National Digital Research Centre

The National Digital Research Centre, or NDRC, is a national accelerator programme in Ireland, for "globally ambitious" entrepreneurs, delivered by a consortium led by Dublin-based Dogpatch Labs, and supported by multiple venture capital firms. It offers a "mentorship-driven" approach, with €100,000 "founder-friendly" funding, and early stage supports including non-equity pre-accelerator programmes available to entrepreneurs across Ireland.[1] It also runs a Masterclass Series for companies working in the start-up space, teaching them how to support young digital venture teams with significant scale potential.[2] It succeeded a previous version of the concept, run by a team on behalf of five Irish third-level institutions.

History

The National Digital Research Centre was established in 2007 by a group of educational institutions operating under an agreement with the Minister for Communications, Climate Action and Environment.[1] Once it no longer carried out research, it referred to itself as NDRC only. In September 2013, the market value of firms emerging from the Centre was reported to have doubled to €39m during 2012.[3]

In November 2020, the existing management team confirmed that they had lost the tender to run the NDRC, and that the organisation would be wound up.[4] New operators, Dogpatch Labs and its regional partners, were appointed on a contract worth up to 17 million euro.[5]

Ownership and management

Initial operation

From foundation until November 2020, the centre was owned and operated by a consortium of three Irish research universities and two other third-level bodies: Dublin City University, Dún Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology, the National College of Art and Design, Trinity College, Dublin, and University College Dublin.

NDRC invested primarily using an accelerator model, providing modest amounts of capital and high amounts of hands-on support to early stage companies. It ran two investment programmes: NDRC LaunchPad[6] and NDRC VentureLab.[7] It was awarded "Top IT" incubator by UBI Index in 2013.[8] NDRC LaunchPad was ranked as one of the most highly rated accelerators in Europe [9]

New operation

The process to put the operation of the NDRC to tender was announced in late 2019. After a competitive bid process[10] between the incumbent, Dogpatch Labs and Sean O’Sullivan’s SOSV, in December 2020 the Government announced that it had awarded the five year €17M contract to manage the service to Dogpatch Labs.[11]

Dogpatch Labs operates the NDRC with its regional partners RDI Hub (Kerry), Republic of Work (Cork) and Portershed (Galway),[12] and it is supported by five venture capital firms with Irish bases - Act Venture Capital, Atlantic Bridge, Frontline, Delta Partners, and Polaris Partners.[11] Invitations for the first batch of start-ups to be funded under the accelerator programme, numbering 12, were opened in March 2021. Aside from financing and mentoring, the package of supports to be provided included free office space for a year.[13]

Beneficiaries

NDRC alumni include Nuritas, Soundwave, Boxever (acquired by Sitecore), and Silvercloud Health.[14]

See also

References
  1. "Digital Inclusion". www.gov.ie. 12 June 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  2. "How new €17m NDRC will lead to rise of Ireland's regions". Think Business. 16 December 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  3. "Additional funding for NDRC announced". 25 September 2013. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  4. "NDRC confirms tender loss as it gains €3.1m from LearnUpon exit". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  5. "Dogpatch confirmed as winner of €17m contract to run NDRC". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  6. NDRC LaunchPad Archived 2013-10-21 at archive.today National Digital Research Centre. Retrieved: 2013-12-21.
  7. NDRC VentureLab Archived 2013-09-10 at the Wayback Machine National Digital Research Centre. Retrieved: 2013-12-21.
  8. University Business Incubator – Global Top List 2013 Archived 2014-06-16 at the Wayback Machine University Business Incubator. Retrieved: 2013-12-21.
  9. Top 8 European Startup Accelerators and Incubators Ranked Tech Cocktail, 2011-06-20.
  10. "Dogpatch Labs and SOSV shortlisted to win NDRC contract". The Irish Times. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  11. "Dogpatch wins €17m state NDRC contract with regional and gender quotas". Independent.ie. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 25 August 2023.
  12. "Home". ndrc.ie.
  13. Taylor, Charlie (4 March 2021). "NDRC to provide 'founder friendly' investment on new accelerator". The Irish Times. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  14. How new €17m NDRC will lead to rise of Ireland's regions ThinkBusiness.ie, 2020-12-16.

53.342171°N 6.283727°W / 53.342171; -6.283727 (National Digital Research Centre)

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