Irish tech firm Galvia AI has selected Manchester as the home for its first UK hub – and it was an “easy decision” for the business to invest in the North according to its founder.
The company is opening a base at the Turing Innovation Catalyst (TIC), within Sister – Manchester’s £1.7bn science and technology innovation district, and is gearing up to launch a new AI accelerator to kickstart SME growth across the region later this year.
READ MORE: Irish tech firm picks Manchester for UK expansion drive
John Clancy, founder and CEO of Galvia AI, tells Prolific North why his firm picked Manchester.
“We went on a number of trade missions with Enterprise Ireland. We went to London, Liverpool and Manchester. The reason I landed on Manchester was Manchester United,” he teases.
Jokes aside, Galvia AI chose Manchester thanks to two key things: the people and the region’s ambition.
“I don’t think Manchester actually realises what it has, I’ve yet to meet a place where people are so enthusiastic about their city,” he says, hailing the support Galvia has received from regional leaders at the likes of TIC and MIDAS.
And he was impressed by Manchester’s drive to become a leading hub for AI innovation too, following the recent AI Catalyst report released by Turing Innovation Catalyst which revealed the region as having the UK’s biggest AI cluster outside of London.
“There seems to be that thread of ambition which is lacking in most places,” he explains. “In Manchester, you could have three to four meetings a day. You can’t have that in other cities, it’s just not possible. The people and ambition in Manchester were the two main draws for me, and it was an easy decision!”
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The region’s booming talent pool will be key to Galvia AI’s hiring plans, thanks to the availability of thousands of students in the city, and the company’s existing partnerships with the likes of Sheffield Hallam University.
“We’ll be hiring data scientists, machine learning engineers, as well as customer success people. We’re looking at establishing a tech base in Manchester, and a lot of these skills are there.”
With an existing team of 14 spread across Manchester and Galway, the company’s ‘double-digit’ job plans include hiring an additional 10 staff over the next 12 to 18 months.
And at the heart of Galvia’s Manchester strategy is its AI Adoption Accelerator, a five-week programme launching in September. In partnership with TIC and law firm Addleshaw Goddard, the accelerator is designed to give SME leaders a clear understanding of what to do with their data and a strategic plan of how to integrate AI into their business.
“We built the accelerator programmes to help companies to understand where to start with AI. The plan for us is to make it as accessible as possible to every business.
“I want to double or triple the team to support the launch of our accelerator programmes. They’ve been very successful in Ireland and we need to put a team on the ground in the UK.
“You need data scientists and machine learning engineers to be able to look at those reports and then provide that insight.”
Founded by Clancy in 2017, Galvia AI is headquartered in Galway and takes its name from the Latin word for the Irish city.
The company’s mission is to make artificial intelligence simple, impactful, and available to businesses of all sizes. Existing clients range from SMEs in retail, hospitality, manufacturing to global organisations such as Atos and Nestlé.
“We have pride in where we’re going. This is our first office outside of Ireland, so we’re excited!”
At the company’s launch event on Tuesday evening at Sister, Sarah Mangan, Ireland’s consul general in Manchester, highlighted the growing importance of Manchester and its ties to Ireland.
Referencing how Ireland is now the UK’s sixth largest trading partner while the UK is Ireland’s second largest, she revealed there will also be a “significant” joint trade mission with leaders from Liverpool and Manchester visiting Ireland later this year.
