Skillnet Ireland announced the launch of The Innovation Exchange in the North East region as part of its continuing nationwide expansion

 Skillnet Ireland has announced the partnership of The Innovation Exchange with The Mill Enterprise Hub based in Drogheda, Co. Louth. The Innovation Exchange is Ireland’s innovation marketplace connecting large companies facing digital transformation challenges with technology companies that can fast-track their solutions.

This partnership will allow globally ambitious tech SMEs located within The Mill Enterprise Hub and the wider North East region the chance to pitch to, and collaborate with, large companies looking to access innovation as part of a diverse and curated community of start-ups and scale-ups.

As a part of this collaboration, The Mill Enterprise Hub will bring both corporate entities and scale-up businesses situated in the Louth and wider North East region together as members of The Innovation Exchange, expanding its growing community. 

Throughout 2023 so far The Innovation Exchange has successfully partnered with regional hubs throughout the country, such as The Ludgate Hub, the Galway Technology Centre and the RDI Hub.

The continuing expansion of The Innovation Exchange will allow a growing number of SMEs to access the programme’s benefits, including an instant sales pipeline, market intelligence, and the capability to sell to large companies.

Attending Friday’s launch, Simon Coveney TD, Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said: “It is fantastic to see the rollout of this collaborative programme in Louth and across the North-East. This partnership between Skillnet Ireland, The Innovation Exchange and The Mill is an exciting example of win-win collaboration and I would encourage all businesses to consider joining the programme.

“The development of an ecosystem in Drogheda that facilitates SMEs and large corporates working with one another will undoubtedly ignite digital transformation and support opportunities for increased growth for these organisations.”

Mark Jordan, Chief Strategy Officer, Skillnet Ireland said: “The Innovation Exchange plays an important role in the skills supply and demand chain, connecting SMEs and large corporations and supporting the creation of new business ventures. As part of a national expansion of the programme, we are delighted to introduce The Innovation Exchange to the North East region in partnership with the Mill Hub. We look forward to ambitious SMEs joining the programme to share their innovative solutions and benefit from the sales opportunities with larger companies that The Innovation Exchange offers.” 

Sinead O’Riordan of The Innovation Exchange said: “As we continue to provide our services to SMEs and corporations throughout Ireland, we are delighted to be working with The Mill Hub. Our primary objective is to highlight the incredible skills and abilities of the local businesses, while also assisting them in scaling their operations. We look forward to expanding our network, and leveraging The Mill's resources and expertise as a means to support our members and drive their successes.”

Ronan Whitty, CEO of The Mill Enterprise Hub, said: “The Mill is delighted to partner with The Innovation Exchange as its North East Regional partner. We recognise the sizeable opportunity to both SMEs and Corporates that The Innovation Exchange brings. By providing a qualified sales pipeline to SMEs and connecting Corporates to the best SME talent in the country to accelerate digital transformation, The Mill is ideally positioned to represent the North East and drive economic impact in the region in line with our strategy.”

The Innovation Exchange which is an initiative of Skillnet Ireland, is designed to address the barriers that exist for scaling companies when selling to large companies and multinationals. The programme will support over 1,000 companies between 2022-2025.  

Scale-ups and corporates in the region are being encouraged by The Innovation Exchange to sign up at www.theinnovationexchange.ie.