Aiming to fast-track new and innovative businesses that can export successfully to markets around the world, Invest Northern Ireland’s latest Propel Programme embarked on a new phase this month as 26 successful candidates entered its crucial second stage. Today we are profiling Nigel Woodside and his business “Farmatic” The future of cattle feeding… Nigel Woodside developed his unique in-parlour feeding system after a local yeast importer approached him about finding a cost effective solution to ensuring cattle are fed consistent amounts of vitamins and minerals. “I had been working on [...]
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Start up scene in Ireland
Conor Murphy of Datahug giving an overview of the start up scene in Ireland. Great story!
How to Make Your Business More Eco Friendly
The number of small businesses throughout the UK trying to ‘go green’ has almost doubled in the last two years, according to recent research, with many of them planning become more and more environmentally friendly in years to come. This is great news for the environment, but actually lowering a business’ ‘carbon footprint’ can be something that’s easier said than done when it comes to small and start-up business, what with limited resources in both funding and technology. Ensuring your business is eco-friendly reflects well on you, it could be [...]
Student Entrepreneurs Kick Off First Day at Winners’ Bootcamp
Award-winning student entrepreneurs from secondary schools across the country are, this week, applying their business acumen at the “Winners’ Bootcamp”, a four day business bootcamp, which commenced on Tuesday 4th June at the Nexus Innovation Centre in the University of Limerick. The 19 students, from secondary schools in Counties Dublin, Leitrim, Wexford, Monaghan, Kerry and Limerick, won prizes in the Senior Category at the Senior Enterprise Awards National Final in April and are now being coached in areas such as iterative product and service development, experiential storyboarding and business pitches. [...]
HealthXL, Claimsync, Sense of Skin, goACT, Nursebuddy, Evinance, myMedScore and Nutritics
Today at the HealthXL Dublin Global Gathering Investor Day in Trinity Biomedical Building, Pearse Street @Health_XL #HealthXL #HXLGlobalGathering, seven world class entrepreneurs from Finland, US, Australia, Ghana, Canada and Ireland are pitching next generation technologies to a 300+ capacity crowd of key angel investors (including; SOS Ventures, Silicon Valley Banks, Delta Partners, Aberdare Ventures, Cleveland Clinic, Oyster Capital, Highland Capital Partners, SROne), HealthXL mentors and start-up community to secure investment at the explosive event in Dublin’s thriving tech district Claimsync (Africa) Healthcare facilities software automating patients’ records and process medical records electronically. Sense of Skin (Ireland) Technology-enabled programme to help people with [...]
Irish Times Fusion, first week for the start-ups
A group of shortlisted startups entered The Irish Times at the start of a six week experiment to work with leading advertising creatives, including Eoghan Nolan of Brand Artillery and Pearse McCaughey of Cawley/Nea, to develop and refine their pitches. After a three day period of creative workshops the initial shortlist of 20 startups started an accelerated version of the NDRC LaunchPad, ranked Ireland’s number one incubator by the Kauffman Foundation. The startups have one week to prepare for the pitch to an industry panel that will decide which final ten startups of the shortlisted twenty [...]
Enterprising students put through their paces at ‘Winners’ business bootcamp
19 award-winning students, who beat off competition at the National Finals of the Student Enterprise Awards, have secured places at the first ever “Winners’ Bootcamp” in the Nexus Innovation Centre at the University of Limerick this summer. The inaugural four day business bootcamp runs from 4th to 7th June and is sponsored by Ulster Bank. The group of teenagers will receive mentoring from experienced entrepreneurs, as well as critical feedback from peers and experts. Sessions range from advice on delivering a business pitch that’s got the “Wow” factor to business development [...]
Compete for share of a €280k
Connor Sweeney, InterTradeIreland Project Manager and last year’s winner, Dr. Andrew Woods, CEO from Belfast company Catagen, launch the Seedcorn Investor Readiness Competition 2013. They are calling on start-ups to become Investor Ready and compete for share of a €280k cash prize fund. This year InterTradeIreland has revamped the format of the competition to ensure it reflects the investment process even more closely. Changes include a simplified entry process which consists of submitting an online form along with a visual representation of their business idea which can be a short [...]
Wayra, no-brainer for start-ups
Our friend in Wayra have announced a new call for projects in order to find new business proposals in the fields of Internet and new technologies. Entrepreneurs from all over the world can put forward their digital projects up to 26 May at: http://www.wayra.org/joinus-en in order to win a place at one of the eight Academies in this call, among them the Academies in Buenos Aires, Caracas, Dublin, Lima, Madrid, Santiago, Mexico City and Munich. In this call, the focal point is products and solutions in the fields of Big Data, [...]
Leitrim students with ‘Squeazy’ win Enterprise Awards
A group of students from St Clare’s Comprehensive School in Manorhamilton, Co. Leitrim, have scooped the top prize at the Student Enterprise Awards with their product, Squeazy. The Squeazy is a unique toy targeting primary schools but suitable for all ages. Strongly packaged and with an impactful marketing campaign around the characters Drip and Drop, the Squeazy is based on the simple science of pressure and water. Using the concept of Cartesian divers (demonstrating the principle of buoyancy and the ideal gas law), the aim of the game is to [...]
Enterprising students pick up national awards
Student entrepreneurs from Co Leitrim, with their company Squeazy have been awarded first prize at the 11th Annual Student Enterprise Awards National Finals in Croke Park. Matthew Hewston, Fergus Munday and Luke Sheridan of Squeazy from St Clare’s Comprehensive School, Manorhamilton, Co Leitrim won the Senior Category of the County and the City Enterprise Boards student enterprise programme. In the Intermediate Category, which features Second and Third year students, Shauna Bannon Ward and Samantha Brennan of The Boom Book from Oaklands Community College, Edenderry, Co Offaly took top prize. For [...]
The future of enterpreneurship In Ireland
The cut and thrust of real-life business were high on the agenda for young entrepreneurs exhibiting their own ‘real-world’ successful businesses at this year’s 11th annual Student Enterprise Awards in Croke Park on April 17th. With support and resources from the local Enterprise Boards, this annual competition is the largest programme of its kind in Ireland with 15,000 students from over three hundred schools having participated since September. The winning students in the Senior Category will win an international enterprise education visit to Italy, €500, a trophy and a certificate. [...]
Innovation lessons (ish)
Why does innovation not work? Why do the big companies spend the millions and the young start ups with no money walk away with the big price? “Creative intelligence” is about trying to crack the innovation code. What are the tricks? Embrace VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) Harness uncertainty Play Create a knowledge jumping point (TED, knowledge, connections) Pick congestion to immerse yourself (cities of knowledge and connections) Use Kickstarter Apply the 20% rule and let your staff play Become an entrepreneur (the language of play) Use a Techshop [...]
Where to start with the Enterprise Agencies when starting a business?
Are you considering starting a business in Ireland? Have you wondered where you should begin when seeking support from the State Enterprise Agencies. When you look at the graphic below you might be overwhelmed by all the organisations involved in assisting startups but it worth taking some time to familiarise yourself with the type of businesses which they support. This blogposts sets out 5 good places to start. The first step is to build a relationship with a contact in your local and/or sectoral organisation. I would suggest meeting them [...]
How to Start Your Own Record Label
86 Palatine Road. From there, a small apartment in suburban Manchester, Toby Wilson and Alan Erasmus first ran Factory Records. A British based record label which spawned era defining bands, a legendary nightclub and, much to my Liverpudlian father’s chagrin, shifted perceptions of Manchester from decaying industrial wasteland to international capital of cool. Clearly then, even with modest finances and surroundings it’s possible to set up your own record label, changing music history as you do it. In fact it’s even easier now, advances in technology reducing barriers on a [...]
