3rd Irish Polish Innovation Forum - Accessing Capital and Global Markets - case studies from Polish and Irish tech ecosystems

The Irish Polish Innovation Forum will take place on 12 June in Startberry, the Warsaw-based technology accelerator, as part of an official Irish trade mission to Warsaw, led by Mr. Pat Breen, Minister of State for Trade, Employment, Business, EU Digital Single Market and Data Protection.

The event brings together representatives of the entrepreneurial community in Warsaw, Polish and Irish enterprise agencies, investment funds, Polish organizations involved in fostering innovation in the Polish economy, and the Irish-Polish business community. The Forum is being organized by Enterprise Ireland, the Government of Ireland's enterprise agency, in association with the Embassy of Ireland and Startberry, the technology accelerator founded by Microsoft, EY and Senfino.

During the Forum, speakers will present case studies of Irish and Polish start-ups and scale-ups, from sectors such as e-commerce, health & beauty, and B2B software, to demonstrate similarities and explore differences between the two tech ecosystems, and to highlight areas for co-operation.

Ireland's technology and innovation ecosystem is thriving, and makes a significant contributes to the Irish economy, which is the fastest growing in the EU, with 7.8% growth rate in 2017. High tech exports constitute 40% of total Irish exports and, in 2017, the Global Innovation Index ranked Ireland 10th, while the European Commission ranks Ireland as number one for obtaining economic impact from the transfer of technologies from the academic research system.

The Irish Polish Innovation Forum is also an opportunity to highlight the close economic relations between Ireland and Poland. In 2017, two-way trade amounted to €3.4 billion, with the value of Irish exports to Poland exceeding the €2 billion mark. Irish companies are very active in Poland, with over 50 having offices or facilities, ranging from software development and project management to farming equipment. Likewise, strong people-to peoples ties based on the large Polish community in Ireland, which numbers 130,000 people, are also making an important contribution to growth. Many Polish people based in Ireland have launched innovative start-ups in the technology, food and marketing sectors. In many cases, Enterprise Ireland has provided seed capital and access to global markets via its network of 33 offices.

Startberry, Grochowska 306/308, Warszawa