Skillnet Innovation Exchange announces latest partnership with The Mill Enterprise Hub, Drogheda

On Friday 22nd September Skillnet Ireland announced the partnership of Skillnet Innovation Exchange with The Mill Enterprise Hub based in Drogheda, Co. Louth. Skillnet 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 Skillent Innovation Exchange, expanding its growing community.

Throughout 2023 so far, Skillnet 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 Skillnet 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 the launch at The Mill Hub in Drogheda, 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: “Skillnet 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. We look forward to ambitious SMEs joining the programme to share their innovative solutions and benefit from the sales opportunities with larger companies that Skillnet Innovation Exchange offers.”

Sinead O’Riordan, Head of Channel Partnerships at Skillnet Innovation Exchange commented on today’s news: “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 Skillnet Innovation Exchange as its North East Regional partner. We recognise the sizeable opportunity to both SMEs and Corporates that Skillnet Innovation Exchange brings. By providing 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.”

Earlier this year Skillnet Innovation Exchange announced that it had reached the halfway mark of its goal of enlisting 1,000 companies by 2025, with over 500 scaling technology companies having joined the marketplace for innovation during its first 18 months, demonstrating a significant appetite for the initiative. In this time, Skillnet Innovation Exchange has responded to 25 innovation challenges from companies such as Glanbia, Bord na Móna, Ryanair and ESB, and newly joined members include InterSport Elverys, Uisce Eireann, BWG Foods and Ireland West Airport.

Skillnet 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.

For more information visit the Skillnet Innovation Exchange website.