Datavant, the data collaboration platform trusted for healthcare, has officially opened its new state-of-the-art Global R&D Centre at Bonham Quay in Galway. The company also announced that it has already hired 100 employees in Ireland – well ahead of its target to fill 125 roles by the end of next year.

Datavant CEO Kyle Armbrester made the announcement at the official opening of Datavant Ireland's new home in Galway by Minister for Education and Youth Hildegarde Naughton which took place on April 28th, 2026.

IDA Ireland Executive Director Mary Buckley also attended last night's launch along with other senior members of the IDA Ireland team. Datavant Ireland is supported by the Irish government through IDA Ireland.

Minister of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, Peter Burke TD, said:

"Datavant's decision to expand and officially open its new Global R&D Centre in Galway is a strong endorsement of Ireland's ability to attract and support innovation-led investment. It speaks to the depth of our talent pool, the quality of our research and engineering capability, and the pro-enterprise environment we have built. I wish all the team at Datavant the very best as they take the next exciting step on their growth journey. "

Minister of Education and Youth, Hildegarde Naughton TD, said:

"This is a fantastic milestone for Galway and for the wider West Region. The official opening of Datavant's new R&D Centre at Bonham Quay, combined with the announcement that 100 roles have already been filled, demonstrates the momentum that exists in the West Region and the confidence international companies have in Galway as a place to grow."

At the opening were the 100 Irish employees as well as members of the global Datavant Senior Leadership Team who have been instrumental to the establishment of the Galway R&D Centre. They include: Chief Technology Officer, Josh Builder; Chief Product Officer, Sam Diederich; Chief People Officer, Susan Yun; Global Technology Operations and Site Lead, Deirdre Giblin; and, Engineering and Delivery Lead, Ciaran O'Toole.

Local business leaders and members of the Galway ecosystem joined Datavant Ireland last night at the company's new headquarters which is in a 15,000 square foot office across the top two floors at the Calatrava building at the modern building complex, situated on the waterfront in the heart of the city centre.

The team at Bonham Quay owns some of Datavant's most crucial roadmap items, focusing on advancing platform enhancements, automated record retrieval, security and privacy practices and product development. The impact of the Irish office will have a profound effect on the company's mission, incorporating work from a wide range of business units and use cases across the organisation.

The new space can accommodate up to 160 workspaces with bespoke environments for company-wide town hall meetings, team meet ups, ideation sessions and recreational activities. The design and fit out of the space will ensure that Datavant Ireland team members work in an environment that facilitates collaboration and innovation.

In selecting Bonham Quay, the company felt that the property team's commitment to creating a sustainable environment was a good fit for Datavant's culture and values. Bonham Quay uses the One Planet Living framework to meet its sustainability objectives and has been designed to achieve Gold LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification accreditation as well as Gold in the WELL Building Standard and Wired Certification.

With executive headquarters in New York, Datavant is the world leader in secure, compliant healthcare data exchange and has nearly 10,000 employees. It is making the world's health data secure, accessible and actionable. Datavant's vast and diverse health data exchange in the U.S. serves as a "network of networks", enabling seamless, privacy-preserving data exchange between life sciences, payers, and providers through its platform.

The company announced its i...

The Irish and Spanish Transmission Grid Operators, EirGrid and Red Electrica, have warmly welcomed the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment and Spain's Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge in Madrid to explore the potential for future electricity interconnection between Ireland and Spain.

The MoU is the first step in assessing the feasibility and benefits of an Ireland-Spain interconnection. It also reflects the close cooperation between transmission system operators, governments, and European partners, working together to explore pathways for future electricity interconnection between the two countries.

Exploring a potential Ireland–Spain electricity interconnector

The studies to be carried out together will also contribute to the European Commission's vision for a greater level of interconnection between European countries and regions.

Following the signing of the MoU, Cathal Marley, EirGrid's CEO said, "The commitment to study the potential for an Irish-Spanish Interconnector is a significant step for the development of our systems and has the potential to play a key role in helping us to move towards greater European energy independence. Strengthening Ireland's interconnection with our neighbours is essential to delivering a secure, low?carbon energy system and to maximising the benefits of renewable energy for consumers across Ireland and Europe. EirGrid looks forward to continuing to work closely with colleagues across Red Eléctrica, the Irish Government, and European partners as we collectively advance a cleaner, more secure, and more interconnected energy future."

Echoing this sentiment, Roberto García Merino, CEO at Redeia added, "Enhanced electricity interconnection is strategically important in supporting the European Union's objectives for decarbonisation, energy security, and the effective integration of renewable energy sources. Redeia looks forward to further engaging with EirGrid, the Spanish Government, and European partners to advance the early-stage feasibility studies in line with the European Union's interconnection objectives. By connecting our electricity systems, we can support the energy transition and contribute to a more resilient and sustainable power system for Spain, Ireland, and Europe."

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Forcing traffic to stop at toll booths across Ireland is costing millions in wasted diesel, causing traffic delays and minor accidents, and generating thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions for Ireland annually.

EU Transport Committee MEP, Cynthia Ní Mhurchú, has described it as archaic that we continue to force trucks, buses, and cars to stop, queue and pay at our toll booths every single day. The Transport Committee MEP said we are behind our EU counterparts who are moving to free flow toll systems – something we only have on the M50. She cited the A13–A14 motorway corridor between Paris and Normandy as a recent French example of a primary motorway in France that has completely removed barriers from the motorway – instead opting for tag and remote payment.

Ending toll barriers save fuel, reduce travel times, cut emissions

She described toll booths as outdated concepts that cause traffic delays, minor accidents, millions of euros in wasted diesel and millions of tonnes of carbon emissions because traffic has to queue, stop, start, and idle at our toll booths.

After meeting the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), the MEP said toll booth stops are costing €26 million in wasted diesel each year for HGVs alone. Each HGV stop-start burns up to two litres of fuel—around 5.08kg of CO—and with 24,264 HGVs passing our toll booths daily, this amounts to roughly 45,000 tonnes of emissions annually – from heavy goods vehicles alone!

Ní Mhurchú says she is open to proposing legislation at EU level, in the EU Transport Committee, that would require EU authorities to ensure "free-flow" tolling within a reasonable timeframe.

She described the benefits of free moving traffic as obvious,

"Millions of cars, buses, and HGVs stop at our toll booths every year, causing minor accidents, inconvenience, traffic delays, wasted fuel costs and generating millions in carbon emissions. We must work with our toll operators to move towards barrier free tolling, as we have on the M50. Traffic should be allowed to move freely through our toll points without stopping – either paying with a tag or through a website"

Ní Mhurchú described toll plazas as a safety hazard as drivers get distracted rummaging for coins or bank cards to tap, seeking receipts for expenses records and changing lanes at the last minute. She cited the warnings of a coroner in Cork around the dangers that toll plazas pose to motorists following a fatal accident at a Cork toll plaza in 2012.

Ní Mhurchú has written to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) raising the issue of free-flowing toll plazas and said she will work with her colleagues in Brussels to push for EU wide legislation if necessary.

Ní Mhurchú described the measure as 'low hanging fruit' that our state agencies could reform as part of a wider effort to reduce the cost base of our transport industry and reduce inefficiencies that are preventing us from reaching our climate targets.

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Title image Elliott Masie, Masie Learning Foundation; Maria Gavin, Enterprise Ireland; Peter Doyle, BESA (British Educational Suppliers Association); Nessa McEniff and Dave Farrelly, Learnovate

The Learnovate Centre at Trinity College Dublin is planning a regional rollout of its EdTech Masterclass Series as part of its strategy to help Irish EdTech and HRTech startups to stay competitive in the global market.

The learning technology centre launched the EdTech Masterclass Series in partnership with Enterprise Ireland earlier this year, with two sessions taking place at the Trinity Innovation Hub on Grand Canal Quay in Dublin in March and April.

EdTech Masterclass Series

Some 56 companies attended the two sessions, including Irish EdTech founders, learning solutions providers, and innovation partners, where they received practical guidance from leading industry figures on how they can scale, expand innovation capacity, and compete in the global market.

Among the guest speakers was Elliott Masie, the internationally renowned founder of the Masie Learning Foundation, a think tank focused on how organisations use technology to improve learning and knowledge sharing. Elliott is an influential figure in the global learning industry and is credited with having coined the term "e-learning".

The first session – Masterclass 1: Navigating Growth in a Changing Tech Landscape – featured facilitated group discussions on how to identify market and technology opportunities, assess organisational readiness for growth, and develop innovation strategies to drive growth.

The second session – Masterclass 2: Enhancing Innovation – helped companies to develop and validate innovative solutions, leverage AI and emerging tech, and explore opportunities for collaboration on research and development as well as funding. The session saw attendees take part in ideation sprints, reflection rounds, and exercises to define next steps.

Discussions were facilitated by Dr Peter Gillis, Innovation Services Lead at Learnovate. Input from the likes of Elliott Masie and Dr Peter Gillis provided participants with a clear knowledge of how to scale their business, expand their innovation capacity and break into new markets.

Following the success of its Dublin event, Learnovate and Enterprise Ireland now plan to extend their support to startups across the regions by hosting the EdTech Masterclass Series in Athlone in September and November this year.

The move to host the Masterclass Series outside Dublin forms part of Learnovate's strategy to further establish itself as a driving force behind Ireland's EdTech and HRTech innovation ecosystem by providing education and supports to startups as they aim to scale, expand innovation and compete globally.

The event is the product of collaboration between senior figures at both Learnovate and Enterprise Ireland, including Nessa McEniff, Centre Director of Learnovate; David Farrelly, Head of Membership Services at Learnovate; Dr Peter Gillis, Innovation Services Lead at Learnovate; Maria Gavin, Senior Executive in Industry Sector Engagement at Enterprise Ireland; and Nicola Kelly, Senior Client Adviser at Enterprise Ireland.

Head of Membership Services Dave Farrelly says:

"The Learnovate Centre is delighted to mark the success of the EdTech Masterclass Series in partnership with Enterprise Ireland by announcing plans for a regional rollout of the initiative in the autumn.

"Irish EdTech companies are operating in an increasingly competitive global market where the ability to innovate quickly is the difference between success and failure. That's why, through this masterclass series, we're helping organisations to step back, assess where they are, and take effective steps to scale and innovate.

"We look forward to bringing Masterclasses 1 and 2 to Athlone later this year where we hope that participants will continue to come away with clearly defined priorities, knowledge of funding pathways, and leads to potential collaboration pa...

Bay Broadcasting, the second largest radio group in Ireland, has today announced a major expansion with the rollout of its stations Radio Nova, Classic Hits Radio and Sunshine 106.8 on DAB, bringing the three services to an estimated 85% of the population.

Bay claims the move marks a new era of national scale and audience growth for the group and describes the launch of the three radio services on national DAB as the most exciting development for radio choice in over a decade.

The expansion will significantly increase Bay's reach, bringing Radio Nova and Sunshine 106.8 to an additional 2.5 million people, while Classic Hits Radio will reach a further 1.2 million, bringing important new choice to millions of people and having the potential to challenge Bauer Media's monopoly on national radio commercial radio in Ireland.

The radio services will broadcast on the Failte DAB Mux2 trial, which will reach most of the country outside the Dublin and is expected to launch in the coming days.

Bay Broadcasting CEO, Kevin Branigan, said, "We've long harboured ambitions to expand our radio services around the country and the Failte DAB Mux2 trial gives the opportunity to do that. DAB works hand in hand with FM radio and will provide a seamless transmission network around the country alongside our existing FM. The extension of our services brings our three highly successful services, to a quasi-national audience, increasing diversity and plurality in the radio industry."

Bay's stations are already the leading music services within their respective FM franchise areas. In Dublin, Radio Nova and Sunshine 106.8 are the number one and number two music radio stations, with 9.4% and 8.8% respectively. In Galway, Bay-owned Galway Bay FM commands a market share of 29% while Classic Hits Radio is the largest commercial radio services in the country outside the two national stations Today FM and Newstalk, both owed by Bauer Media.

Radio Nova currently broadcasts to Dublin City, County & Commuter Belt (Dublin, Kildare, Meath Wicklow) Sunshine to Dublin City & County and Classic Hits Radio to the multi-city area of Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway & Clare. The move will make all three stations available across a wide area taking in virtually of the country apart from parts of the North West and South West.

"This is about growing radio choice, making radio services available to more people, building new national brands and delivering long-term growth for our group. We are uniquely positioned to take advantage of the opportunities afforded by the rollout of DAB.By combining our strong FM presence with national DAB coverage, we will bring more choice to listeners. We have a clear ambition to become the largest radio group in Ireland within the next three to five years. While that is an ambitious goal, our track record in growing audiences across all our stations gives us great confidence in achieving it," added Branigan.

Bay Broadcasting's DAB expansion signals a confident move into the future of Irish radio combining trusted brands, strong audience performance, and cutting-edge technology to deliver an enhanced listening experience for audiences nationwide.

Branigan describes the arrival of Radio Nova, Sunshine 106.8 and Ireland's Classic Hits Radio on national DAB as 'imminent'.

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Dell Technologies has introduced new security by design and cyber resilience capabilities to help organisations secure, detect and recover from next-generation threats. The enhancements address emerging risks from quantum computing and AI by hardening device foundations, strengthening cyber resilience when incidents occur and extending threat detection into AI data platforms.

Why it matters

AI is creating more valuable data and giving attackers new ways to move faster. Quantum computing will accelerate that shift by weakening the encryption technology that organisations use today to protect data and verify software integrity.

These converging threats are driving demand for devices built to resist future attacks, cyber resilience to minimise incident impact and stronger detection across environments where AI data lives. Dell is addressing these security challenges through a layered defence approach across the technology stack, from the PC to the data centre.

Hardening the PC foundation with quantum-ready protections

Quantum computing threatens the security foundations that protect devices today, driving a need for security by design at the deepest firmware layers. Dell is introducing quantum-ready security features to its commercial PCs to protect against attacks that can evade traditional security tools and remain hidden even after a restart or system reinstall.

The upgraded security features harden the PC's embedded controller (EC), a core hardware security component, to verify firmware updates using signatures designed to resist future quantum-enabled attacks. This helps prevent the controller from accepting malicious or tampered firmware and reduces supply chain risk by validating updates with stronger encryption and digital signatures.

Dell's enhanced BIOS Verification capability, aligned to post-quantum standards, detects tampering by checking the BIOS against a trusted reference stored securely in Dell's cloud. If something does not match, this Dell-unique verification flags the device and triggers an alert so teams can investigate and respond.

Strengthening cyber resilience with AI-powered recovery

Hardened devices are essential for helping reduce successful attacks, and so is cyber resilience to minimise impact when incidents occur. According to Dell's Cyber Resilience Insights research, only 40% of global organisations successfully contained and recovered from a cyberattack or incident drill with minimal impact. Dell is strengthening its PowerProtect cyber resilience portfolio to help organisations detect threats like ransomware sooner and recover faster from incidents.

Enhancements to PowerProtect Data Manager help organisations resolve recovery issues faster with an AI-powered assistant that provides contextual guidance during time-sensitive tasks, spot ransomware risk earlier with enhanced anomaly detection that scans Dell PowerStore snapshots and simplify management at scale with a unified dashboard across distributed systems.

PowerProtect Data Domain, the world's most secure foundation for cyber resilience3, extends protection to smaller sites and strengthens data security in transit. The PowerProtect Data Domain DD3410 appliance delivers up to 2x faster backups and 46% faster data restores,4 empowering organisations to resume operations quickly after an incident. The updated Data Domain Operating System, now including support for Transport Layer Security (TLS) 1.3, helps protect data while it moves between systems and aligns with NIST requirements for encrypted connections.

Extending threat detection from endpoints to AI data platforms

Fast recovery requires early threat detection. AI workloads concentrate valuable data in platforms that traditional endpoint security can miss, creating visibility gaps that attackers exploit. Dell is extending its Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service into environments where unstructured data and AI workloads live.

Building upon the MDR expansion to Dell PowerProtect, D...

A Galway-based technology company has launched a new online platform set to transform how sports clubs raise money, replacing WhatsApp messages, cash collections, and manual spreadsheets with a digital competition engine that any club administrator can have up and running in minutes.

Entrypoint, available now at entrypoint.club, allows clubs to create and run online fundraising competitions, collect entry fees securely, and have every euro raised land automatically in the club's own bank account the moment a member enters. There is no waiting period, no manual bank transfer to request, and no funds held on a third-party platform.

US PGA Championship — live and open to clubs now

Clubs can activate the US PGA Championship Golf Pool competition on Entrypoint today. Members pick their teams, Entrypoint's live scoring engine updates automatically as rounds are played, and the real-time leaderboard keeps participants engaged throughout the tournament, no manual score-checking by a committee member, no group chat updates.

The PGA Championship is the first of several golf majors that will be available on Entrypoint this season. Further major tournaments will follow, giving clubs a ready-made series of fundraising competitions tied to the events their members are already watching.

Premier League Last Man Standing arriving in August

When the Premier League season kicks off in August 2025, Entrypoint will launch a dedicated Premier League Last Man Standing competition format. Members pick one team to win each week; one wrong result and they are out. The last person standing takes the pot, one of the most popular fundraising formats in Irish sport, now with online entries, automated results, and live leaderboards that update the moment final whistles blow.

Between the PGA Championship now, further golf majors through the summer, and Premier League LMS from August, clubs using Entrypoint will have a fundraising competition available for virtually every week of the sporting calendar.

Built in Galway, born from a gap in the market

Entrypoint was built by the founders of Actimet, a team management app used by clubs and coaches across Irish sport to manage players, schedules, and communications. Working closely with their home club, the team watched committee members spend evenings on tasks that should have taken minutes — chasing entries, counting cash, and manually tracking who was still in the competition.

The gap in the market was obvious. No platform existed that was built specifically for club fundraising competitions, simple enough for a volunteer administrator, and capable of handling the full flow from entry to payout without manual intervention at every step. Entrypoint was built to fill it.

"We have spent years building software for clubs through Actimet, and then we looked at how our own club was trying to run a Last Man Standing — texts flying around, someone's cousin keeping a spreadsheet, lads forgetting to pay. We knew we could fix that. Entrypoint is the platform we wish had existed." Commented Rory McGauran, Co-founder, Entrypoint.

A World Cup fundraiser built for every club in Ireland

With the FIFA World Cup on the horizon, Entrypoint is launching a dedicated World Cup Last Man Standing format. Administrators set it up in a few clicks, share a link with members, and the platform handles entries, picks, live results, and the prize payout. Members follow through real-time leaderboards that update automatically as matches are played, making the club fundraiser as engaging as the tournament itself.

"The World Cup only comes around every four years and it is one of the biggest fundraising opportunities any club will ever have. We built the World Cup LMS so clubs can take full advantage of it, with a competition that keeps members genuinely hooked from the group stages all the way to the final." added Rory McGauran, Co-founder, Entrypoint

Funds flow directly into the club account from day one

Entrypoint uses Stripe Connect, the...

Authenticity has become one of those words which has been used so often in a 'trend' way over a handful of recent years, that it's started to lose it's meaning. We've seen in appear more frequently in values statements, leadership programmes, social media snippets, and engagement surveys. Everyone is in favour of it, but I'd say that a substantial majority haven't actually worked out what to do about beyond these trends.

Authenticity at work – how HR can move it from buzzword to behaviour

This is where HR comes in, and it's a significant opportunity if the profession takes it on board.

The reality many organisations now find themselves in is one of having spent years, possibly even decades doing the opposite of building authenticity. This has been in the shape of training people to 'read the room' or 'soften your approach;' all things which lead to managing themselves in a way that's more 'palatable' to the culture above them. The effect has been quietly corrosive though. People have learned to perform professionalism, rather than bring themselves to it. And now we seem to be surprised that they don't feel safe enough to show up as who they actually are.

You can't just put the word authenticity on a wall or include in your rehashed company values. It either exists in how the organisation actually operates, or it doesn't exist at all. HR can move authenticity from language into practice.

The foundation is psychological safety, not policy. The reason most people don't bring their whole selves to work isn't because they don't want to, it's because they have learned through experience that doing so comes with risk. That could have been seeing a team member share an idea, and it was unduly dismissed, or when they saw vulnerability being shared and it being used against the person.

HR can't legislate safety in existence. What they can do though is create the conditions where people experience it. This is though the way performance conversations are conducted, through who gets recognised and why. Through what happens when someone raises a difficult issue. Every process is a signal. These signals need to tell people that who they actually are is welcome.

Then, it means looking at what gets rewarded. In most organisations, the people who advance are the people who've learned to perform confidence, manage up effectively, and reflect the cultural norms back at leadership. That's not authenticity though.

If HR want to genuinely embed authentic behaviour, it has to look at the criteria within the promotion decisions, performance frameworks, and succession conversations. Are they rewarding the people who challenge the room, or read it and adjust? The people who bring the honest picture or the comfortable one. The person who said the thing nobody else was wiling to say; did that count in their favour or go against them?

The answers in these questions tell you far more about your culture than your values statement does.

Authenticity requires leaders who model it first – and it's contagious. People take their cues from the top. If a senior leader is one who carefully manages their image, filters everything through a performative lens of how it will land, and is never visibly uncertain, that is exactly what will become the cultural norm, regardless of what the people agenda says.

HR's most powerful leverage here isn't a programme. It's working with senior leaders to help them, re-train them so they understand that the diluted and 'managed' version of themselves is costing the organisation. That they need to stop performing leadership, start practising it and then see the entire culture shift around them. To understand that being real isn't 'soft', it's the thing which builds the trust, retention, and innovation that every organisation is seeking.

Authenticity at work isn't a wellbeing initiative. It's a business imperative. The organisations that create genuine conditions for it will outperform the ones who still rely on carefully managed, p...

New research from Trinity College Dublin in collaboration with Microsoft Ireland finds a widening AI maturity gap among Ireland's small and medium-sized enterprises that, if left unaddressed, risks constraining national productivity and growth. The AI Economy Ireland 2026 report – the third in an annual series tracking how AI adoption and organisational readiness are shaping economic capacity nationwide – finds that AI adoption is now near-universal with 92% of organisations using or planning to use AI. Despite this, just 10% of leaders describe their deployment of AI as advanced or frontier-level, and SMEs remain disproportionately concentrated at the early stages.

SMEs that invest in AI are more likely to report significant productivity gains than large organisations (18% vs 8%) – a sign that, where SMEs do commit, the returns are real. But too few SMEs are making that investment. Given that SMEs account for more than two-thirds of all employment in Ireland and contribute over 40% of gross value added, the economic stakes are significant.

The report shows a persistent AI readiness gap that is already translating into uneven business outcomes between large firms and SMEs. Large firms are more than twice as likely to deliver weekly time savings of two hours or more per employee (54% vs 25%), and SMEs are more than twice as likely to have no formal AI training in place (15% vs 6%). Left unchecked, this divide risks becoming a structural drag on the country's productivity and growth.

This gap matters because even modest levels of AI adoption are already delivering measurable gains in day?to?day work. A typical mid-sized organisation in Ireland is freeing up to 1,000 hours a month through everyday AI use, driven by reduced time spent on meetings, email and routine administrative tasks. For large multinational organisations operating here, this rises to up to 5,000 hours per month.

Importantly, the impact extends beyond organisational efficiency, with clear, direct benefits for leaders themselves. 70% of leaders report a reduction in overall workload pressure, while one in three say AI is making it easier to switch off from work. A further 26% report reduced evening or weekend work.

While efficiency gains are important, they represent only the first phase of AI's economic potential. International evidence already suggests the biggest returns come not from doing today's work faster, but from using AI to create new value – through innovation, new products and growth. However, the findings show that many organisations have yet to redesign workflows, governance or operating models to capture these gains at scale. Ultimately, the next phase of economic impact in Ireland will depend on whether organisations use the time freed up by AI to drive innovation and growth, not just efficiency.

Regarding AI adoption, Ireland compares relatively well when set against international benchmarks. Current levels of AI use across Ireland's workforce place the country among the leading group globally, while enterprise-level adoption in Ireland sits modestly above the EU average. Challenges around governance, skills and translating adoption into organisational impact mirror patterns identified in OECD and international research.

"AI is already delivering real value for Irish organisations, freeing up thousands of hours a month," said Catherine Doyle, General Manager, Microsoft Ireland. "The opportunity now is to make sure the benefits are felt equally. That means closing confidence gaps wherever they exist and supporting SMEs to scale from early adoption to full integration. That's where the next wave of value will come from.

"But the data reveals a growing divide. While large organisations race ahead, too many SMEs are still at the starting line, and the confidence gap among women in leadership tells us the skills challenge goes beyond technical training. Widespread adoption is what unlocks the biggest gains – and it's where the real opportunity beg...

In recent years, Da Nang's innovation-driven startup ecosystem has continued to grow strongly, attracting increasing attention from investment funds, startup support organizations, and startup communities both domestically and internationally. Building on the success of previous editions, the Danang Venture and Angel Summit 2026 (DAVAS 2026) is scheduled to take place from May 25 – 27, 2026, in Da Nang City. The event is expected to become a key destination for connecting investment capital with innovative startup projects.

Highlights from DAVAS 2025 and what to expect from DAVAS 2026

Following the success of DAVAS 2025, the forum made a strong impression by bringing together more than 20 domestic and international investment funds, with total assets under management reaching USD 3.5 billion, along with the participation of over 60 experts and speakers from countries such as Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, the United States, Germany, and India; Launching of Da Nang – Greater Bay Area Innovation Center; Hosting an exhibition of 40 innovative startup booths; And announcing and signing 11 Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs).

Startups also had the opportunity to pitch directly to investment funds

Beyond sharing investment trends and startup development experiences, DAVAS created favorable conditions for innovative startups to present their ideas, connect with investors, and expand international partnerships. At DAVAS 2025, 36 startup projects participated in pitching sessions, with many receiving initial interest from investors and continuing discussions after the event.

These outcomes have played an important role in positioning Da Nang as an attractive destination for international investors and startups, while advancing the city's goal of becoming a leading innovation hub in the region.

Expectations for Breakthrough Growth at DAVAS 2026

Building on these positive results, DAVAS 2026 is expected to achieve breakthroughs in both scale and depth of investment connections.

The number of participating investment funds is projected to double compared to 2025, with the presence of reputable international funds such as Quest Ventures, Genesia Ventures, Makara Capital, Vertex Ventures, TRIVE, Sunwah Innovations, Universal Materials Incubator Co. Ltd, Daiwa Corporate Investment Co. Ltd, Z Venture Capital, along with other venture capital funds and angel investors. This expansion is expected to significantly increase investment resources for startups, opening up greater access to funding and accelerating project development.

DAVAS 2026 will also feature participation from organizations involved in building and developing innovation ecosystems, including Kilsa Global, Gima Group, Aeternum Consulting Ltd., Republic Polytechnic, Belkin Marketing along with representatives from startup support organizations, incubators, innovation centers, and ecosystem stakeholders from various countries and territories.

The diverse participation of investment funds and ecosystem development organizations will not only enhance startups' access to capital but also strengthen knowledge exchange, international experience sharing, and foster sustainable, globally integrated development of Da Nang's innovation ecosystem.

In addition, the number of startup projects registering for pitching is expected to increase threefold compared to the previous year. This will lead to higher competition, requiring startups to better prepare their business models, technologies, and market strategies. Not only will the quantity increase, but the quality of participating startups is also expected to improve significantly through rigorous selection and structured preparation. Notably, startups will receive pre-event training from experts and investors to enhance their fundraising capabilities, refine products, and improve their success rate during pitching sessions.

The simultaneous increase in both the number of investment funds and the quality of startups is expected to position DA...