Tech Tour rolls into Dublin

Taoiseach Enda Kenny will address the UK & Ireland Tech Tour in Dublin tomorrow. The tour will see 27 emerging tech companies from the UK and Ireland presented to key European, US and Asian investors. Some 14 companies which have been selected are Irish.

The companies will present at the Digital Hub (Wednesday) and Wayra (Thursday) before the tour goes to Glasgow. The Taoiseach said Ireland has an unrivalled ecosystem for high potential start-ups with world class incubators, like Dogpatch and Launchpad, international venture capitalists and a vibrant domestic support infrastructure.

"Since the Tech Tour last visited the UK and Ireland four years ago, lean start-up approaches and more availability of seed capital in the region have led to an explosion of great young companies that are able to gain market traction quickly," DFJ Esprit partner Brian Caulfield said.

The Tech Tour was founded in 1998 in response to interest in emerging technology companies. It aims to pair companies with investors who can assist in their global expansion.

Some companies from the last UK & Ireland Tech Tour in 2010 have already seen success including Belfast-based Aepona, acquired by Intel for €92.7 million this year.

On the subject of investors, Dublin's clean tech cluster The Green Way will host an event in Dublin tomorrow to connect investors with Irish clean tech companies. Gary Carroll of Episensor and Roy Horgan of Solarprint will be among the speakers.