Irish tech companies make strong impression at South by Southwest (SXSW) 2017

Minister for Employment and Small Business Pat Breen departs for Texas tomorrow (11th March 2017) to begin a 4-day Enterprise Ireland trade visit to the USA.
The highlight of the trade visit is the Enterprise Ireland exhibition stand at South by Southwest (SXSW), a world-famous digital technology conference, trade show and festival combination where emerging technologies, original music and independent films converge.

Prior to his departure for Texas Minister Breen said; “This Enterprise Ireland trade visit to SXSW is opening doors in the competitive USA technology market for the 11 participating Irish companies. I am delighted to support the work of Enterprise Ireland who is playing an instrumental role in assisting Irish entrepreneurs to build cutting edge, valuable technology companies, opening offices in the US, securing significant partnerships, and closing larger-than-ever funding rounds from US investors and international syndicates. The 2017 SXSW delegation is further evidence of Ireland’s thriving and growing indigenous start-up ecosystem”.

The 11 companies will showcase their digital technologies at the SXSW trade show from March 10th-15th which include apps for making digital payments and finding gyms near airports, technologies for broadcasting and gene databases for researchers.
Participating companies are; Cogni Financial; DataKraft; Digisoft.tv; Heliworks Technologies; Intuition; Newswhip; Parkpnp; Sanctifly; Systemlink Technologies; Vistatec and Transfermate.

Paul Burfield, Enterprise Ireland’s Senior Vice President West & Southern United States said:
“Enterprise Ireland has a very strong association with SXSW and has brought delegations of client companies here for the past 6 years. By giving these Irish companies the opportunity to exhibit at SXSW, Enterprise Ireland is helping them to better understand the potential for their product or service in the US market, with the ultimate goal of increasing exports to the US and creating jobs in Ireland”.

Minister Breen will meet Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Austin Chamber, visit Texas Medical Centre and attend a meeting between Enterprise Ireland client company SkyTek Technology and NASA at the Johnson Space Centre in Houston.

The 4-day trade visit will also include meetings between Enterprise Ireland client company StitcherAds which is celebrating a business partnership with Pinterest and Monaghan based Combilift, also a client of Enterprise Ireland, which is celebrating a deal with Floworks PVF.

Enterprise Ireland has set a target to increase exports to the U.S. by its clients from €2.9BN in 2015 to €5BN in 2020. This trade visit is one of 46 international events scheduled by Enterprise Ireland in 2017 to help Irish companies identify new markets for their products and services as they tackle the challenges posed by the United Kingdom’s decision to exit the EU.