Kerry innovation centre RDI Hub is planning to expand, adding new desk spaces and investing in a new digital media lab to offer more services to existing members, and bring in new companies.
The hub will open 50 new desk spaces before the end of the year, doubling capacity and opening up more space for potential new entrants. The state of the art digital media lab will have podcast and green screen recording facilities to allow members and visitors to create media assets for their businesses.
It will also run the next edition of the STEM Passport programme, which is designed to encourage more women to participate in science, technology, engineering and maths.
RDI Hub CEO, Liam Cronin said the innovation ecosystem in the South West of Ireland had been transformed in the past three years.
“The plans for the hub were naturally impacted by the pandemic however we are really proud of how we pivoted, what has been achieved and look forward to the next three years where we aim to build on what has been achieved to date,” he said. “We have realised our vision by creating a unique environment for business to flourish and we are very excited about our ever-expanding programme of activity in the years ahead. We are excited about what lies ahead and have strong ambitions for the successes of our member companies in the coming years.”
Opened in 2020, the hub facilitates innovation and supports start-ups in the fintech, climatech, agtech and artificial intelligence sectors, bringing together corporates, SMEs and start-ups to innovate and grow for the future. More than 50 companies use the hub, creating 250 jobs since they became members of RDI. Some €12 million in funding has been raised to date by companies in the hub.
In the last 12 months, 16 new companies have joined RDI, with members now including Liebherr, Glencar Construction, Helgen Technologies and Taxamo.
“Since opening its doors in 2020, the RDI Hub has transformed into a significant innovation ecosystem not just for the region, but also for Fexco,” said Karl Aherne, chief operating officer, Fexco. “In the last three years. It has progressed from being an innovation hub to a dynamic ecosystem that fosters creativity, novel technologies, and a collaborative hybrid culture. As a result, it has yielded some incredible outcomes such as Taxamo, and several intriguing breakthroughs in robotics, AI, the Metaverse, and conventional industries such as construction, agriculture, and tourism. Fexco sees the RDI Hub as a crucial part of our future innovation plans.”
The RDI Hub has also been added to the European Commission’s Startup Village Forum, which is part of an action plan for rural areas in the EU that is designed to create stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous rural areas and communities by 2040.
