Enterprise Ireland is hosting a series of events in seven US cities to celebrate client companies' record growth ahead of the Taoiseach Leo Varadkar's meeting with President Joe Biden on St Patrick's Day.

While in Washington, DC, the Taoiseach will meet with a number of innovative Irish companies based in the area, including drone delivery operator Manna, which on Thursday announced in launch in the US with investment from Coca-Cola.

Manna will commence a trial in the Dallas-Fort 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.

“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 Varadkar, who reportedly snubbed big tech leaders in DC on Wednesday.

“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.”

In Association with

“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."

Minister for Finance Michael McGrath this visited the Arkansas base of Irish patient engagement solutions provider RelateCare, and identity verification company ID-Pal has also announced its US launch.

“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," said Clancy

"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.  

Photo: (l-r) Terence O’Rourke, chairman of Enterprise Ireland; Ambassador of Ireland to the USA, Geraldine Byrne Nasson; Bobby Healy, CEO of Manna; Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, and Leo Clancy, CEO of Enterprise Ireland.