An important milestone in the development of the western tech scene was reached in April. PorterShed, a start-up innovation hub, turned 10 and its approach may have taken some inspiration from Moneyball.Rather than trying to copy approaches taken in Dublin or even London, with larger populations and access to more resources, PorterShed and the wider western tech scene has embraced the unique nature of its situation and forged its own path.Originally based in a former Guinness distribution centre – hence the name – the hub is now based on Market Street in Galway. The original site could handle 65 people at most, whereas the current facility has room for up to 300 workers at once, along with space for an additional 100 for events. The key to its success is thinking beyond its doors from the start. “We’re very much regionally focused, with an open-door policy,” says Mary Rodgers, chief executive of PorterShed. “We’ll support companies from Donegal down to Kerry. Their success is our success and we can connect them into the ecosystem, partnering with the likes of Dogpatch Labs [in Dublin] and RDI hub [in Killorglin, Co Kerry]. It means we have access across the island.”Rodgers and her team have built the hub with the plan to develop networks, focusing on creating high-value sustainable tech jobs in the region as a whole, not just under its roof.“It was started off with a community peer-to-peer collaboration approach. It sounds clichéd but it was real. The core mission has stayed the same and so has that support,” she says.In its decade of operation, PorterShed has held more than 2,500 events, with programmes ranging from help for start-ups and scale-ups to working with schools in the region. While varied, the collective goal has been to develop a pipeline of home-grown success stories.“We’re a regional partner for NDRC and we partner with universities. There are always programmes on. We do builder days, hackathons, and start-up days, as well as working with transition-year students or primary-school students. There’s always an opportunity to build something,” says Rodgers.While still focused on early-stage work, like helping companies get ready for pre-seed funding from Enterprise Ireland, PorterShed is focused now on leading national programmes rather than just being a spoke on a wheel.There are modern, brand new facilities ... It’s exceptional, with the best conference tech I’ve seen. We couldn’t afford that with our own office— Brian O’Rourke“If you had a job in Cisco and you left it 10 years ago, you moved to Dublin or Dubai. Those were your choices. Now, there are so many tech companies in Galway with opportunities. It’s not just FDI companies but scaling, indigenous companies,” says Rodgers.“The quality of the work for engineers in the west of Ireland is different. It’s not a rinse and repeat thing. People are working on innovative problems across sectors.”One of the biggest success stories based in the hub went there first because it simply made practical sense. CitySwift was founded in 2016 and has been based in PorterShed since 2020.The business, which has 85 staff and has raised €15 million in funding, uses data and AI to optimise bus networks, with its technology supporting 3.3 billion passenger journeys annually. The company’s software manages 60 per cent of bus fleets in Britain and Ireland.“We had about 10 staff when we entered the PorterShed. It was during Covid. With all the uncertainty of Covid and of our own growth, we got in touch with Mary [Rodgers],” says Brian O’Rourke, co-founder of CitySwift.“It just made so much sense. When we went in, we just refused to leave. It’s an exceptional facility with the flexibility to expand. There are modern, brand new facilities. The innovation space there is great for meetings or holding companywide events. It’s exceptional, with the best conference tech I’ve seen. We couldn’t afford that with our own office.”While the facilities are appealing, O’Rourke says it’s more than just the quality of tools available to CitySwift that makes him feel confident about growing the business in Galway and in PorterShed in particular.“The second part is the sense of community. The amount of events they run for the Galway community can have us receive or give advice with other companies here. Sometimes we meet people who are thinking about moving back to Galway from Dublin or London, which helps us get new hires,” he says.“The upside [of being in Galway] is that when we get talent, they tend to stay with us for the long term. We have really high retention. The harder part is getting senior talent in. That can be slower because there’s not a massive pool at that level in the market. What we’ve done well is find people from the west of Ireland or who studied here and are looking to come back.”That mindset is one that serial founder Sean Blanchfield supports. The co-founder of Jentic, which has raised €6.3 million in funding, had previous success as co-founder of Demonware and PageFair.Sean Blanchfield: 'When I go to Galway now, the people I’m addressing are serious by any international standard' While he’s based in Dublin, Blanchfield says cities like Galway have obvious advantages when it comes to starting a tech business.“The whole of Ireland, on an international scale, is often viewed as a large city. You can drive to Galway in two hours from Dublin. Galway is a huge centre for talent now. The calibre of the companies and of the people in them is incredible,” he says.“From when I started DemonWare in the 2000s, to PageFair in the 2010s, to now, this country has seriously changed. When I go to Galway now, the people I’m addressing are serious by any international standard.”That change in the market environment is one that Rodgers recognises. “The big difference is that 10 years ago, if we had the likes of Frontline Ventures down to PorterShed, I would have struggled to get them meet-ups with start-ups that were relevant. Now, if they come down, I can fill a day and a half without question,” she says.Those companies often don’t even come from Galway itself. The wider regional focus has led to the likes of Payslip, which is based in Westport, to avail of PorterShed’s services. The HR tech business has raised $21 million (€18 million) and provides automation and AI technology for global payroll management.“Over the years we’ve used some of the services of PorterShed when we’re down in Galway. We’re not the classic business that grew out of it,” says Fidelma McGuirk, founder of Payslip.“When PorterShed was set up, if we had any operations in Galway, we availed of their office space and their network of advisers.. They are a great hub for bringing together the ecosystem.”[ Boston Scientific invests €75m in R&D expansion in GalwayOpens in new window ]That ability to link along the western seaboard is one McGuirk sees as crucial to the development of the tech sector.“It’s important to have that ecosystem because Ireland isn’t that big. The connectivity is straightforward and it doesn’t all have to be in Dublin. There’s obviously a strong medtech scene in Galway with a lot of talent coming out of the universities on the west coast,” she says.“People with experience can see that they don’t have to move out of the west to set up a tech company or to get the experience needed to do so.”That’s a mindset Rodgers wants to continue to develop over the next decade at PorterShed, with plans to develop a renewable technology hub over the next three years.“We’re now positioned as a best-in-class national innovation hub. More programmes and early stage supports will aid that growth,” she says.“We’re about 93 per cent full, which is where we like to be. We don’t like being at full capacity as we don’t want to miss out on the next scaling indigenous tech company or a fast-landing FDI company, because that’s what builds the community.”