GEC 25 Year Impact Report 2026 - Flipbook - Page 6
25 Years supporting founders
Introduction
Opened in 2001 within a repurposed former Guinness
brewery building in Dublin 8, the Guinness Enterprise
Centre (GEC) was founded through a distinctive
collaboration between public and private stakeholders,
with a shared ambition to create a world-class
environment for high-growth startups.
Ireland’s Largest Startup Campus.
1,300+ companies from 2001-2025
and growing.
Today, the GEC stands as a flagship hub for innovation
and entrepreneurship, continuing to support
ambitious companies on their journey to international
scale and success.
From its inception, the GEC has been driven by a clear
and ambitious purpose: to empower founders to start,
scale, and lead globally competitive businesses, while
positioning Ireland as a world class launchpad for
innovation-led enterprise.
Managed by one of the Founding Partners, Furthr
(formerly DBIC), the GEC operates as a not-for-profit
organisation under the governance of a
multi-stakeholder board. Over the past 25 years, it has
grown to become Ireland’s largest enterprise centre,
with 1,300+ companies supported by the GEC from
2001-2025 and growing. The GEC serves as a central
platform for the development and acceleration of
indigenous enterprise.
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GEC Centre Director, Niamh Collins and GEC Chairman David Varian