Galway-Mayo IT

Innovation Hubs

Two Innovation Hubs – in Castlebar and Galway – provide a highly supportive ecosystem where clients benefit from a strong commercialisation process and industry linkages, networking internally with each other and resources of the college itself.

Developing an innovative and entrepreneurial culture among the students and staff of GMIT is a key objective of the institute and the opportunities afforded by the centres are continuously evaluated. We specialise in market research, product testing, materials evaluation and the assessment of branding opportunities on behalf of Innovation Hubs client companies.

The Innovation Hubs also offer Concept Desk Space to support entrepreneurs who have a good idea for a new business venture, which may in time develop into a project for the incubation units, and pathways to funding and investment for individuals with commercial experience in starting their own high-potential, knowledge-intensive business.

Innovation Hubs website ￫

participants since 2012

million euros investment raised

Jobs created by our clients

What do the Innovation Hubs offer?

Galway: 19 incubation units ranging in size from 18m² to 60m². Castlebar: 10 incubation units ranging in size from 18m² to 36m².

Research facilities include the Marine and Freshwater Research Centre (MFRC), the Galway Medical Device Technology Centre (GMedTech) and the Centre for the Integration of Sustainable Energy Technologies (CiSET).

Business development support: financial, legal, sales, marketing and export development including mentoring and networking facilities.

Boardroom, meeting/training rooms, free parking and canteen facilities.

Gallery

The Innovation Hubs team

The New Frontiers Programme Manager at Galway-Mayo IT is Tony O’Kelly. Tony has a background in IT and a long history in business development across a range of sectors. He also founded a technology management company, delivering specialist expertise to large companies such as DCC and Hewlett Packard. Tony couples his technical knowledge with project and programme management, and brings his experience in automating business processes to the structure and delivery of New Frontiers in GMIT.

Tony O’Kelly

New Frontiers Programme Manager

091 742 858

George McCourt

Centre Manager – Galway

091 742 822

Maria Staunton

Centre Manager – Castlebar

094 904 3198

New Frontiers has been invaluable for the development of our business, from a concept to a viable, investor-ready commercial proposition. A variety of very experienced and proven industry experts facilitated our team sessions and mentored us throughout the programme.

Frank Enright, Q Pathway

New Frontiers has provided me with skills to put the theory into practice, it has enabled me to grow my business from the seed of an idea to a market-ready. The varied and rich support was geared towards growing the business and facilitated by industry experts of the highest quality.

Tomás Thompson, Rockfield Medical Devices

A fabulous programme which I would highly recommend for any innovative startup with plans to scale and export. It will guide you through market validation to market launch, with practical, relevant guidance from industry leaders - helping you to avoid many of the pitfalls of starting your own business.

Anne Walsh, Allergy Lifestyle

Some of our previous participants

Dorothy Creaven, Element Wave – mobile customer retention
Sorcha O’Grady, TruckScience Ltd – truck modelling software
George Curley, CGA Software Ltd – enterprise management solutions
Marc Ganly, MARC Sports – head protectors for sports
Denis Sheehy, Cloudbrook Water Company – rainwater optimisation systems
Sinéad Kenny, DiaNia Technologies – medical device materials
Tomás Thompson, Rockfield Medical Devices – patient feeding systems

The latest news from the Innovation Hubs

Advanced Photonics Systems wins at Seedcorn

Congratulations to Rory Casey, founder of Advanced Photonics Systems, who beat off top-class competition to take the first prize of €50,000 in the ‘New Start Company’ category of the Intertrade Ireland Seedcorn Competition. The company has invented a non-invasive parasite treatment photonics technology and the first target is sea lice on farmed salmon, which costs €1bn in this €15bn market.

Contego Sports raises €2 million in funding

Contego Sports, a previous winner of the GMIT New Frontiers Best Emerging Business Award, has raised a further €2 million in investment from Elkstone Capital…

Have a startup idea? Register your interest in New Frontiers and one of our Programme Managers will be in touch soon!

Further reading

Still not ready to apply? We have some useful links that might help:

the Innovation Hubs website
more information about the New Frontiers programme
see our Frequently Asked Questions
check out our 10 tips for entrepreneurs thinking of applying to New Frontiers