#FourMinuteFridays - This Week at PorterShed

4 Minute Fridays at PorterShed?

It’s January! How are everyone's new year resolutions coming along? The Christmas fever is gone but not forgotten here at the PorterShed. We’re still keeping our spirits high! With the latest upgrades to PorterShed a Dó currently in progress, we get ready to settle nicely into the rest of the upcoming year. The past few days have been jam-packed, something we’re well used to seeing. So, let us jump into it and tell you how we kicked off our year so far.?

On Monday, we started to promote the third and final ARISE social enterprise event that will take place at The Base, Stranorlar, Co.Donegal January 24th at 9:30am. The event in the Base is part of three social enterprise events the WDC is leading across the western region to shine a light on the positive work being done by these innovators. The final event in Stranorlar promises to deliver, the panel discussion will be chaired by social enterprise mentor and community leader Declan Droney who will also be joined by community leaders who have done it before - Spraoi agus Spórt and Lifford Old Courthouse. Thankfully there are still tickets available here. We’d love to see your support for the final ARISE event.

On Wednesday and Thursday, PorterShed a Dó welcomed the Spectra EU Partner meeting. This meeting was held alongside BIC Innobridge, Russ Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Media Deals and Creative Business Network. For those who don’t know, the main aim of the Spectra EU project is to construct an ecosystem that is more responsive, robust, and capable of expanding and developing coordinated answers to the various challenges facing the creative industries. Its main emphasis will be on cooperation that produces more competitive, interconnected, diversified, gender-responsive, and sustainable ecosystems. It’s great that the PorterShed has the facilities to provide great coverage and hospitality for these exciting meetings.?

The NDRC Masterclass series is back and better than ever. On Thursday, the NDRC announced their first event of the year. ‘The Intro to the NDRC’. In this event, you will experience the NDRC 101 in 1 hour! From what the NDRC is, to meeting the regional team that supports startups nationwide, this introduction is a great insight into how the NDRC could be of help to you. If you or someone you know is interested in starting up a business and doesn’t know where to start, this is the perfect place. Find more information here.

Also on Thursday, the University of Galway released a report concerning the solution to the volume of queries the university was facing. Partnering with Galvia Ai, UG released a report explaining how they implemented AI to create a universal student support center. It is available to view here. A very interesting read! It really shows how powerful and common the use of AI is becoming here in Galway.?

Finally, we welcomed Dermot Berkery from Delta Partners to PorterShed a hAon on Friday. Delta Partners invest at the beginning of a company’s life, and partners to the end of the journey. Previous investments include Altocloud (Galway), Cerebreon (Donegal), Neuravi (Galway) and Peroptyx (Mayo). Last year, the team at Delta invested in 7 new companies - VisionR, DImply, Eppione, Promotion Rewards, Gigable, Legitfit and NoFrixon. The plans for 2023 are to add a lot more companies to the list. Dermot offered his advice and guidance to those who were lucky enough to get a ticket. A successful day, to say the least, and we’ll be planning to have another office hours event like this in the near future. Watch this space…?

Before we let you go, here are a few things to note.

Our Twitter, Instagram and Linkedin accounts - come join our social media family to help keep up to date on all that happens every week here at the PorterShed. Plus, you should check out our website to find out information about membership, as well as our blog….and make sure you're subscribed to our mailing list to keep abreast of all the articles and interviews we’re doing with founders and start-up leaders!

That concludes some of the highlights from the previous five days, which were hectic and fun as usual. Visit us whenever you like for a tour or to learn more about what we do here at the PorterShed. We love seeing new people!?

Make sure you stop by next week to read more #FourMinuteFridays - you never know what updates we’ll have for you!

Until then!

Mile Buíochas