ITLG and Ryan Academy to partner for entrepreneurship programmes

The Missouri-based Kauffman Foundation, which was set up in the 1960s and has an asset base of around US$2bn, is a world authority on entrepreneurial innovation and economic growth. According to the foundation, over 40pc of new job growth will come from new start-up companies.

The foundation works through a network of global partners to “advance an entrepreneurial society in which job creation, innovation, and the economy flourish”. The ITLG is the Irish Kauffman global network partner.

The partnership will lead a number of offerings, including the Kauffman FastTrac TechVenture and GrowthVenture programmes. FastTrac TechVenture is designed to give technology- or science-based entrepreneurs a proven framework to develop a good idea into a great innovation. FastTrac GrowthVenture, meanwhile, is designed for businesses that are already launched and is based on proven strategies to enable those companies to achieve sustainable growth.

Today’s announcement is part of the ITLG’s diaspora innovation strategy that will deliver world leading entrepreneurship programmes and policies to entrepreneurs and technologists in Ireland and Silicon Valley.

The DCU Ryan Academy already delivers a range of initiatives (including the Propeller Accelerator Fund) for the development and encouragement of entrepreneurship and innovation in Ireland through training, supports and investment programmes.  The partnership with ITLG will enhance this portfolio of activities significantly through the introduction of international best practice in the field.

“I am particularly excited about the partnership of the DCU Ryan Academy with ITLG to deliver world-class Kauffman programmes as this will strengthen significantly our ability to stimulate and support entrepreneurial and innovation activity for the benefit of the Irish economy,” said Prof Brian MacCraith, president of Dublin City University.

“In Silicon Valley, 95pc of job creation comes from locally based companies,” said John Hartnett, president and founder, ITLG. “We are uniquely positioned to link Irish based technology innovation sources to the well established technology regions of the United States.”