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Start-up incubator is opening in Limerick
Sunday, February 08, 2009 By Dick O’Brien
A new business incubator centre In Limerick is adopting a novel approach towards providing accommodation and services to high-tech start-up companies.

Green House Limerick will be run by a consortium of investors and service providers and will offer to take out equity stakes in new businesses in exchange for space at the centre and related services.

The project is the brainchild of Tipperary-based entrepreneur Evert Bopp, who has already managed to secure 2,500 square feet of brand new office space on Limerick’s O’Connell Street.

Bopp said that Green House was intended to provide an alternative to other business incubation centres, which are usually run by public sector or educational bodies. ‘‘The involvement of a public sector body in a private enterprise brings along a large amount of bureaucracy and red tape. It’s simply a fact of life and not a negative reflection on the public sector,” he said.

Prospective tenants of the centre will undergo a vetting procedure, which Bopp said would be not too unlike the Dragon’s Den. If the consortium decides that a company has a viable business plan, the firm will then receive space in the centre. It is intended that the offices will be fully served in terms of IT, a postal service and canteen, in addition to legal, accounting and investment services.

While start-ups will have the option of paying rent in the traditional fashion, those with tight cash flows can opt to take space in exchange for equity in the business. Bopp envisaged that other service providers in addition to the landlords would be part of the consortium and firm’s could negotiate packages of services in exchange for equity.

While the idea is new to the Irish market, Bopp said that it was not unusual in Silicon Valley, where lawyers and accountants will often work for shares rather than a fee when dealing with start-ups.

The Green House is already at an advanced stage of development following the sourcing of the office space in Limerick, which is being provided by the landlord rent free for the first twelve months.

Bopp said he was already in negotiations with a major telecoms provider to fit out the centre with broadband, in addition to contact with several other professional services firms.

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