Scale Ireland, a not-for-profit organisation backed by leading figures in the start-up community here, is teaming up with Microsoft to hold a regional start-up summit in Cork early next year.
The event, which takes place on January 28th, will be launched by Taoiseach Micheál Martin and include participation from some of the State’s leading companies, including Irish tech unicorns Fenergo and Workhuman.
The summit will focus on policy conditions to foster and promote the growth of start-ups. Currently there are more than 2,000 indigenous tech start-up and scale-up companies, which together employ more than 47,000 people.
Ahead of the summit, Scale Ireland and Microsoft have launched a “State of Start-ups” survey, to gauge the views of company founders on the key issues that contribute to regional enterprise. These include the availability of capital, the retention and recruitment of staff, and key tax incentives and regulations. It will also look at ways to tackle the low number of female founders and how to increase awareness of sustainability issues among businesses.
"We are at an important juncture in terms of Ireland's economic future, and it is critical that we get the feedback of founders across the country and learn about the issues and opportunities they are facing. Our regional start-up summit and survey will ensure their voices are heard in key policy areas," said Scale Ireland chairman Brian Caulfield.
