Dublin, Ireland – November 23, 2023 – Ministers Simon Coveney TD, Simon Harris TD, and Dara Calleary TD have announced a significant funding injection of €58.8 million for 12 pioneering projects through the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund (DTIF). Among these projects, PETRA and Flowsure are led by ATU iHub’s current client company, EndoWave, and alumni company, CrannMed.
EndoWave, at the forefront of innovation, is spearheading the PRETA project. This initiative aims to develop a groundbreaking robotic-enabled microwave ablation catheter, equipped with integrated position sensing and ablation imaging technology. The goal is to introduce a minimally invasive, precisely targeted treatment for metastatic lung cancer. ATU plays a pivotal role as a partner research institution in this transformative project.
Meanwhile, CrannMed, an ATU iHub alumni company, is taking the lead on the Flowsure project. This endeavor seeks to create and validate a distinct and reversible liquid embolic treatment for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH), promising advancements in the field.
The DTIF, established in 2018 as a €500 million fund under the National Development Plan, is managed by the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment, with administrative support from Enterprise Ireland. The fund’s primary objective is to foster collaboration between Ireland’s top-tier research institutions and industry, empowering enterprises to vie for funding that propels the development and adoption of disruptive technologies. This strategic approach is geared towards supporting investments in disruptive technologies and applications on a commercial scale.
The DTIF continues to be a catalyst for collaboration between enterprises and research institutions across Ireland, with a particular focus on SMEs. By leveraging industrial research and experimental development, DTIF projects are creating products and services capable of reshaping markets and transforming business operations. The success of these endeavors is underpinned by the robust industry-academia collaboration mandated by the DTIF, ensuring that government investments have a meaningful impact on both the economy and society. The allocation of funding to 143 Research Performing Organisations in previous DTIF calls underscores the wealth of expertise, training, and knowledge necessary to drive these projects to success.
DTIF Call 6 applications underwent rigorous assessment by panels of international experts, evaluating them against four key criteria: the quality of disruptive technology, excellence of the overall approach, economic impact and sustainability, and the strength of collaboration. This meticulous evaluation process ensures that the chosen projects have the potential to make lasting contributions to technology and innovation.
