Press release
Funding of €58.8 million announced for diverse and potentially life-changing disruptive technology projects
From Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Published on
Last updated on
From Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment
Published on
Last updated on
Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Simon Harris, and the Minister of State for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary, today announced funding of a further €58.8 million to 12 new projects under the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF).
Announcing today’s projects, the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Simon Coveney, said:
"I am delighted to announce this significant new funding of almost €60 million from the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund which underlines our commitment to advancing pioneering technology development in Ireland. The projects are diverse and some are potentially life-changing, such as providing a new minimally invasive and targeted treatment for metastatic lung cancer or using AI to detect abnormal brain activity in infants at birth.
"These disruptive projects will also ensure that Ireland’s research and innovation ecosystem is well placed to capitalise on emerging growth sectors while delivering on net zero commitments, decarbonisation and digital transformation, in line with the objectives of the White Paper for Enterprise."
Simon Harris, Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science added:
"Impact 2030 positions Ireland to become a leader in research and innovation and a first-choice destination for researchers. The projects emerging from government investment through this Fund are crucial to the continued growth of Ireland’s research and innovation sector. These collaborative projects are expanding the research agenda and are providing valuable learning opportunities for graduates from home and abroad.
"This supports us in driving excellence in our higher education institutions and providing a sustainable stream of skilled professionals with the expertise and knowledge needed to create and deliver emerging disruptive technologies."
Minister for Trade Promotion, Digital and Company Regulation, Dara Calleary said:
"Emerging disruptive technologies play a pivotal role in securing our continued economic progress and these 12 DTIF projects demonstrate the ability of Irish enterprises to harness such technologies and provide sustainable jobs in priority sectors of the economy.
"I particularly welcome that several projects incorporate the use of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud technologies and data analytics. Not only are the projects helping to sustain Ireland’s attractiveness to global technology businesses, but it’s also evidence of a supportive innovation ecosystem which has been put in place to support AI adoption in enterprise which is central to the National AI Strategy."
DTIF continues to drive collaboration between enterprises and research institutions across Ireland, particularly SMEs. A further 22 SMEs are partners in the 12 projects announced today, with 8 of those SMEs leading their project. The 189 SMEs participating in the 103 DTIF projects announced under DTIF Calls to date represent half of the 382 project partners involved.
Leo Clancy, CEO, Enterprise Ireland said:
"Projects funded under previous DTIF calls are supporting ground-breaking technologies with real commercial value that have the capacity to address some of the biggest global challenges. I expect the funding provided to 12 new projects under this investment round will have a similar impact. DTIF is a vital funding stream for both the Irish research community and innovative companies looking to collaborate and Enterprise Ireland is proud to play a role in its delivery."
DTIF projects are utilising industrial research and experimental development to create products and services that have the potential to alter markets and the way that businesses operate. The strong industry-academia collaboration which is required under DTIF is key to ensuring that government investment through this fund is impactful for both the economy and society. The 143 Research Performing Organisations awarded funding in DTIF Calls to date ensures the expertise, training and knowledge necessary to help make the projects a success.
This funding means that to date €364 million has been awarded to 103 projects across 6 DTIF Calls.
The Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF) is a €500 million fund established under the National Development Plan (NDP) in 2018. The Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment manages the DTIF with administrative support from Enterprise Ireland. The purpose of the fund is to drive collaboration between Ireland’s world-class research base and industry as well as facilitating enterprises to compete directly for funding in support of the development and adoption of these technologies. The aim is to support investment in the development and deployment of disruptive technologies and applications on a commercial basis.
DTIF Call 6 applications were assessed by panels of international experts against four criteria – quality of the disruptive technology, excellence of overall approach, economic impact and sustainability, and strength of the collaboration.
Of the total 49 project partners awarded funding in DTIF Call 6, 33 (67%) are based outside of Dublin. Over the six DTIF Calls, 57% (€208 million) of all DTIF funding has been awarded to partners located outside of Dublin.
Prospective applicants can obtain detailed information on the Fund and on the application process through enterprise.gov.ie/DTIF.
| Project description | Consortium members | Research priority area | Regional location | Total DTIF award |
| The NSSPI project will support the development of an economically sustainable and expanding space industry in three initial clusters: (1) optical communications for space, (2) autonomous smart satellites and (3) spacecraft and payload modelling, simulation, assembly, integration and test research support. | 1. University of Ireland, Dublin (UCD), 2. Realtime Technologies Ltd T/A Réaltra, 3. Ubotica Technologies Ltd, 4. Mbryonics Ltd, 5. Intel, 6. ÉireComposites Teoranta, 7. Equal1 Laboratories Ireland Ltd. | ICT | 1. Dublin, 2. Dublin, 3. Dublin, 4. Galway, 5. Kildare, 6. Galway, 7. Dublin | €7,921,260 |
| The Galenband project will enable the reliable detection of atrial fibrillation via a 90-day wearable telemetry system. | 1. Galenband Ltd, 2. PA Consulting (Design Partners) Ltd, 3. University of Galway (UG) | Health and Wellbeing | 1. Dublin, 2. Dublin, 3. Galway | €6,880,245 |
| The Newborn Brain Screener (NBS) project will develop a novel platform to detect abnormal brain activity in infants at birth through an automated AI assessment. | 1. Cergenx Ltd, 2. Evervault Ltd, 3. National University of Ireland Cork (UCC) | Health and Wellbeing | 1. Dublin, 2. Dublin, 3. Cork | €6,748,506 |
| CellConnect will capture data from every stage of the cell manufacturing process and empower Ireland's cell-based therapeutic manufacturing revolution by developing disruptive methods to automate processes and transport cell products. | 1. Déantúsaíocht Sláinte Hitech Teoranta, 2. Odyssey Validation Consultants Ltd, 3. University of Galway (UG) | Health and Wellbeing | 1. Galway, 2. Kildare, 3. Galway | €6,579,772 |
| The EPICs project will develop a nature inspired and privacy aware, low cost, low power, intelligent in-cabin neuromorphic sensing platform capable of performing all analytics required for after-market automotive specific applications, such as driver safety enhancement and intelligent insurance. | 1. FotoNation Ireland Ltd TA XPERI Ltd, 2. MySafeDrive, 3. University of Galway (UG), 4. Munster Technological University (MTU) | ICT | 1. Dublin, 2. Galway, 3. Galway, 4. Cork | €6,391,212 |
| The PRETA project will develop a novel robotic-enabled microwave ablation catheter with integrated position sensing and ablation imaging technology to provide a new minimally invasive and targeted treatment for metastatic lung cancer. | 1. Endowave Ltd, 2. Quadrant Scientific Ltd, 3. Gentian Health Ltd, 4. Atlantic Technological University (ATU) | Health and Wellbeing | 1. Galway, 2. Cork, 3. Clare, 4. Galway | €5,442,238 |
| The Selio System is a pre-biopsy intervention device which prevents haemorrhage occurring before kidney or liver biopsy takes place, thereby facilitating same day release of patients. | 1. Selio Medical Ltd, 2. InverMed Teoranta, 3. University of Limerick (UL), 4. Trinity College Dublin (TCD) | Health and Wellbeing | 1. Dublin, 2. Galway, 3. Limerick, 4. Dublin | €4,152,688 |
| DigiStent: Development of a wireless digital stent that will be able to predict future failure modes and rates in abdominal aorta stent patients with an accuracy of above 95%. | 1. ÉireComposites Teo, 2. Micro Focus Galway Ltd, 3. University of Galway (UG) | Health and Wellbeing | 1. Galway, 2. Galway, 3. Galway | €3,999,173 |
| The Flowsure project will develop and validate a differentiated and reversible liquid embolic treatment for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). | 1. CrannMed Ltd, 2. Synecco Contract Manufacturing Ltd, 3. University of Galway (UG) | Health and Wellbeing | 1. Galway, 2. Galway, 3. Galway | €3,488,476 |
| The BioBridge project will make biopharmaceutical manufacturing vastly more efficient by building new laboratory methods and computer models to design better manufacturing processes. | 1. ValitaCell Ltd, 2. Data Chemist Ltd T/A Terminus DB, 3. University of Limerick (UL), 4. Digital Manufacturing Ireland (DMI) CLG | Manufacturing and Materials | 1. Dublin, 2. Dublin, 3. Limerick, 4. Limerick | €3,182,042 |
| The ENERGISE project will address the key issue of reducing energy consumption in mobile networks to enable 6G evolution. | 1. Trinity College Dublin (TCD), 2. Software Radio Systems Ltd, 3. VMware International Unlimited Company, 4. Intel Research & Development Ireland Ltd, 5. EMC Information Systems International Unlimited Company, 6. Tyndall National Institute | ICT | 1. Dublin, 2. Cork, 3. Cork, 4. Kildare, 5. Cork, 6. Cork | €2,294,652 |
| The NATIVE project will develop the world’s first commercially available, validated Additive Manufacturing process for Nitinol alloys, which is suitable for the medical device, communications, aerospace, automotive and other high value industry sectors. | 1. Addaptiv Design & Manufacturing Ltd, 2. Boston Scientific Ltd, 3. Taoglas Ltd, 4. Irish Manufacturing Research Centre (IMR), 5. National University of Ireland Dublin (UCD) | Manufacturing and Materials | 1. Cork, 2. Tipperary, 3. Wexford, 4. Westmeath, 5. Dublin | €1,722,812 |
Total: €58,803,076