Invest NI support secures £41m of investment in Derry City & Strabane District Council area

Invest Northern Ireland performance results for 2025/26 show that its support has helped secure £41m of business investment in the Derry City & Strabane District Council area.

The agency offered nearly £6m of assistance to help businesses in the area innovate, increase productivity and create new jobs. 274 new jobs will be created in the area as a result of this support – more than double last year.  

Speaking about the results, Aeidin McCarter, Head of North West Regional Business said: “We have worked closely with businesses in the area to support them with investments in their businesses, with a strong focus on job creation investments. There was an equal split of support – 50/50 – for job created by locally owned and externally owned companies this year.  Two thirds of these jobs were by businesses in the Financial, Professional and Business Services sector.

“For example, we provided support to Inclusion Quality Mark, creating four new roles at its Claudy office to increase productivity after developing a digital portal for international markets. Meanwhile, Wild Atlantic Distillery has purchased new equipment with our support to keep up with increasing demand after our Trade team connected it with distributors on trade visits to the US, Canada and Europe.

“In addition to the 274 reported, leading technology firm Kainos is also creating 32 roles at its Derry~Londonderry office as part of its multi-site investment in expanding its artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities.

“We also have a number of investments secured for the area which we are looking forward to announcing after the summer.”

Optik AI is also growing its business with Invest NI support. The SaaS company has received £600,000 from the Techstart Ventures fund, part of the Access to Finance portfolio, which will be used to develop its human-assisted AI platform and reach new export markets.

“We are working with more companies in the area than before, particularly thanks to our programmes Ambition to Grow and Business Innovation Grant,” added Aeidin. “These programmes are helping us reach small businesses that previously would not have been able to access Invest NI support. We have helped 24 entrepreneurs and SMEs in the Derry City & Strabane District Council area innovate, create good jobs and increase external sales through these programmes to date.  

“Our strong relationship with the Council also ensures businesses engaging with council programmes with export potential are referred to Invest NI. In conjunction with the Council, we held Ambition to Grow drop-in sessions and regional business advice clinics to help businesses of all sizes access expert guidance, explore opportunities and connect with other local business owners.

“We also worked with North West Regional College on a market intelligence clinic and ran multiple Business Breakfasts on specialist topics such as access to finance, export advice, R&D, skills and productivity.  These all served to engage with businesses, helping them understand what assistance is available and how we can best support them.”

The Derry City & Strabane District Council Briefing has now been updated and includes data on Invest NI support over the past five years (2021-22 to 2025-26).