Digisoft.tv move to Republic of Work is start of city centre revival

Digisoft.tv uses video, mobile, virtual reality and multiscreen technologies to create a range of products for its customers. These include visitor engagement products for resorts, theme parks, stadiums, retail outlets and tourist attractions.

The company develops a range of new media solutions. It works with developers of mobile apps to cast video and audio services to consumers’ home devices. It is an R&D product builder serving the telecommunications, pharmaceutical, media and hospitality sectors.

Opened in April 2017, the Republic of Work (ROW) is a spacious, shared office space on Cork’s busy South Mall. It is a 140-desk coworking space, with an events space, workshop areas, innovation suites, boardrooms, private offices and a dedicated accelerator lab for running programmes and training.

The tenant company rents space on an individual per-desk basis on a 30-day rolling contract. It is currently home to around 30 tenant companies. It started with mostly small companies, but has evolved into something more like a work/lifestyle choice.

“The move to the city centre has been a big hit with our younger staff members, many of whom don’t have cars,” said Fearghal Kelly, CEO, Digisoft.tv. “Some of them found the transport links to the airport to be quite difficult.

“Now they can choose to walk to work. They’re near the restaurants and shops, and they’re also much more involved with the community. Because of the Republic of Work’s shared spaces, we’re also seeing opportunities to connect with other businesses.”

A number of Digisoft.tv’s hotel and radio station clients are also soon to make greater use of Alexa Skills. The hotel guests will be able to order room service without picking up a phone, or they will book rooms via ‘reservation voice sites’.

The radio stations will be able to deliver digital services to listeners rather than using DAB radio, which hasn’t had much success in Ireland. These clients are Irish-based.

Digisoft.tv has a sizeable global client base, which is growing at a rate of over 20% annually. In the past year or so, it has decided to build a stronger domestic Irish and European client base, which also had an influence on the company’s move to ROW’s building after 17 years in Cork Airport Business Park.

“We took a tactical decision to reduce our exposure to overseas currency shifts,” said Fearghal Kelly. “We have now reduced that risk by 30-40% of the business. We’re still growing the business overseas, but we’ve also gone more into new Irish markets, delivering technology ecosystems, for instance to cultural and entertainment venues.

Digisoft.tv currently employs 40 people, 26 of them in Cork and the other 14 in Dublin, the UK and Germany. Its 360 degree virtual experience work can be seen by visitors at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, Custom House Quay, Dublin, among many other cultural and entertainment venues nationwide.

Leading industries are also using its new casting solution, Playmigo, an SAAS and technology platform which enables OTT video providers to cast their content to almost any connected TV device on the market today without the need to develop and deploy TV apps.

The move to the South Mall is also a good fit for Digisoft.tv in that the Republic of Work has hosted over 300 public and community events since it first opened, attended by over 5,000 people.

These included a number of conferences which used VR/Augmented Reality, with visiting speakers straight from Silicon Valley, talks focused on growing local retail businesses, software design, female entrepreneurship, and charity drives to build websites for local Cork causes.

Fearghal Kelly said: “All companies need to adapt and evolve to meet the needs of both staff and customers. Digisoft.tv is a Cork company playing on a world stage. The Republic of Work shares our vision and we are glad to be an integral part of this innovative workplace.

“It has very good spaces for creative design meetings, and for brain storming about design ideas. It’s a great venue in which to operate for a business like ours.”

Republic of Work CEO, DC Cahalane, said people’s perception of the building has changed since its launch, when it was seen as an affordable shared office space for startups.

ROW is now seen more as a desirable environment.

Last week, ROW hosted the arrival of Australian healthcare firm HealthKit, launching its EMEA office in Cork. EMEA is starting with ten high-level jobs in Cork. Its healthcare management platform serves 28,000 health practitioners in 50 countries.

Republic of Work’s main commercial partners include Bank of Ireland, Nespresso, CompuB, HP, VTSL and AV3. It is home to Sean O’Sullivan’s multi-stage venture capital investor SOSV, along with 30 other companies of all sizes.

DC Cahalane remarked: “Digisoft.tv’s move is a real validation for what we do here. When we started, people thought we’d only host startups. Now people see that ROW is much more about a way of working.

“Companies get to concentrate on what they do best, they don’t have to invest in real estate. They come here and pay on a per-desk basis for what they are using. They don’t have any of the headache of managing their offices, no electricity bills, no putting milk in the fridge or coffee in the canteen. They just have to think about work.”

Since ROW’s launch last year, businesses operating here have created more than 70 new jobs in the heart of Cork. Republic of Work has grown to hosting more than 120 members, with many more expected to join in the months ahead.

“SOS Ventures have about 25 people here,” said DC Cahalane. “We built them a private office. They share the meeting rooms. We had around 40 people in from EY while they were renovating their offices on Lapps Quay.

“We’ve also had a group in from KPMG. We have had numerous overseas companies start from our ‘pay as you go’ offices. HealthKit are using ROW as a landing pad; in time, they may grow and move to bigger offices. Like everyone else, they have a 30-day rolling contract.

“All of these companies like the fact that it is like having an entire business park all in one building. The lounge is the centre of the community. It’s more social.

“People coming in from business parks tell us they never spoke to people who were their business neighbours for years; here, they know everyone very quickly. What a lot of them also love about the place is the vibe of getting back into the city centre.”

Big companies like Pfizer, Apple Compu B and others have hosted lively events in ROW. Through ROW’s partnership with Bank of Ireland, the venue has often hosted events featuring Munster rugby stars.

“A lot of people see the value of coming back into the city centre, having a base here, hosting events here,” said DC Cahalane. “It will be interesting to see in four or five years from now what impact this shift has on business life in the heart of the city.”

www.republicofwork.com

www.digisoft.tv