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Different Backgrounds Shaping the Future

Accelerating an Inclusive Future

Too many groups are still “under-represented” in tech entrepreneurship.

 

We’re committed to using our position of privilege within the ecosystem to proactively dismantle barriers facing these groups.

Diverse Ecosystems Are Stronger

“Entrepreneurial ecosystems need diversity to truly thrive. We need a culture that supports heterogeneous communities, a range of industries, and a wealth of different ideas.”

– Entrepreneurial ecosystem building playbook

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Diversity & Inclusion in the Irish Context

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Supporting Changemakers

Dogpatch Labs has been committed to diversifying participation in entrepreneurship since we opened our doors in 2015, with a focus on using our platform to elevate the incredible work done by those supporting underestimated groups. Below are some of the groups we have supported over the years through free or discounted space and event production.

Youth

It’s vital that young people are exposed to and excited by the potential of technological innovation as early as possible to create a steady and more balanced pipeline across the Irish ecosystem.

Coder Dojo

CoderDojo is the global volunteer-led community of free coding clubs for young people across 60 countries global. We proudly provide their global HQ with the space and resources they need to grow and achieve their mission of empowering the new generation of techstars with free coding classes.

School Digital Champions

We proudly support the DECC’s Digital schools champions programme, a national programme for transition year students to motivate, encourage and support students in embracing and exploring digital technologies to make a difference in their communities. We gave them a virtual tour of Dogpatch Labs, interviewed a range of entrepreneurs and hosted their showcase day.

Patch

Patch is a summer accelerator for 16 – 20 year olds with entrepreneurial ambition. We giving them the chance to plug into the startup ecosystem and our community, early access to some of Ireland’s top mentors and an understanding of what it takes to develop new innovations.

Universities

We’re exploring new ways to give students and graduates access to exciting opportunities with startups. If you’re a third level institution get in contact with us!

Gender Diversity

Women make up 50% of the population, 45% of the labour force but only 28% of entrepreneurs. Worse again, <10% of overall funding in 2020 went into female-founded companies. Data on gender non-conforming folx is even more sparse again.

 

Our vision is to see an ecosystem that’s inclusive of all genders, with gender parity across entrepreneurial and investment sectors.

Women Entrepreneurs

We support female founders by hosting high-quality curated events, making valuable industry introductions, and housing amazing female-led high-growth startups. We’ve also increased gender diversity in mentors for First Fridays 40% in 6 months. 

Meetups

We support developer meetups like PyLadies, Women who Code, TeenTurn, Women in AI  and many more who take particular care to nurture and support female tech talent. You can find a full list of the active meetup groups supporting diverse groups here

LGBTQ+

Dogpatch gives the LGBTQ+ community a platform within tech to share best practices, discuss issues, and come up with solutions. As part of our annual Pride celebrations, we sponsor inclusion through education specialists ShoutOut to host interactive workshops with our community. The funds from our community workshop are used by ShoutOut to deliver the same workshop across 15 schools in Ireland.

Other groups we support

Diversity is multifaceted, and an intersectional approach is needed to ensure that the rising tide lifts all boats.

Ethnic & Racial Minorities

Dogpatch Labs works with groups and entrepreneurs supporting Black, Asian and Middle Eastern communities through sponsored membership and events space. We work with groups like Women who Tech Africa and the Black Googler Network to increase representation in our programmes and membership. We are committed to ‘passing the mic’ and demand representation when invited to speak on diversity issues at any event. Check out the great work being done our friends at Phase Innovate below.

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People with Disability

Entrepreneurship has been identified as a core activity by the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities. We have a close working relationship with Hack Access, who are a community of disabled entrepreneurs seeking to change the narrative around ability.

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Ecosystem Builders

We support hubs across the country and across the globe to be more inclusive. We’re a founding hub of the Irish Tech Hub Network, a non-profit initiative to accelerate regional inclusion and support a national strategy for innovation acceleration, creating a new era of ecosystem connectedness through a coordinated national strategy. 

In the past, we delivered training and an inclusive hubs playbook  to help operationalise D&I across all layers of a startup hubs the global Google for Startups Network

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“Our Stealth Mode female founders accelerator programme was inspired by Dogpatch Labs’ great work and learnings shared on D&I”

Catherine Bischoff | CRO

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