Gross Value Add, (measure of economic contribution) of just under €229M over the 10 Year period, with 2023 proving to be a record year with over €45M being generated in GVA by the 65 companies represented in The Mill for that year.   The report revealed that the overall number of jobs being supported by companies in The Mill (both directly and indirectly) had grown to 318 jobs and that €34M has been generated to the Irish Tax Exchequer due to the activities of companies located in The Mill over the 10-year period.   Speaking at the launch of The Mill’s new 3-year Strategy, The Mill CEO Ronan Whitty commented that, “Having engaged with our resident ‘Millers’ and our board we feel that our new strategy is a true reflection of both the values and the mission of The Mill to position itself as a ‘Recognised National Leader in Effective Regional Enterprise Development’ and builds upon the existing success of The Mill’s work to date. The addition of the new start up and scale up supports spread around the walls of The Mill are the manifestation of the strategy and will aid us in the implementation of the strategy and will help further drive a culture of The Mill being a home for where startups and scale ups identify as being a supportive partner in growing their enterprise and Drogheda as a pro business location”.   “We are extremely proud of the findings unveiled in the economic impact report which underline The Mill’s track record of economic development in the region,” added Ronan Whitty, “and we are confident that the implementation of the new strategy will lead to continued enterprise development opportunities for aspiring new entrepreneurs in the northeast moving forward as well as a landing site location for foreign direction investment in the region. I would like to also take this opportunity to publicly thank the many people who had the vision, courage and conviction to create The Mill back in 2014 without which none of us would be here to celebrate today”.   As part of the celebration The Mill played a ‘Reeling in The Years’ video telling the 10 Year journey of The Mill from inception to launch and following its journey right up to its current status in 2024. The current Chairpersons of The Mill Shona McManus of Osborne Recruitment and Steven Rice of Big Wheel Marketing then held a fireside chat with Graham O’ Rourke, the original Chairperson of The Mill and founder of Aphix Software to discuss how The Mill has evolved over the 10 years and their thoughts on the future of The Mill.   The event also contained a fireside chat with the Innovation Exchange for which The Mill is the Northeast Regional Partner which showcased how SME technology businesses can now access a pre-approved sales pipeline of challenges with leading multinationals to support SME growth in the region.   Minister for State, Thomas Byrne was also in attendance and, addressing the audience, he stated the importance of The Mill to Northeast community and the significance of today’s economic impact findings. “The Mill Enterprise Hub is a key part of the entrepreneurial eco system for the Northeast region and provides a supportive environment for those looking to both start up and grow their businesses in the region, the findings of the todays 10-year economic impact report highlight The Mill’s significance on both a regional and national level.”   ENDS   About The Mill Enterprise Hub   Drogheda Enterprise Centre, trading as The Mill Enterprise Hub is a ‘Not for Profit’ organisation that was opened in 2014. The Mill provides affordable office and hot desking for startup and scale up companies as part of a supportive start up community environment as well as a co working space for remote workers.   The Mill Enterprise Hub works closely with many business development organisations such as Louth LEO, Enterprise Ireland, Drogheda & District Chamber, Connected Hubs, the NDRC, Skillnet for which The Mill is the North East Regional Partner for Skillnet’s Innovation Exchange Programme. In addition, The Mill is one of the landing sites for FDI in the north east region. The Mill provides virtual offices and is also an events venue with Boardroom and Conference Room facilities available for hire in addition to the recently added Studio 92 Media Centre which offers cost-effective Podcast & Media studio facilities for businesses.   For more information, please contact: startup@themilldrogheda.ie