Irish emigrants who have made it in the United States, especially in Boston, have a tradition of helping their compatriots make the same journey.

In a similar vein, Carlow- headquartered technology company Netwatch is offering free office space in its Boston facility to three Irish companies that want to make the leap across the Atlantic.

David Walsh, the chief executive of Netwatch, which is investing heavily to add to its bank of 400 US clients, says his company benefited from similar help from Fergal Broder's Lotus Networks, when it made the move to the US a few years back.

“We want to pay it forward,” he told me this week.

Netwatch, which offers web-based CCTV monitoring services, recently moved to new offices in Boston, leaving it with plenty of spare capacity. It is prepared to offer free office space to up to three Irish companies for one year.

Walsh has assembled a mini-committee to hear pitches, comprising himself, former Stockbyte millionaire Jerry Kennelly, One4all founder Michael Dawson, Broder and Eirgen Pharma co-founder Tom Brennan.

Interested companies should apply at launchspace.ie by the end of the month.

In the meantime, Walsh believes Netwatch is on track to hit its target of €100 million in annual revenue by 2020. It’ll obviously need to raise a few bob to fund an expansion.

"We're talking to the Irish Stock Exchange and Enterprise Ireland about how to get IPO ready," he said, while emphasising that it was just one of the options open to the company. It could also take on a strategic partner to raise funds.

“We’re currently talking to financial advisers about how much we might need to raise and when,” he said.

The company is also looking to expand its product range, for example by developing technology to accurately measure retail footfall in real time.

Netwatch this space.