Dogpatch Labs, Pivotal Labs and Google launch innovative indoor Urban Garden which provides unique and flexible co-working space for start-up community
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD, was on hand today (Friday) to assist Dogpatch Labs launching the largest hotdesking space for the start-up community in Ireland.
Just under 2 years after opening its doors, Dogpatch Labs has increasing its footprint to nearly 40,000 sq ft spanning 3 floors in the CHQ Building, making it the largest co-working space in Ireland. The start-up hub has transformed the mezzanine floor of the building into an indoor ‘Urban Garden’ – a unique flexible space to collaborate, network and work with hotdesking pods, chill out areas and event space, alongside world-class ‘High Growth Office’ space for multinational tech company Pivotal Labs.
This latest phase of expansion marks an important point in the Dogpatch Labs evolution. Entrepreneur Patrick Walsh has rapidly grown the space into a dynamic innovation hub with a thriving community of 40 companies including Irish start-ups, multinationals, social enterprises and corporate offsite innovation hubs, and a diverse membership of entrepreneurs, developers and investors. It has become a focal point for the broader tech and start-up community too, with The Vaults event space playing host to over 200 tech and innovation events with over 5,000 attendees since its launch last November, making it the most active event space for start-ups in Ireland.
Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Paschal Donohoe TD, said: ‘Dogpatch Labs’ expansion to such an extent, after just two years, shows the need that is out there for networking and shared spaces though which start-ups can get a foot on the ladder, meet like-minded individuals and have room to grow their business ideas. Small and medium sized enterprises are the absolute life blood of our economy and the development of such a space, through collaboration with Pivotal Labs and Google, offers a great incentive for entrepreneurs to put their thoughts into action and work towards making their dreams a reality. I am delighted to note that this initiative is being part financed by a strategic Government funding stream, one of the aims of which is to increase the number of start-ups in Ireland ever year so that our entrepreneurs, and innovators, are given the opportunities they need to reach their full potential’.
The growth of Dogpatch has been helped significantly by the backing of key partners, whose support has helped turn the idea of a world-class space for start-ups into reality. Managing Director of Dogpatch Labs, Patrick Walsh, said: ‘This expansion has been made possible by growing in tandem with Pivotal Labs, resident with us since August. They’ve been an ideal partner – from mentoring start-ups to supporting developer meet-ups, they are completely aligned with the tech community ethos. The Vaults has become the central event space for tech in Ireland, and now with the Urban Garden we’re creating a unique hot-desking space enabling us to have a much greater impact on Ireland’s start-up ecosystem – including new initiatives like First Fridays for Startups supported by Google for Entrepreneurs’.
High Growth Space
Half of the new mezzanine floor will be dedicated ‘High Growth Space’ for Pivotal Labs, a Silicon Valley headquartered tech company which raised over $653M in its last funding round. Over the last 12 months, the Pivotal Labs Dublin team have grown rapidly from 1 to 80 staff working out of Dogpatch Labs, and has become an active member of Ireland’s tech community. Kevin Olsen, Director, Pivotal Labs Ireland said: ‘Dogpatch Labs has been the ideal starting point for Pivotal Labs to launch in Dublin. From the first week we arrived they had arranged us to sponsor developer meet-ups, design meet-ups and help grow our profile in Ireland’s tech scene. Now that we’re moving to our second phase and higher headcount, we are delighted to be able to continue to be part of this community’.
The Urban Garden
The other half of the mezzanine has been transformed into an 8,000 sq ft indoor Urban Garden – Ireland’s largest hotdesking space which will foster a thriving community of entrepreneurs, developers and investors by providing them a unique space to collaborate, network and work. As part of the partnership with Google for Entrepreneurs, Dogpatch is launching new initiatives for start-ups. A key example of this ‘First Friday for Start-ups’ – a platform where all members of the ecosystem can come together on a regular basis, enabling them to learn, connect and grow, powered by Google For Entrepreneurs’. Monthly mentor sessions & workshops, happen on the first Friday of each month, and are open to the entire Irish ecosystem.
Paddy Flynn, Google Ireland said: ‘Our partnership with Dogpatch Labs is helping to broaden the reach of Google’s existing community engagement with the start-up community across Ireland. The Urban Garden provides an important physical focal point for the community – providing much needed space for start-ups from across Ireland and as well as a complementary layer to the programmes we support such as Start-up Weekend, Adopt A Start-up and Start-upNext’.
Funding
The development cost was approximately €1.5M and was financed by a loan from Ulster Bank. The Strategic Banking Corporation of Ireland, a government led strategic funding source for SMEs, is also co-financing the development. Commenting on the expansion, Gerry Mallon, new CEO Ulster Bank said: ‘Ulster Bank is delighted to have facilitated both expansion phases of Dogpatch Labs, first with The Vaults and now with the Urban Garden and High Growth Space on the mezzanine floor. This is another example of how Ulster Bank is supporting the development of the tech and SME sector in Ireland through sustainable debt financing’.
ENDS
Notes to Editor
About Pivotal Labs
Over the last decade, Pivotal has shaping the software development culture of Silicon Valley’s most valuable companies and now is expanding internationally to transform how the world builds software.
Pivotal Labs have signed a 3 year licence with Dogpatch Labs for the ‘High Growth Space’. As is becoming the norm in the US, ‘High Growth Space’ is the next stage after ‘co-working space’ and before ‘traditional lease’. It serves companies at a point in the lifecycle where the other bundled services such as community management, networking workshops and events are still highly valuable.
About Google for Entrepreneurs
Google for Entrepreneurs partners with startup communities and builds Campuses where entrepreneurs can learn, connect, and create companies that will change the world. Since 2011, they have launched Campuses and formed partnerships that support entrepreneurs across 125 countries.
About Dogpatch Labs
Dogpatch Labs, now located in the historic CHQ Building in the Dublin Docklands, has been home to many of Ireland’s fastest growing technology companies including Intercom, Logentries and Boxever.
Currently, Dogpatch Labs houses a mix of leading Enterprise Ireland Irish startups and international IDA client tech companies which are scaling operations in Europe for the first time. Solopreneurs, angel investors and others have access under the hotdesking membership programme.
Dogpatch Labs also actively supports social technology initiatives as part of its community outreach and social responsibility commitment, it houses the CoderDojo Foundation, a volunteer led global movement of free coding clubs for young people which is active in 50 countries.