EI’s Founders Listening Tour stops off at Galway’s PorterShed

Galway’s PorterShed hosted the latest edition of Enterprise Ireland’s Founders Listening Tour, with founders and start-ups from the west of Ireland.

Founders and start-ups from the west of Ireland gathered at Galway’s PorterShed on Tuesday (20 May) to share their thoughts with Enterprise Ireland on the regional and national ecosystem, and to offer constructive feedback on what more could be done.

Galway was the second stop on the Founders Listening Tour, which sees Enterprise Ireland (EI) travel to all the regions in Ireland to gather input and insights from the start-up community, in an initiative it says will inform the roadmap for its new strategy to support 1,000 new start-ups in the next five years.

Having kicked off the tour in TU Dublin on 9 May, the Galway edition saw a panel discussion with local founders, followed by a roundtable consultation facilitated by David Bowles, managing partner at The Yield Lab, which saw founders discuss what supports are currently working well for them, and where improvements could be made.

“It was great to be here in Galway today and to meet so many founders from the west of Ireland,” said Conor O’Donovan, head of start-ups and entrepreneurship at EI.

“I think it’s the spirit of what we’re trying to do here today, founders meeting more founders, and enabling us to hear from them directly – what do they need, how can we enhance our services to make Ireland a really world-class ecosystem.”

“Today was really important because you’re getting the opinions of the start-ups who are going through the journey, some at an early stage, some a bit later,” said John Brennan, CEO of WestBIC.

“And being involved in a start-up can be a difficult journey. You have to have a thick skin, and you hear a lot of ‘no’s. Today was important because it gave them an opportunity to give direct feedback to Enterprise Ireland and others in the ecosystem in terms of where they see the challenges, and what are the areas that are beneficial.”

“The aim of the PorterShed is always for companies to start and scale-out and our core mission is the creation of high-value sustainable jobs in the west of Ireland,” said Mary Rodgers, CEO of Galway’s PorterShed, which celebrates ten years in operation in 2026.

“Today was great. It’s so important to engage the ecosystem, so having Enterprise Ireland and Silicon Republic here today listening to them is critical.”

After introductions, the panel discussion saw local founders Emma Meehan of KinetikIQ (formerly Precision Sports Technology), which utilises AI to enhance training accuracy and avoid injury, and Brandon Blacoe of ByoWave, which is making gaming more accessible, join chair Ann O’Dea and O’Donovan to discuss the particular challenges and opportunities of starting a business in the west of Ireland.

Then, Bowles kicked off the roundtable consultation which saw the founders discuss challenges, boundaries to success, supports that currently work well and their aspirations as regards what the perfect start-up ecosystem might look like.

Enterprise Ireland plans to gather this feedback, and the feedback from the other regional editions, to help inform its strategy in coming months and years.

“The Founders Listening Tour is such a great initiative to be a part of,” said Ann O’Dea, CEO and editor-in-chief at Silicon Republic, who emceed and chaired the panel discussion – Silicon Republic is a partner on the tour.

“More than one founder cited the loneliness of entrepreneurship, and the buzz they got from openly discussing the challenges with other founders today. As a co-founder myself I can appreciate that very well. So initiatives like this that bring founders together in a safe space I think are hugely helpful.”

Taking the loneliness out of the founder journey

Among many of the ideas coming from the group gathered was indeed that of more opportunities for founders to talk and network with other founders, to take the “loneliness” out of the journey. As in Dublin, many also cited early and quick access to expert advice and skillsets on areas from finance to taxation, saying that sometimes just a quick answer to a small query is what is required.

Many asked that the funding system be more collaborative and again cited the idea of a “one-stop-shop” for accessing state funding. Foundational education for start-ups in their first nine months was cited, as was the need for greater support for smaller indigenous businesses that don’t strictly fall within EI’s mission.

Like in Dublin, there was much chat about making the EIS (Enterprise Investment Scheme) – the Government tax-relief scheme that incentivises private individuals to invest in early-stage businesses – more competitive with its UK counterpart.

“It was a pleasure to attend today. We are in the process of becoming an EI client, so we were very excited to have the opportunity to feed back to EI, and see if we could give help to any other founders that are not as far on in their journey,” said Aoife Ni Eochaidh, founder of IPPM (International Pelvic Physiotherapy Management).

IPPM provides home pelvic routine digital programmes for women and men to fully train their pelvic floor muscles from home in Ireland, and is now scaling into the UK and US markets.

The next stop on the Founders Listening Tour is the south-east, hosted by Enniscorthy’s GreenTechHQ, followed by visits to the south-west, the midlands, north-west and north-east over the coming weeks, and rounding off with a final event in Dublin in June which focuses on the stakeholders.

While the tour can only reach a representative group of start-ups, O’Donovan again emphasised that EI welcomes feedback from all of the community. Interested founders and start-ups that are not taking part in the tour and have feedback to offer, can also complete the Founders Listening Tour survey here, should they wish.

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