Queen’s University and QUBIS have launched a four-year partnership giving students and founders access to global mentoring, networks and support to build and scale tech start-ups in Northern Ireland.
The partnership was formally launched at an event held at Ormeau Labs in Belfast on 15 January, bringing together founders, investors, students, researchers and operators from across the local innovation ecosystem. The event marked the first collaboration of its kind in the region and highlighted a shared commitment to building a stronger, more connected start-up community.
The initiative forms part of Queen’s wider strategy to increase technology start-up formation in Northern Ireland, where activity levels remain lower than in other UK regions. Through the partnership, Queen’s, Techstars and Ormeau Labs will deliver a coordinated programme of support designed to help ambitious founders build and scale globally from a Northern Ireland base.
Over the four-year period, activity will include the Founder Catalyst Programme, alongside a series of events focused on capability building, collaboration and access to international networks. Students and early-stage founders will benefit from structured mentoring, exposure to global industry leaders, access to accelerator funding opportunities and engagement with Techstars’ international network of founders, investors and corporate partners.
Queen’s University has a strong track record in supporting innovation-led growth through QUBIS, its commercialisation arm, which has supported the creation of more than 100 spin-out companies, generating thousands of jobs and raising significant levels of investment. The partnership with Techstars is expected to build on this success by enabling more companies to scale faster and by attracting increased global investment into the region.
Techstars, founded in 2006, has mentored more than 10,000 companies worldwide. Combined with the local networks and facilities provided by Ormeau Labs and the research and talent base of Queen’s University, the partnership aims to strengthen Northern Ireland’s position as a competitive location for technology entrepreneurship.
The launch event reinforced the collaborative nature of the partnership and its long-term focus on supporting students, founders and future entrepreneurs while creating high-value jobs across Northern Ireland’s technology sector.
Find out more here.