NovaUCD has supported more than 550 companies and early-stage ventures through the services and business support programmes it runs and manages since it was set up in 2003.
The NovaUCD entrepreneurial community has also raised more than €1.3 billion in equity funding over the last 20 years.
This is according to a new report to mark the 20th anniversary of the official opening of the hub of innovation and start-up activities at University College Dublin.
NovaUCD is currently supporting more than 70 start-ups and established companies to grow and scale on the national and global stage.
Based on the results of a short survey these companies collectively plan to create over 1,100 jobs and raise over €290m in funding during the next two years.
Manna Drone Delivery, a NovaUCD graduate company now headquartered at NexusUCD, is one of the companies with significant expansion plans over the coming two years.
It currently employs 100 people and has already concluded over 100,000 drone deliveries in locations across Ireland and plans to launch in multiple new locations in Ireland and in other European countries, in 2024.
Other current and graduate companies of the NovaUCD ecosystem include Aer Therapeutics, BiancaMed (acquired by ResMed), Biosimulytics, Conjura, Corlytics, CropBiome; DOCOsoft, EpiCapture and Equinome, which was boughty by Plusvital.
They also include Equal1, Go Eve, Life Scientific, Logentries (bought by Rapid7), MagrowTec, Meili, OncoAssure, Output Sports, Oxymem (acquired by Du Pont), Plasma Bound, Proveye, SiriusXT, SuperNode, TestReach, xWave Technologies and Zipp Mobility, which was acquired by ZEUS Scooters.
UCD's knowledge transfer team, which is responsible for the commercialisation of the intellectual property emerging from UCD's world-class research programmes, is also based at NovaUCD.
In the last 20 years, 70 new UCD spin-out companies have been incorporated.
More than 1,165 inventions have been disclosed by UCD researchers, while over 370 priority patent applications have been filed and more than 320 licensing deals have been concluded with a range of indigenous and international businesses.
ConsultUCD, UCD’s managed consultancy service, is also based at NovaUCD, and it has undertaken more than 220 consultancy projects since it was established in 2017.
Minister of State for Business, Employment and Retail, Neale Richmond said that innovation opens the door to future growth, future prosperity and future jobs.
"Start-ups are the life blood of the Irish economy and the report clearly demonstrates UCD's leadership role in supporting entrepreneurs and their contribution to economic and social development," Mr Richmond added.
Professor Orla Feely, President, University College Dublin, said that UCD is committed to playing a strategic role in Ireland’s innovation and knowledge exchange ecosystem as an enabler of economic growth and talent development.
"One way we support this commitment is through NovaUCD which is focused on the commercialisation of our research outputs, creating new ventures, nurturing and scaling start-ups and established companies with global reach, and creating jobs," the Professor said.
