Kildare’s MERITs The Latest Digital Hub To Join The SIRO-Vodafone Gigabit Hub Initiative

SIRO and Vodafone have today announced that MERITs, Kildare’s Naas based innovation tech hub, is joining the Gigabit Hub Initiative.

The Initiative is a partnership between SIRO and Vodafone, which provides world class connectivity solutions to digital hubs across Ireland, including Gigabit full fibre broadband. Currently, over 20 of Ireland’s leading hubs have participated in the Initiative including Galway’s PorterShed, Skibbereen’s Ludgate Hub or Dundalk’s Creative Spark.

MERITs (The Mid-East Region’s Innovation ThinkSpace) located in Naas’s Devoy Quarter on John Devoy Road, funded by Kildare County Council and the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment through Enterprise Ireland, serves as a dynamic incubation hub for startup and scaling technology and innovation focused businesses. Renowned for fostering innovation and supporting technology entrepreneurs, MERITS is the heart of the Mid-East Tech Cluster and a critical player in the tech startup ecosystem across Kildare, Wicklow and Meath.

MERITS, offers an array of services such as hot desks, private offices, meeting rooms, collaboration and innovation spaces, a mixed reality lab, a podcast studio, and an editing suite. The facility currently operates 16 hot desks, 12 private offices containing 48 desks, and hosts the Local Enterprise Office with an additional 22 desks, supporting 42 businesses. MERITS is home to some of Ireland’s most future-focused and innovative businesses, including Stryve, DreamDev, and Nua Bioenergy. These companies are pioneering advancements across various technologies, from bioenergy and artificial intelligence to cybersecurity, CREAtech, deep-tech, and med-tech.

MERITS also extends its impact to the broader community through initiatives like the Coder Dojo program and the CREAtech School project. The weekly Coder Dojo club engages children aged 7-17 in learning to code, build websites, and create games or apps in a safe, creative, and social environment. The CREAtech School pilot project, conducted in collaboration with the Kildare County Council Arts Department, introduces 6th class students to the latest creative technologies, including podcast recording, virtual reality, and augmented reality.

MERITS also partners with the Local Enterprise Office to offer a wide range of support services to founders and entrepreneurs. These include accelerator and development programs, mentor services, funding opportunities, and numerous networking events.

Joining the Gigabit Hub Initiative will enhance MERITS’ capabilities, providing ultrafast broadband and cutting-edge digital infrastructure to its community of innovators. This integration will facilitate seamless collaboration, rapid prototyping, and the efficient scaling of digital solutions, propelling the Midlands-East’s digital economy forward.

Welcoming the partnership, Sonya Kavanagh, Chief Executive, Kildare County Council said;

“County Kildare is one of the fastest growing counties in the country and is home to a growing number of indigenous SMEs and a significant number of remote workers. Kildare County Council’s Local Enterprise Office and Economic Development Team provide a range of supports for SMEs and this range of supports is being actively expanded. As economic development and job creation are two of our key priorities, we believe that this partnership between SIRO and MERITS will positively contribute to achieving these priorities.”

Mark Denley, Vodafone Ireland Finance Director said:

“We are delighted to welcome MERITS to the Gigabit Hub initiative which since launch has continued to grow and demonstrated the value and demand for smart working hubs throughout the country. MERITS and the community of customers it serves including a host of dynamic and hugely innovative Irish businesses in addition to youth educational groups who will massively benefit from high-speed connectivity. This initiative is a commitment and investment in our economy, our business community and most importantly to future generations of entrepreneurs and local businesses who will continue to successfully innovate on a global level, right here in Naas.”

SIRO Chief Executive Officer, John Keaney, said:

“Full fibre broadband is an essential tool for Irish businesses, whether small or large. Reliable fibre connectivity now underpins technologies, such as AI, cybersecurity, payment services, customer relationship management or Cloud computing, which are essential to business’s growth and development.

“We are pleased to partner with MERITS to provide this strategic Hub with world class connectivity. MERITS is already making a significant impact in driving a start-up culture and enterprise growth in the region, which will simulate job creation and economic development across the wider region in the years ahead“.

Chris Fogarty, Hub Manager, MERITS concluded:

“MERITS helps to cement Kildare as the most innovative regional centre for technology startups in which to base themselves. Working in close collaboration with our colleagues in the Local Enterprise and Economic Development team of Kildare County Council, we ensure that our founders and entrepreneurs benefit from connecting with the supportive & experienced enterprise community across the county.

We are delighted to now add cutting-edge digital connectivity to the range of supports we provide, as a result of our partnership with SIRO. It will augment the support services that Kildare-based businesses can access through the Local Enterprise Office and our colleagues in Kildare Chamber, Maynooth University, Enterprise Ireland & IDA.”

Alan Dunney, Director of Service, Planning, Enterprise, Economic Development & Emergency Services, Kildare County Council said;

“County Kildare’s entrepreneurs and founders continue to perform exceedingly well from an economic output and job creation perspective. As a county that claims home to many commuters, we are also keenly aware of the needs of remote workers. MERITS, an incubation hub for tech startup businesses and remote workers, delivers another piece of crucial infrastructure for the entrepreneurs whom we support daily as part of the Enterprise & Economic Development team of Kildare County Council. This partnership between MERITS and SIRO will deliver reliable and robust fibre connectivity to our entrepreneurs, founders and wider community and will greatly support our work into the future.”

To apply for the GigaBitHub Initiative, take a look at the application form here.