Dogpatch Labs expands with room for 100 more game-changers

18 Dec 2018

Dogpatch Labs CEO Patrick Walsh with Ulster Bank CEO Jane Howard. Image: Shane O’Neill/ SON Photo

Partnership with Ulster Bank heralds a new phase of development at Dogpatch Labs.

Dogpatch Labs has embarked on an expansion that will allow it to include an additional 100 entrepreneurs.

The start-up hub has also renewed its partnership with Ulster Bank to July 2021.

‘We are now helping to turn the concept of innovation into real benefits for our customers’
– JANE HOWARD

“This support will allow us to enclose the Urban Garden in glass and install a full HVAC system, which will significantly enhance its usability for clients on a year-round basis,” said Dogpatch Labs’ managing director Patrick Walsh.

Levelling up

The Dogpatch hub is home to more than 80 companies and more than 400 members across 40,000 sq ft on three levels.

“The first phase of the partnership between Dogpatch Labs and Ulster Bank embedded us in the start-up ecosystem, while driving cultural change for our colleagues and stakeholder engagement,” said Jane Howard, CEO of Ulster Bank.

In 2016, Dogpatch and Ulster Bank sponsored the Enterprise Ireland Competitive Start Fund. The sponsorship gave the 10 successful applicants membership to Dogpatch Labs, in partnership with Ulster Bank, and access to the Ulster Bank Innovation Solutions team for the duration of the programme.

Ulster Bank staff regularly mentor at the Google First Fridays for Startups, supporting the wider startup community. Most recently, the partnership enabled a new internal incubator programme designed for staff at the bank.

“We are now helping to turn the concept of innovation into real benefits for our customers, through Ulster Bank’s Intrapreneurship Programme, Start Up,” said Howard. “The programme shows what is possible when we harness the entrepreneurial energy of our colleagues for the good of our customers.”

Dogpatch Labs opened in the CHQ building in March 2015 and has been through three distinct stages of development. The original site allowed the opportunity to create space for up to 25 start-ups. The second phase of development, with the help of Ulster Bank, created The Vaults, the dedicated events and meeting space. The third phase was the construction of the Mezzanine Floor and flexible hot-desking Urban Garden space.

This latest phase will enable Dogpatch Labs to significantly enhance the Urban Garden space, creating 100 extra membership places to meet growing demand from both existing and new clients.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com