Google has located its latest Tech Hub in Dublin in partnership with Dogpatch Labs, connecting Dublin to a community of 20 start-up cities worldwide.
In what is a major coup for Dublin’s burgeoning start-up community, the addition of the city to Google’s Tech Hub Network increases the amount of start-up resources available from Google in terms of mentors, access to new technologies and access to co-working space in other cities that are part of the Tech Hub Network.
Dogpatch Labs’ members will now also have access to Google Tech Hub co-working space in more than 20 locations around the world, including London, San Francisco and Tel Aviv.
Specifically, the Tech Hub will see more and more Google start-up events moved to take place at Dogpatch Labs, which is expanding the 200-year-old vaults beneath the chq Building at the IFSC into an 8,000 sq ft start-up space in partnership with Ulster Bank.
Start-ups will also have access to the Google for Entrepreneurs Global Passport, where entrepreneurs from each hub can work for free at spaces designated at any other hub in the global network.
The move comes almost a week after Google announced a new €150m data centre for Dublin that will generate 400 new jobs in the construction phase.
Google already employs up to 5,000 people in Dublin – 2,500 directly and 2,500 indirectly.
Paddy Flynn, director of product quality at Google in Dublin and the driving force behind the arrival of Tech Hub in Dublin, explained that the new hub is an extra layer on top of the existing community engagement Google has with the start-up community in Dublin, including Start-up Weekend and Adopt A Start-up.
Google in Dublin has also been a key driver behind the involvement of Irish start-ups in programmes like BlackBox Connect and in bringing start-ups over to Google’s campus in London.
Dogpatch Labs’ reincarnation as a co-working space became formal back in February with the opening of new offices at the chq Building in the IFSC. Prior to that, it existed as a start-up incubator linked with venture capital player Polaris Ventures.
“We are already seeing amazing network effects through interaction with overseas start-ups visiting Dublin,” Walsh said.
“Key programmes like BlackBox Connect and Adopt a Start-up will continue, only perhaps more of them, and expect plenty more mentoring sessions, international demos and other programmes and workshops.”
Words by John Kennedy
