Minister Martin announces a European Venture Capital Centre and an Innovation Centre for IBM in Dublin

IBM to create a Strategic Alliance with Enterprise Ireland

Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Micheál Martin TD announced today (Wednesday, 27^th September, 2006) that IBM Corporation is to establish a European Venture Capital Centre and an Innovation Centre at its Technology Campus in Mulhuddart, Co. Dublin, in collaboration with IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland.

The IBM European Venture Capital Centre will become a focal point for Irish technology start-ups seeking to gain to visibility within the venture capital community and coupled with Enterprise Ireland support, will further enhance access to venture capital investment. It will build stronger ties with the venture capital community across Europe and allow them to gain insights into emerging technologies, exchange market trend information, and accelerate innovation. It will also facilitate access for Irish start-up companies to IBM strategy, technology sharing and mentoring. The Centre will also act as a portal to IBM's in-house partnership programmes and research activities.

The Innovation Centre is one of 32 IBM Innovation Centres worldwide which will help Irish software companies to leverage support from IBM experts in developing and testing new advanced and emerging technologies. IBM technology experts will also provide information and support to Irish companies in the form of workshops, seminars, access to design, scalability testing, porting and enablement services. The Innovation Centre will also channel start-up businesses to IBM's centres of competencies in the areas of SAP and Service Orientated Architecture (SOA), a technology for transforming software applications into reusable services.

Minister Martin speaking at today’s announcement said "The selection of Ireland as the location for IBM’s European Venture Capital and Innovation Centre is a further endorsement of the excellent long standing relationship between IBM and Ireland. Just 2 months ago, I announced that IBM Corporation will invest €46 million in its Technology Campus in Mulhuddart to significantly grow its Dublin-based software development operations, establish a business incubation centre and enhance its supply chain capacity with support from IDA Ireland.”

He continued “The Venture Capital and Innovation Centres will act as catalysts for innovation, new company creation and growth and will make a valuable contribution to the culture of entrepreneurship in Ireland. This new investment shows how IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, in collaboration with globally integrated businesses can create opportunities for our strong base of indigenous companies while also enabling our key multinational companies like IBM to achieve their corporate goals. Today’s announcement is a fitting way to celebrate IBM’s 50^th anniversary in Ireland.”

To further enhance opportunities for collaboration between Irish companies and IBM, Minister Martin today also announced a strategic alliance between IBM and Enterprise Ireland. This collaboration will enable Irish companies to build mutually beneficial business relationships with IBM globally. In particular, Irish companies will have access to I.P. licensing opportunities, the innovation centre, strategy sharing, and research linkages. This strategic collaboration between IBM and Enterprise Ireland will create significant benefits and opportunities for innovative and ambitious Irish technology companies.

Claudia Fan Munce, Managing Director, IBM Venture Capital Group said “IBM is delighted to be collaborating with Enterprise Ireland and the venture capital community to assist in the development of Irish technology companies. This strategic alliance will strengthen the innovative culture and capability of Irish firms and further embed IBM’s operations in Ireland.”

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