Business

Galway space tech company Mbryonics secures €17.5m investment

European Innovation Council funding will help the company develop a new west of Ireland facility in the next five years

Leo Clancy, chief executive of Enterprise Ireland and John Mackey chief executive of Mbryonics, holding an optical communications terminal with Neale Richmond, Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise. Picture: Damien Eagers

Ciara O'Brien
Wed Mar 27 2024 - 16:50

Galway-based Mbryonics is set to establish a significant manufacturing facility in the west of Ireland following a €17.5 million investment from the European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator.

The space tech company specialises in optics and photonics for use in satellite communications, datacoms and the 5G wireless sectors.

It said the new facility would be established over the next five years and once operational, will be used for the manufacturing, assembly, and testing of optics and photonics.

Mbryonics said it would concentrate on free-form optics and photonic integrated circuits manufacturing techniques with a view to advancing process efficiency, supply chain management, and sustainability.

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“This award from the European Innovation Council (EIC) along with the ongoing support from Enterprise Ireland and the Irish European Space Agency (ESA) will fuel our efforts to expand our advanced optical and photonic integrated circuit manufacturing capabilities in the West of Ireland,” said chief executive John Mackey.

“This period marks an exhilarating phase for Mbryonics, as our StarCom optical terminal is set to launch in 2025, supporting a client’s development of a space-based quantum internet. Additionally, the US government has chosen StarCom to facilitate a space-based internet linking government satellites with various commercial satellite networks, including Starlink and Kuiper, showcasing the impact of our team’s decade-long commitment and effort.”

The EIC Accelerator programme is part of the EU’s Horizon Europe 2021-2027 Research and Innovation Programme.

It provides grant funding of up to €2.5 million, along with equity investment that can range from €500,000 to €15 million. Targeting high-potential, high-risk start-ups, scale ups and SMEs, the accelerator programme is aimed at supporting companies that are already making progress in commercialising deep-tech products that can either create new markets or disrupt existing ones. In Ireland, the national contact point for the programme is Enterprise Ireland.

The news was welcomed by Minister of State with special responsibility for Business, Employment and Retail, Neale Richmond, who said it underscores Mbryonics’ position in advanced optical communications technologies.

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien

Ciara O'Brien is an Irish Times business and technology journalist

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