New Software Development Company to Join IQ360 in Newry

Softedge Systems to create a Centre of Excellence in Greenshoots
Irish software developer Softedge Systems has established a centre of excellence in the Greenshoots Incubation Centre in Newry in what amounts to a £700,000 investment.
Softedge’s Newry centre is using Microsoft technology to develop state of the art software products which enable streaming of high quality video, animation and interactive features online.
Invest NI has offered £140,000 towards the project. This includes £85,000, part funded by the European Regional Development Fund, to support skills development activities.
Announcing the investment, Invest NI’s Managing Director of Business International, Jeremy Fitch, said: “Northern Ireland has a deep pool of graduate ICT talent and offers a competitive, high value option for international companies seeking to establish a software development centre in a near-market location.
“The decision by Softedge Systems to locate in Newry is testament to these qualities and will add to Northern Ireland’s already strong capability in the sector. The company’s centre of excellence will be at the leading edge of software development and will play a major role in helping Softedge deliver innovative solutions for its clients.”
Mr Fitch added: “Creating 15 new ICT posts that will generate total annual salaries of over £450,000 by 2012, the investment is indicative of Invest NI’s commitment to securing high value investment opportunities. Softedge will deliver salaries well above the Northern Ireland private sector median whilst the advanced nature of the work carried out in the Newry centre will further strengthen our local knowledge base.”
Vikas Sahni, CEO of Softedge Systems (NI) Ltd, said: “The centre of excellence in Northern Ireland is an integral part of the company’s overall growth plans. The availability of a talented workforce and the valuable support of Invest NI were major factors in the decision to invest here.
“By recruiting a mix of experienced and graduate software specialists and further developing their skills, we are putting in place a blend of talent that will underpin our capability in both service delivery and research well into the future.
“The Newry centre is focusing initially on developing software solutions using Microsoft’s innovative Silverlight technology. More and more organisations are incorporating the unique system into their websites and we believe the Greenshoots based Newry centre will strongly position us to take advantage of this demand.”

A New Take on Incubators

Today's incubators provide cutting-edge support for your startup
By Dennis Romero
Business incubators--organizations that help entrepreneurs get off the ground through mentoring, funding and facilities--have been around since the 1950s. At the turn of the millennium, for-profit incubators were a hot commodity until they deflated with the dotcom bubble. But this year, despite a down economy, the luster is returning to incubation. President Obama has pledged $250 million a year in federal funds to seed a regional network of such organizations--an effort aimed at growing jobs and innovation. So people are talking about incubators again.“This is the first time in the U.S. that a new administration has made this kind of commitment to innovation, entrepreneurs and technology,” says Dinah Adkins, president and CEO of the National Business Incubation Association. “This is the first time we’ve had a presidential administration that wants to invest in this.”
read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/magazine/entrepreneur/2009/may/201228.html