START-UPS based at the National Digital Research Centre (NDRC)have managed to attract €4.8 million in total in commercial investment to date while holding a combined market value of €25 million.

The annual report of the centre, the high tech business incubator in Dublin’s Liberties, suggests these fledging businesses will generate €35 million in export sales over the next five years.

Minister for Communications, Energy and Natural Resources Pat Rabbitte, speaking at the report launch, said he was “persuaded that the NDRC is an important component in Ireland’s knowledge economy infrastructure, combining the knowledge, skill sets and assets of both the academic and the commercial sectors to produce commercially successful products and services”.

The focus of the centre is on the funding gap between early and later stage investment that tends to be neglected, said chief executive Ben Hurley, adding that later stage investment tends to garner most investment from VCs and corporate RD. “The challenge of the gap is the partial return and it requires deep levels of people with intensive expertise. It’s a very specific form of innovation.”

Since July the centre has targeted this gap by committing capital of some €12.6 million in 25 Catalyser joint venture projects and 30 LaunchPad accelerator investments. With 21 start-ups working within the NDRC and 50 through the doors to date, the key measure of success for these businesses is follow-on investment, Hurley says.

Paul McCambridge, chairman of the centre, said its main focus has been on market capitalisation. “Once you come into the NDRC you cross the Rubicon. The expectations are business expectations and, given the economy in Ireland, this is good for where we are today.”