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10 Irish start-ups from sectors such as SaaS, medtech and fintech have been selected for the programme, which will offer mentorship, networking and funding opportunities.
Huawei has teamed up with Dublin’s Dogpatch Labs to help a batch of Irish start-ups expand internationally.
10 Irish start-ups have been selected to join a new accelerator, which will be run by Dogpatch Labs and supported by Huawei’s expertise, technical support and market access.
The programme will be a three-week bootcamp held between PorterShed in Galway and Dogpatch Labs in Dublin. The selected start-ups will get entrepreneurial mentorship, workshops on international sales and industry networking opportunities.
The companies selected to join the bootcamp include former Start-ups of the Week Tracworx, HaloSOS, Energy Elephant, Xpanse and Sensipass. The other start-ups picked are Empeal, Little Red Edu, Helgen, Graphite Note and Defactor.
Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital, and Company Regulation Dara Calleary, TD, said start-ups are the “dynamos” of our economy and are “pivotal” to job creation.
“The entrepreneurial spirit is ingrained in the DNA of Irish business and so it is imperative we continue to support start-ups by providing every support possible,” Calleary said.
The start-ups will gain access to Huawei’s digital network with a footprint across 170 countries, along with expert speakers and technical support.
The programme will culminate in a showcase day in Dublin on 11 November, where the start-ups will pitch their business ideas to key stakeholders and influencers including senior leadership from Huawei.
Huawei venture arm Hubble will also be present at the showcase, along with VCs from the Dogpatch Labs network, providing funding opportunities for the 10 start-ups.
“This partnership with Dogpatch Labs is focused on helping these participating companies to scale up and achieve their ambitions through an impactful scale-up acceleration programme,” said Huawei Ireland CEO Tony Yangxu.
“Globally, through Huawei Cloud infrastructure, we are helping start-ups to grow, develop new products and expand into new markets, and we will bring this global expertise to Irish start-ups.”
Earlier this month, Huawei launched its first European cloud centre in Dublin, which aims to be a bridge between Ireland and Asia and help Irish enterprises expand into new markets.
Dogpatch Labs director of innovation Dave Power said the quality of ideas for the start-up programme have been “outstanding”.
“Ireland should be a launching point for start-ups with global expansion being the ultimate goal,” Power added. “This programme can give access to critical markets both west and east for founders to scale to new heights.”
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