Enterprise Ireland offers a range of financial and non-financial supports to assist clients through all stages of the business development cycle. High Potential Start-up companies (HPSUs) are defined as start-up ventures that:
- Introduce a new or innovative product or service to international markets.
- Involve manufacturing or internationally traded services.
HPSUs must also:
- Be capable of creating 10 or more jobs in Ireland and realising €1 million in sales within five years of starting up.
- Be led by an experienced management team, be headquartered and controlled in Ireland and be less than six years old.
Table 1 below outlines, where data is available, the number of jobs in Enterprise Ireland supported HPSU companies since Enterprise Ireland was established in mid-1998 together with exports by these companies as of 2012 which is the latest year for which Forfás survey data is available. Table 1 also provides data on the payments to HPSUs under the programme. The HPSU Programme period is taken to include all payments against approvals made within five years of the initial HPSU approval. The export data represents the cumulative level of exports to date for each year’s cohort of HPSUs.
Employment data for 2013 will not be available until the Forfás Annual Employment Survey is completed in Q4 2013 and export data for 2013 will not be available until the 2013 Annual Business Survey of Economic Impact (ABSEI) is completed in Q2 2014.
Notes on Employment & Export Data
- Of the 985 HPSUs approved by Enterprise Ireland between 1998 and 2012, 2012 Forfás Employment data is available for 66% (649). These companies employed a total of 11,524 people (full-time & part-time) as of October 2012. 2012 Annual Business Survey of Economic Impact (ABSEI) export data is available for 36% (352). These companies had exports of €1.55billion in 2012.
- 86 HPSUs approved during this period (9%) went on to be taken over in trade sales. These companies employed over 2,200 people at the time of take over. These companies had exports in excess of €60 million at the time of take over.
- A final cohort made up of 183 HPSUs approved since 1998 have ceased trading (19%). The last known employment and exports related to these companies was in excess of 1,600 and in excess of €69million respectively.
Table 1: HPSU Employment & Payments 1998-2012
|
Year
|
Number of HPSUs
|
Number of HPSUs with 2012 Employment Data
|
Total Employment (2012)
|
Number of HPSUs with 2012 Export Data
|
Total Exports
(2012)
|
Total Payments under HPSU Programme
|
|
1998
|
15
|
9
|
517
|
6
|
€137 million
|
€8,477,803
|
|
1999
|
46
|
18
|
1,212
|
14
|
€723 million
|
€13,465,941
|
|
2000
|
55
|
19
|
333
|
9
|
€29 million
|
€22,718,799
|
|
2001
|
54
|
20
|
470
|
12
|
€12 million
|
€21,588,768
|
|
2002
|
60
|
27
|
927
|
18
|
€76 million
|
€22,356,608
|
|
2003
|
62
|
32
|
781
|
17
|
€49 million
|
€17,342,017
|
|
2004
|
61
|
35
|
871
|
19
|
€55 million
|
€24,222,378
|
|
2005
|
66
|
41
|
1,051
|
28
|
€102 million
|
€22,396,532
|
|
2006
|
72
|
54
|
816
|
35
|
€87 million
|
€23,504,298
|
|
2007
|
79
|
57
|
943
|
31
|
€163 million
|
€26,817,894
|
|
2008
|
72
|
52
|
740
|
32
|
€31 million
|
€20,359,632
|
|
2009
|
73
|
62
|
728
|
29
|
€27 million
|
€21,966,949
|
|
2010
|
80
|
65
|
623
|
39
|
€24 million
|
€20,917,821
|
|
2011
|
93
|
79
|
957
|
40
|
€21 million
|
€21,254,704
|
|
2012
|
97
|
79
|
555
|
23
|
€8 million
|
€17,261,976
|
