Belfast has long been renowned known for having an educated, confident and motivated network of school leavers and graduates and it is no surprise that this has translated into a significant pool of entrepreneurial talent that is helping the city to thrive in the digital age.

Belfast has become an ever-expanding nerve centre with young business minds at its centre and the incredible innovations being development by this new generation are shaping the city as a global hub for new technology.

We look at the young people who are driving the future of entrepreneurship in the city.

Meet Belfast’s brilliant millennial business people

Daniel Crawford: Founder and CEO, Axial3D

A biomedical engineering graduate from the University of Ulster, Daniel spent 7 years in the medical device industry before founding Axial3D in 2015. Axial3D is focused on delivering pioneering software and services in medical 3D printing. This is transforming not only how surgical consultants plan and prepare for surgery but also how they communicate these treatment options with the patient.

In 2017, the company secured over £500k seed funding to further advance its medical 3D printing technology and expansion into new markets. In 2018, they produced a 3D printed model of a kidney which helped Belfast surgeons to perform a life-saving transplant operation on a young mother – a medical first in the city.

Matthew Large, Founder and CEO of glistrr

Queen’s University Belfast graduate, Matthew is currently the CEO at glistrr, an award-winning company that allows event organisers to identify and engage influencers within their customer base. Glistrr has serviced event organisers worldwide, who were finding traditional methods of marketing expensive and ineffective at promoting their events. In 2016, Matthew was awarded ‘Best Young Businessperson’ at the Bank of Ireland-sponsored Belfast Business Awards. In 2017, Glistrr completed the inaugural StartPlanetNI accelerator, Northern Ireland’s only equity-backed accelerator programme. The company was voted the ‘Most Investible Company’ at the Demo Day by an investor audience from across Ireland, the UK and further afield.

Chris Martin, Founder and Managing Director of Ozaroo 

Ozaroo, the online shopping company has been named the fastest growing company in Northern Ireland by the Financial Times two years in a row. The business began in Managing Director Chris Martin’s Belfast home in 2010 and has experienced huge success the past 8 years. Impressively, Ozaroo has also been recognised as Northern Ireland’s top tech company in the Deloitte Technology Fast 50 Awards for two consecutive years. It ships more than 1,000 parcels a day, specialising in beauty, toys, baby accessories and home and tech products.

Peter Johnston, Founder and CEO of KALO

Belfast and London-based Kalo, previously known as Lystable, was founded by University of Ulster graduate, Peter Johnston. The company has created an innovative piece of software that allows large organisations to manage a freelance workforce in a time efficient manner. Clients include AirBnB, Google and The Economist and their software is used to manage over 70,000 freelancers globally. Kalo has raised more than $25 million so far in funding from investors that include Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures, Goldcrest Capital and Spring Partners.

Gavin Shields, Founder of YOMO

Banbridge native, Gavin Shields set up Yomo with the idea of helping millennials achieve financial stability in a straight-forward way. The London and Belfast-based company has devised an app for savings and investment that is designed as a solution to battle the often-relentless cycle of spiralling debt among the younger generation.

Shields set up his first start-up in 2009, a games company in London. Speaking to Silicon Republic, he explained “This grew to 25 people in the UK, US and Japan. I have also had the opportunity to be involved in other start-ups since, which include PiggyPot and, of course, Yomo, which we have been building since mid-2017.” The company is currently in the process of raising £1 million in funding.

Technology and digital occupiers have dominated the office market within Northern Ireland in the first quarter of 2018. These thriving businesses need centrally located, highly adaptable office space and access to the fastest, most reliable internet connection. As Belfast’s first ‘Future-Fit’ space, Chichester House puts connectivity and technological building advancements at the forefront of their building design. Chichester House will be the first building to have an internationally recognised connectivity certification by Wired Score, making it a highly attractive office space for tech companies.

For more information about Chichester House facilities, find out more about the building to visualise the benefits for your company.