Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 22 March 2023

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation

Start-up and Scaling Environment in Ireland: Discussion

Mr. Brian Caulfield:

If I could add to that, I will not speak about broadband because Mr. Ashmore has covered it very well but it is, as it were, a kind of electricity and we need to think of it as something that is readily available and of very high quality everywhere.

In relation to the opportunities presented by sustainability, I am perhaps more optimistic than Deputy Bruton might be.

There is already a lot of activity in the universities in terms of research in a very wide variety of areas. There are also lots of very small start-ups that are looking at very specific niches within the area. We are starting to see the evolution of that category of specialist investors who are focused exclusively on environmental impact or agricultural technology - ag tech. We have the Yield Lab, which is focused on agricultural technology, and Resolve Partners, which focuses on climate change and sustainability.

Connections between large companies and small companies in this space will be very important. Bord na Móna has essentially been running an accelerator in conjunction with Resolve Partners to help companies with sustainability products and accelerate their development. Those kind of linkages will be more important in this space than in others.

Comments

No comments

Log in or join to post a public comment.