A survey by Knowledge Transfer Ireland suggests there are now 119 active spinouts in Ireland, with Irish universities responsible for 76% of the country's patent filings last year.
Ireland’s academic tech transfer sector created 30 spinouts in 2018, up from the total of 24 spawned the previous year, according to a survey from national tech transfer policy office Knowledge Transfer Ireland (KTI).
There are now 119 active spinouts in Ireland which support a total of 933 jobs, with 35% of the businesses focused on information and communications technology applications, and another 27% specialising in health or medtech.
KTI defines an active spinout as one which has been in operation for at least three years.
Universities submitted 76% of the 124 patents filings counted by KTI last year, while Ireland had 1,824 live collaborations with industry at the end of 2018, an increase of 38% year-on-year.
There was also a record year-on-year increase of 33% in the number of licences, option and assignment agreements, with 61% of the deals going to Ireland-based small and medium-sized enterprises.
Meanwhile, the number of commercial launches for tech transfer-driven products and services rose to 33 last year, from 24 in 2017.
Alison Campbell, director of KTI, said: “This year’s results show that we have developed a strong platform for knowledge transfer in Ireland that is continuing to mature and evolve.
“The level of international interest in the Irish system and in KTI has been encouraging. The survey findings confirm the value that enterprise places on accessing Irish research and expertise to drive innovation and the upwards trend in repeat engagements reflects the quality of that experience.”
