NDRC firms create 221 jobs

Private investment in emerging companies supported by the National Digital Research Centre (NDRC) grew strongly in the past year, the organisation’s annual report showed today, creating more employment and paving the way for more in the coming months.

Some 221 jobs have been created at NDRC-backed firms to date, with plans to create a further 70 in the next six months. Of the jobs already in place, 155 were full time positions, with 66 part time jobs. That compares with a total of 36 jobs recorded last year.

According to the annual report for 2011-2012, the cumulative investment in the ventures was €9.6 million, a doubling of last year's €4.8 million. Meanwhile, the valuation of the ventures almost trebled to €28.8 million, compared with €10.1 million in the previous report.

"The fact that ventures emerging from NDRC have been valued at nearly €30 million by third party investors is a clear indication that our investment to date of about €15 million is showing great value creation for our collaborators and excellent impact returns for the economy," NDRC chief executive Ben Hurley said.

The NDRC backs ideas and projects at an early stage, helping to commercialise them. The independent organisation has a number of investment programmes that help entrepreneurs and researchers turn their intellectual property into products and high growth businesses.

More than 70 projects and businesses have come from the NDRC in its four-year history. Some have moved on to other accelerator programmes, including Popdeem and Thoughtbox, which are currently in Telefonica's Wayra programme in Dublin.

Another NDRC project, Redeem & Get, recently launched its Daily Deal Pro service for marketers on New York's Times Square and was awarded the Spark of Genius award at the Dublin Web Summit last year.

NDRC takes a stake in the firms it supports, which Mr Hurley says ranges from one per cent to between 15 and 20 per cent.