Galway’s PorterShed has supported the creation of 835 high-value sustainable jobs and hosted 1,200 events in only five years, a report to be unveiled this morning (Thursday ) will declare.
In addition, the employment created by the facility creates €49 million in employment income and contributes €14 million in taxes to the Exchequer; and crucially, members have brought inward investment of €35 million to the region.
Galway City Innovation District (GCID ) will launch the socio-economic impact report detailing the PorterShed’s impact on the local, regional and national economy between 2016 and 2021.
KPMG carried out the report which outlines how the GCID has significantly contributed to the national economic output, created hundreds of jobs, and millions of euro in inward investment through its co-working and innovation space, the PorterShed.
One of the key figures from the report is that a total of some 835 jobs have been created through a combination of PorterShed employees, member companies, and indirect jobs created in the value chain as a result of PorterShed and member spending.
On the whole, employment created by members creates €49 million in employment income and contributes €14 million in taxes to the Exchequer. Plus, the report states that members have brought inward investment of €35 million to the region.
The PorterShed is well known as a hive of community activity, and according to the KPMG study, spending by attendees at the 1,200 PorterShed events from 2016-2021 contributed more than €3.86m to the national economic output.
The report highlights how the PorterShed has helped support tech start-ups in Galway and the wider Western region by providing early stage supports, accelerator programmes and access to information and guidance around funding, access to mentors, and day-to-day ecosystem supports like workshops and events.
One of the key stats in the report that supports this is that 40 percent of PorterShed members noted how their employment has grown by more than five members since joining the PorterShed.
Additionally, between 2016 and 2018, the number of businesses in the West with 10 or fewer employees grew by 700 - and the PorterShed is active in its support of businesses of this size. Plus, the PorterShed helped 22 companies to raise €1.3 million in NDRC funding.
The report also includes findings from some PorterShed members - corporate and full-time - including Altocloud (acquired by Genesys in 2018 ) and Fleetops.
In 2016, the PorterShed provided Altocloud with the space to grow and the support needed to develop the business before it was ultimately acquired, and Altocloud continues to be a corporate member through the company that acquired it, Genesys.
“The PorterShed was an integral part of Altocloud’s success and we at Genesys are delighted to continue to support the PorterShed as a corporate member,” Joe Smyth, Altocloud co-founder (and now SVP of R&D Digital and AI at Genesys ) said in the report.
Fleetops is a current full-time member of the PoterShed, and the report outlines how it was through the PorterShed that the founders were introduced to their current CFO, Enterprise Ireland, and some of their initial investors.
The founders and the start-ups at the PorterShed like Altocloud and Fleetops are incredibly important to the whole story, and these innovators are what makes the community what it is today.
GCID/PorterShed CEO Mary Rodgers said “The PorterShed has been at the forefront of the indigenous tech and start-up scene in the West of Ireland since its foundation, and I’m thankful to be involved day to day. This report highlights clearly how the PorterShed has positively contributed to the local and national economy. The figures speak for themselves: 835 jobs created, €3.86 million in national economic output, and countless start-ups that we have helped along the way.
Head of KPMG in Galway, Laurence May, said the work done by PorterShed supporting Galway’s growing tech community is phenomenal.
