ORMEAU Baths has marked its official opening as Belfast's newest and trendiest co-working space for the tekkies community by confirming a partnership with start-up investment fund techstart NI.
Based in a former Victorian Bathhouse in Belfast, Ormeau Baths has been established to be an entrepreneurial campus that helps the brightest and best indigenous tech start-ups gain access to new networks, funding and expertise and give them the tools to flourish in global markets.
The Baths officially opened its doors at a launch event for members, tenants and supporters, including its major corporate partner Barclays, which has established its first Eagle Lab in Belfast in the new technology hub.
Established by Invest NI as part of its Access to Finance strategy, techstart NI provides support for early stage technology businesses and university spin-outs through its £17 million equity fund, two £1.5m university funds and a £4.6m proof of concept (PoC) grant fund.
Mark Dowds, co-founder of Ormeau Baths, said: “I’m excited that the team from techstart NI are linking up with us to provide a further boost to the start-up ecosystem.
"Ormeau Baths companies will benefit from the wisdom and experience of the techstart leadership and their network, while techstart and its portfolio companies will have access to desks and events in Ormeau Baths.
“As Ormeau Baths matures it will become the natural place in Belfast for hackathons and meet ups for early stage and well-funded start-ups to learn from one another. It will add real value to have techstart NI play a key role in those events.”
Techstart NI will be facilitating workshops throughout the year in Ormeau Baths to support and guide the tech community on how to build a successful company. These sessions will include topics such as how to raise capital and how to build a world class team.
Its investment director Jamie Andrews said: “techstart NI has already invested in 26 of the region’s best early stage technology companies and has supported over 150 PoC recipients to explore the commercial potential of their ideas.
"We want to continue working with the best early stage technology companies in Northern Ireland so it is a natural fit to link up with Ormeau Baths. It's a fantastic new outward looking and ambitious initiative that will attract some of the best people and we look forward to contributing to its success.
“By working together the local start up network will be enriched and will have a creative environment to meet up and work on a regular basis.”
