Mid-West SMEs to benefit from ‘world-class’ research

Two leading business support centres have teamed up to offer world-leading research to the Mid-West’s SME community.

Lero, the Irish Software Research Centre, and the University of Limerick’s startup incubation hub, Nexus Innovation Centre have announced a partnership that will extend Lero’s reach into the startup community.

The collaboration will allow Nexus-based companies access to the research capabilities of the Lero centre which is funded by Science Foundation Ireland.

Thirty startups employing 135 staff are currently based at the Nexus centre which was founded in 2011.

Nexus centre manager Gert O’Rourke said the partnership will expose startups in the Mid-West to top quality research.

“Lero is recognised as one of the leading software research organisations in the world. Startups seldom have the opportunity to avail of such a world class resource,” Mr O’Rourke said.

Two companies have signed up to take advantage of the collaboration, to date.

Salaso Health Services, which employs six people, provides a connected health technology platform that allows patients engage in exercise programmes designed to complement physiotherapy services.

“Collaborating with Lero is enabling us to ensure that our platform will have best practice software development processes that meet the highest standards of international healthcare regulatory compliance as a mobile medical device,” said Salaso chief operating officer, Grainne Barry.

The other participant is Horizon Globex which develops carrier grade VoIP [Voice over Internet Protocol] solutions for mobile providers and smartphones.