The European Photonics Venture Forum was held in Dublin for the first time last week and was launched by the Minister for Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation, Ms. Mary Mitchell O’Connor.
The event, which markets the photonics sector, saw the top 30 most innovative and emerging European photonics start-ups showcase their companies to selected international venture capitalists and corporate investors to explore fundraising and partnership opportunities.
As one of the fastest growing sectors in the world, the global photonics market was worth €447 billion in 2015 and is estimated to reach €615 billion in 2020. Major global growth is expected in applications such as medical technologies, life sciences and optical communications – areas where Ireland is particularly strong.
The Forum heard photonics is the generation, manipulation and utilisation of light and is a key enabling technology -providing game-changing solutions to some of our biggest societal challenges. This includes the area of optical communications to revolutionise the speed of data transfer for the continued growth of the internet or in the area of biophotonics, where photonics technology can significantly improve the prevention, diagnosis and therapy for a multitude of illnesses such as cancer.
However, despite its ubiquity in a vast array of consumer products, such as smartphones, 3D applications and smart driving cars, photonics and its potential to transform industries and societies is still largely obscure to those outside the photonics community.
Launching the event, Minister Mary Mitchell O’Connor said, "Photonics is one of the globe’s most important future industries and an area in which Ireland can flourish. Here in Ireland, our photonics industry has been developing rapidly over the last number of years. There are over 25 Irish SMEs and start-ups who develop and use photonics technologies – all providing high skilled jobs throughout the country."
She added, "Events such as the European Photonics Venture Forum are critical in supporting our burgeoning photonics industry by creating channels to finance for high potential photonics start-ups which will hopefully be the starting point for these entrepreneurs to build globally leading photonics companies."
Source: www.businessworld.ie
