Full coverage: NDRC

A briefing document obtained by The Currency reveals a plan that is big on ambition but with details still to emerge. This is what it says.

From the Taoiseach down, Ireland has been fascinated by Xavier Niel’s French start-up incubator. What is Station F, and can the decentralised Irish ecosystem replicate its success? Thomas Hubert reports from Paris.

Released departmental documents show that officials are more focused on finding someone to manage the current investment portfolio in over 250 companies than ensuring Ireland has a tech start-up accelerator come 2026.

The reversal of a decision to shut down the NDRC is the most visible aspect of a shift towards indigenous start-ups and scale-ups in the Programme for Government, despite a lack of other concrete details.

Irish entrepreneurs look jealously to the UK and the SEIS/EIS tax incentives which have helped create a thriving angel investment community. Some are even setting up British subsidiaries to take advantage of that funding.

The decision seems to go against recommendations by the OECD for Ireland to further develop its incubator industry – not reduce it.

Conor Sheridan swerved from fund management to fried chicken. However, his Mad Egg chain led to an AI business he believes can be an international player. He talks about pivots and potential.

Twice this year, the state-backed accelerator programme run out of Dogpatch Labs has had just one female founder in a mass of men. What's going on and what is the NDRC doing to change it?

The lack of gender diversity in the NDRC's latest batch is striking, with just one female co-founder amongst across all of the start-up teams. So who are the seven start-ups, what are their ideas and what are their chances of success?

Ian Browne, the entrepreneur and investor, is leading a fresh cohort of start-ups in the state-backed NDRC accelerator. He talks about steering founders through a stormy market and the need to for an all-Ireland ecosystem.