A €2.5 million extension to the Research & Innovation Centre at Waterford IT has been officially opened.
ArcLabs currently houses 33 start-ups, early-stage companies and entrepreneurs.
The 1,000 square metre extension was opened by Waterford Minister of State John Halligan this morning.
It's supported by the Department of Jobs, Enterprise & Innovation through Enterprise Ireland and consists of office and support space for 100 extra people.
ArcLabs Manager Dr Aisling O'Neill described Enterprise Ireland's investment as pivotal. "We are so grateful for this support from Enterprise Ireland in the South East which has enabled us to double our incubation capacity in our West campus site, enabling us to increase our impact in supporting entrepreneurship in the region. We look forward to continuing to foster our relationship with Enterprise Ireland which is instrumental in realising the ambition of ArcLabs to support a truly sustainable regional economy in South East Ireland."
John Halligan T.D. Minister of State for Training, Skills, Innovation, Research and Development said:
"ArcLabs incubation centre has already contributed significantly to the South-Eastern economy and to the social development of the region. It supports job creation, new start-up companies as well as facilitating companies re-locating to Waterford. The new extension has delivered on the ambition of this institution to double company capacity in the facility. This is truly a momentous achievement for all involved and I look forward to seeing what future success stories will emerge from ArcLabs."
WIT President, Prof Willie Donnelly said the impact of ArcLabs cannot be underestimated and was achieved through the vision of the people in Enterprise Ireland and HEA.
"Doubling the size of ArcLabs allows us to look at the delivery of an integrated set of entrepreneurial and business development supports to other incubation centres through the south-east region and thus helping to attract high technology companies into the region and support HPSUs within the region."
