Priority 1: Promote entrepreneurship and innovation

BLUE OCEAN - A sailing yacht which responds to the ecological challenges of the 21th Century! The project BLUE OCEAN has been joined by numerous companies and organizations from the European and French nautical sector who already have experience with projects in the field of maritime environmental protection and are paving the way for the future environmentally friendly boatbuilding. The construction and the innovative concept of BLUE OCEAN is to be the « No 1 » of a future-oriented yacht building series, in collaboration with the naval architect Olivier Petit, designer of the “Antarctica” and recently the “Energy Observer”, the HERVE shipyard and all companies involved in the development of this project. A cooperative society will be created for the continuation of the project and the marketing. The concept consists also in seeking solutions which converge ecological and economic interests in the construction of pleasure yachts with the objective of initiating an ecological transition in pleasure boating and the Yachting industry.

CorkBIC is a private-sector led organisation, specifically set up to identify and build knowledge intensive companies based on promising technology and capable innovative people. CorkBIC plays a hands-on role helping entrepreneurs and start-ups navigate the minefield of raising finance, sorting out business propositions, arranging agreements with shareholders and investors, and, perhaps most important of all, finding customers. CorkBIC also works with many Enterprise Ireland (EI) scaling companies once they have received HPSU funding, in particular those who are looking to grow, expand, internationalise and scale their business.