Enterprise Ireland client companies celebrate record growth in US-Ireland partnership to mark St Patrick’s Day

• Enterprise Ireland client company Manna announces entrance to US market with first location launch and strategic investment by Coca-Cola HBC
• Trade between Ireland and US has reached an all-time high
• 9 Enterprise Ireland clients announce new deals and strengthen presence in US

Enterprise Ireland client companies are celebrating record growth in the United States ahead of An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s meeting with President Joe Biden to mark St Patrick’s Day this week.

Led by An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar and Enterprise Ireland CEO Leo Clancy, Enterprise Ireland is hosting a series of events across seven US cities, from Washington to San Francisco marking the impact and success of Irish companies across the USA.

While in Washington, D.C., Taoiseach Varadkar met with a number of innovative Irish companies in the area, including Manna, Europe’s largest drone delivery operation, who today have announced their launch in the USA and a strategic investment from Coca-Cola. Manna is commencing a trial in Dallas/Ft.Worth area in partnership with multinational real estate development company Hillwood, to initially offer drone delivery to a select number of Hillwood's residential developments.

This move comes in tandem with a strategic investment in Manna from Coca-Cola HBC, strategic bottling partner of The Coca-Cola Company. Through its Ventures arm, Coca-Cola HBC, collaborates with disruptive start-ups that have synergies with its business ambitions in the areas of last mile, vending, coffee technology and sustainability.

“St. Patrick’s Day is a crucial opportunity to celebrate the long-standing close relationship that exists between Ireland and the United States, which has never been more meaningful or more fruitful,” said Taoiseach Leo Varadkar. “Trade between our countries is at an all-time high. Ireland has continued to increase direct investment in the United States annually, even during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, illustrating the unwavering commitment Ireland and the United States have to one another’s economic success.”

He continued, “While we celebrate these significant, mutually beneficial achievements this week with President Biden and other leaders here in Washington, we will also look toward the future, as we continue to deepen relationships and expand bilateral trade growth.”

RelateCare, the leading patient engagement solutions provider, has just opened a new Patient Coordination Centre, which will help to create 255 roles within three years, adding to their existing employment of 1,400 people across Ireland and the United States.

Minister for Finance, Michael McGrath TD visited the new patient coordination centre this week which is based in Little Rock, Arkansas. The new facility will support their US Midwest and Southern healthcare system partners.

Leading Irish identity verification company ID-Pal also announced its official launch into the US market to meet the demand for its platform across the United States. Championed by Enterprise Ireland, the US launch is building on ID-Pal’s success in serving both SMEs and enterprises across over 30 industries with simple, secure, and convenient identity verification.

Leo Clancy, CEO, Enterprise Ireland said: “The United States is strategically important for Irish companies scaling internationally. In addition to the opportunities open to our firms here, we are very glad that they invest here at scale, employing over 100,000 people in the US.

The achievements of Irish companies here proven that innovative businesses who can collaborate well, create mutual benefit for both our economies. The companies we are meeting this week span tech, engineering, consumer products, food, aviation and are building success with US customers and partners.

We at Enterprise Ireland are proud of the role we have been able to play in helping secure and strengthen trade between our countries”

Other Enterprise Ireland companies celebrating expansion include:

• Combilift, a global leader in material handling solutions, is marking its 25th year in business, and is celebrating their renewed partnership with well-known US Midwest dealership, Atlas Toyota Material Handling.
• Showoff, a leading Irish data solutions company transforming digital strategies for organisations across the United States, has announced a new partnership with the International Union of Operating Engineers to automate the payment renewal of membership fees across their Midwest unions.
• Evercam which has announced a partnership with American Foods Group to monitor the construction of their new $800 million facility in Wright City, Missouri. 
• Keeper Solutions is a market-leading software development partner for innovative FinTech, CleanTech and MedTech firms. Headquartered in Limerick, Keeper Solutions are launching in the US after already securing a number of US customers, one of which is Momnt, based in the Metro Atlanta area.
• Swoop is an Irish fintech firm, which has decided to launch in the US following new partnerships with a number of firms including Sage, a market leader in cloud business management solutions, supporting millions of small and medium sized businesses globally, based in Atlanta. Swoop acts like a marketplace allowing SMEs (as well as their brokers and advisors) to gain access to a range of funding options across loans, equities, grants, foreign exchange and other business transactions, partnering with a range of banks including AIB, Bank of Ireland, HSBC, Barclays, Santander, Lloyds Bank, Bank of Scotland, etc.
• FlowForma, which has increased its presence in the US, with the opening of a new office in New York and a new customer Trident General Contracting. Focusing on the construction, engineering, healthcare and financial services sectors, the company allows clients to digitize, transform and automate complex business processes without software code, saving time, budget and roll-out resources.