1000 JOBS CREATED OVER FIVE YEARS, WITH €10 MILLION INVESTMENT RAISED BETWEEN MEMBERS DURING LOCKDOWN

Cork-based remote working space Republic of Work celebrates 5th anniversary

Republic of Work, a flexible innovation hub in the heart of Cork city, is celebrating its fifth birthday. Based on South Mall, the Republic of Work has positioned itself as “The Definitive Space” and is already home to a diverse range of more than 100 companies, including SOSV, Digisoft, and OpinionRoute.

Over the last five years, the team has celebrated many accomplishments. They used COVID downtime to undergo a €200,000 rebrand and doubled their staff. As a result, they are experiencing a 200% increase in inquiries about its workspaces as companies explore new options for their development and employees.

Republic of Work has positioned itself as the premier remote workspace in Cork, where members enjoy a Coworking space with a vibrant Business Community to help them be most productive while forming valuable business connections. The business lounge, private offices, hot desk, event space, and members’ kitchen have been transformed and redesigned to reflect the new work environment.

Republic of Work has benefited from significant investment from Cork-based entrepreneurs Dan and Linda Kiely, who has worked on developing the business with one of its original founders Dave Roynane. The development has also benefited from Covid support, facilitated by Enterprise Ireland and the Rural and Community Development Department.

Dan Kiely commented on the development: “The last five years have been a period of growth for us. How we work has certainly changed, and Hybrid working is here to stay. Republic of Work offers that ‘third workplace’ between the office and the home, which has become increasingly important in today’s business environment. Remote working spaces allow people to benefit from all the advantages of unique work environments that foster creativity and entrepreneurship while making meaningful business connections. Of course, people want the flexibility that working from home brings, but collaboration and being part of a community are still equally important”.

Republic of Work is committed to supporting entrepreneurs and is acting as an accelerator for several emerging Cork companies.

Republic of Work is part of the NDRC Irish Tech Hub Network and home to the Teamwork Catalyst incubation and accelerator programmes, where several of the startup companies based there have doubled in size over the next year. Republic of Work prioritises delivering mentorship-driven accelerator and pre-accelerator programmes and pre-seed funding to entrepreneurs in Cork and the surrounding region.

Republic of Work CEO Frank Brennan said: “We are a passionate group of like-minded individuals, and I am incredibly proud of the team here. We pride ourselves on being a welcoming, flexible work environment where you’ll do your most productive work ever – somewhere you can call your work home. It’s been an incredible five years, and we have a lot to celebrate. Despite the pandemic, it has been fantastic to see new businesses emerging and thriving under our roof”.

We Are Riley’s female-founded and eco-friendly period product subscription service was launched in April 2021 and sold out online within one week. The company was founded by three friends who wanted to create a plastic-free sustainable solution for women.

Irish fitness software provider LegitFit works with hundreds of businesses in 12 countries, including Ireland, the UK, the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. Its scheduling and management platform was launched in 2019 and allows fitness entrepreneurs to automate their workflows, reduce cancellations and maximise their customers’ experience. The company is on track to meet and exceed its goal of one million dollars in Annual Recurring Revenue by the end of the year, having recently come out of the world-renowned accelerator Techstars.

Further highlights include:

We Are Riley launched their products in a pop up stand in Brown Thomas in Dundrum in March 2022
Vaultree secured $3.3m in seed funding to develop its encryption-as-a-service tools.
Q1 of 2022 saw huge sales numbers for Republic of Work – Bounce back post-covid is really showing the demand for flexible and coworking spaces