Claregalway is celebrating the announcement of a major investment in a local company that is scheduled to create 23 new jobs in the area over the next three years.
Algae Health is a green bio-technology company that has announced it is to significantly expand its workforce at Claregalway Corporate Park.
The workforce will grow from three to eight by the end of this year, with a total staff of 23 expected to be in place by 2016.
Edward McHugh, Managing Director of Algae Health said the investment was a huge boost for the company, which has developed technology to cultivate micro-algae.
“We have been working in conjunction with Shannon Applied Biotecnology Centre, which has links to Limerick Institute of Technology in recent years and we are now in a position to commercialise the work we have been doing on a pilot scale,” he said.
“We have been granted €1million in seed funding from Enterprise Equity, which is the AIB’s seed fund programme, the Western Development Commission and Udarás na Gaeltachta.
“We are now in the position of seeking microbiologists, bio-chemists and sales and administration people to develop the company, which has the potential to grow substantially.”
The investment is the latest in a series of coups for the company, which was named Best High Growth Company in Connacht and Leinster in cross-border business development competition last November.