Spotlight on Innovation

A: We joined the BioInnovate fellowship – a medtech innovation programme. That’s where I met my co-founder and came up with the idea for LUMA Vision. We had an idea for a heart centre, which is an enormous global problem for cardiac surgeons, and it’s very difficult to get investment into blue-sky thinking early on. 

A: Enterprise Ireland was involved in every step of our journey. Firstly, the BioInnovate fellowship is funded by Enterprise Ireland, which was followed by initial grant funding to develop a proof of concept. They then invested in the company, along with private investment that we raised. We had a Development Advisor who was really helpful throughout. I met with her quite regularly to discuss where the company was going and if there were any supports or ways they could help. 

A: We needed to spin-out a company from our idea and early research. Enterprise Ireland funded us so we could achieve this. We also won the EY Entrepreneur of the Year award. Medical companies take years to get to market. We started with 2 people and we’ve grown that to 56 people. We have offices in Dublin, Munich, Netherlands and the US. We couldn’t have done this without the support of Enterprise Ireland – they put us on that path and have enabled us to scale. 

A: We’re a deep tech company, with very complex technology – so everything we do requires Research and Development, it’s fundamental to what we do. So for us, it was the entrepreneurial network and community that opened up to us. We were part of BioInnovate, then we became a part of the High Potential Start Up programme, as well as the Founders Forum. Networking is really important for support, for getting introductions to people – actually most of our finance team came through someone I met through the Founders Forum. 

A: It’s a phenomenal resource to have available, there are very few countries that would have access to supports like we do with Enterprise Ireland. I would encourage people to get in contact early, these things take time. Not forgetting the network and the connections – Enterprise Ireland are hugely connected worldwide.