Ireland’s Top Start-up Funds and How to Raise Money _ Digital Times

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Ireland’s top start-up funds andhow to raise moneyNew Ideas (http://www.digitaltimes.ie/category/innovation-dt/)

Start ups (http://www.digitaltimes.ie/category/start-up/)

By: Stephen Conmy (http://www.digitaltimes.ie/author/stephen/) July 14, 2014

Is Ireland the 'best little country in the world to do business'? You won't find out until you try. Now get to it

You may have an idea for a new business or service. You may already be in the process of

developing the next revolutionary digital platform. You may even be a food producer looking to get

branding advice and a route to market. Ireland is getting much better when it comes to supporting

start-ups. Below is a list of some of the most recent high profile start-up funds and competitions

aimed at getting start-ups off the ground.

If you would like to add a fund or incubator to this list, or amend something, please email

[email protected] .

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Start-up funds and incubators in Ireland (http://theappys.ie)(http://theappys.ie)

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NDRC (http://www.ndrc.ie) was recently ranked (http://ubiindex.com/global-top-list-2013/ )the

number one IT incubator in the world. So, you know you are in good hands should you qualify.

NDRC LaunchPad is for aspiring entrepreneurs with ideas “capable of being brought to market

and achieving a commercial return”. The NDRC provides very decent pre-seed money per project

to support the founders during the three month programme.

Check it. (http://www.ndrc.ie/launchpad/)

NDRC is also teamed with Microsoft Ventures to provide NDRC’s start-up firms with mentors,

support and access to technical and business talent, as well as potential access to a global

investor network.

Check out microsoftventures.com (http://www.microsoftventures.com) and ndrc.ie

(http://www.ndrc.ie).

NDRC’s Female Founders startup initiativeFemale Founders, a pre-accelerator for new technology start-ups with gender diversity in their

founding teams is run by NDRC in partnership with AIB and Enterprise Ireland. Women with high-

tech business startup ideas can apply. Check it. (http://www.ndrc.ie/femalefounders)

NDRC VentureLabThis is for technology intensive start-ups in healthcare, e-commerce, energy efficiency, functional

foods, carbon reduction and image recognition. VentureLab is an intensive development

programme with each new business receiving investment of up to €100,000. NDRC VentureLab

(http://www.ndrc.ie/venturelab ) is targeted at enabling ventures that are commercialising science,

tech or intellectual property with high potential for success. Check it. (http://www.ndrc.ie/venturelab

)

Propeller Venture Accelerator programmeDCU’s Ryan Academy runs the Propeller Venture Accelerator

(http://www.ryanacademy.ie/accelerators/propeller-venture-accelerator)programme for early-stage

technology start-ups. This three-month, award-winning accelerator offers €30k seed funding to

entrepreneurs with winning ideas: office space, over 80 mentors (technical, specialists and serial

entrepreneurs) and a Demo Day pitching session with investors and business angels.

“Propeller has a proven track record in helping technology start-ups accelerate to the next phase

of their evolution. We offer to our successful participants a comprehensive package of practical

and financial supports and, through our extensive network of contacts in business and enterprise,

access to a full suite of mentoring programmes and to further investment,” says Terence Bowden,

Ryan Academy venture manager.

Female Propellers

The DCU Ryan Academy for entrepreneurs has also launched a women only accelerator

programme. The Female Propeller for High Fliers is open to female founders of Irish or

international start-ups less than five years old. All companies must be led by women.

Enterprise Ireland’s portfolio of programmesEnterprise Ireland falls somewhere in the middle between pre-seed and seed stage investment. It

has a number of solutions (http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/Management/Learn-skills-to-start-

and-develop-your-business/) aimed at people who are just starting up, (e.g. the New Frontiers

programme and the Competitive Feasibility Fund), but it also supports companies at the seed

stage of investment through the Competitive Start Fund and the High Potential Startup Unit

(HPSU). Also worth mentioning are the Innovation Vouchers from Enterprise Ireland (worth

€5,000) that are available to assist a company to explore a business opportunity or problem with

higher education institutes.

Graduate Start FundThere is also now a Competitive Start Fund for Irish graduates worth €50,000. Nice. Check it.

(http://www.enterprise-ireland.com/en/funding-supports/Company/HPSU-Funding/Competitive-

Start-Fund-Graduate-Entrepreneurship.html)

Google Venture’s $100m pot for start-upsGoogle has announced that it has set up an arm of Google Ventures in Europe and allocated an

initial fund of $100m for local start-ups.

Google Ventures (https://www.gv.com/) originally launched in the US in 2009 and now has over

250 companies in its portfolio, many of which – like Uber and TuneIn – have gone on to have a

significant impact on the mobile sector. The firm usually invests around $300m in new businesses

annually.

“Our goal is simple: we want to invest in the best ideas from the best European entrepreneurs, and

help them bring those ideas to life,” says Bill Maris, managing partner at Google Ventures.

Wayra Ireland

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Wayra Ireland is one of Ireland’s leading digital start-up accelerators. Based in Dublin’s Docklands,

Wayra provides early stage investment to start-ups as well as a workspace.Check here

(http://www.wayra.org/joinus) for more details and for regular updates follow @WayraIRL on

Twitter. Since its launch in September 2012, Wayra Ireland has accelerated 21 companies that, to

date, have raised over €6 million in funding for their businesses.

Mastercard’s e-commerce-focused acceleratorMasterCard has a new e-commerce-focused accelerator for innovative early stage European start-

ups. Visit www.startpath.com (http://www.startpath.com )for more details.

NovaUCDBased in Ireland’s largest University, NovaUCD is a centre of excellence for start-ups from a variety

of disciplines. Start-ups looking to enter the programme must be; less than three years old, in a

knowledge intensive business and have a desire to collaborate with UCD. The state of the art

complex on the Belfield campus provides office space and specialised bio incubation units. The

programme provides mentoring, free legal, tax and marketing advice and helps start-ups securing

funding from angels and venture capitalists.

Check it. (http://www.ucd.ie/innovation/entrepreneurs/)

Dogpatch LabsDogpatch Labs (http://dogpatchlabs.com/) is located in the midst of Dublin’s ‘IT Mecca’ on Barrow

St. The programme has three international sister offices in New York, Palo Alto California and

Cambridge, Massachusetts. On top of offering desk space, bandwidth and coffee to new start-ups,

the project aims to create “open source entrepreneurship”, where entrants share space, ideas,

referrals, and networking contacts. There are currently more than 100 businesses based in the

four locations and Dogpatch boasts more than 300 graduates.

Startupbootcamp IrelandStartupbootcamp (http://www.startupbootcamp.org/europeans-cities/dublin/) is the international

affiliate of the American start-up incubator Techstars. IBM and Citi have partnered with Enterprise

Ireland and Dublin City Council to create the program which is oriented towards the application and

commercialisation (sic) of specific technologies developed by the entrants.

Ignite incubator programmeIgnite is the incubator programme at University College Cork (UCC). The college does not take an

equity stake in the start-ups. On completion of the program businesses get a further six months

office space free-of-charge at the National Software Centre in Mahon in Cork. Entries are

welcomed from graduates of any third level institution and each year ten teams are chosen for the

programme. Check it boy. (http://www.ucc.ie/en/ignite/)

SeedcampSeedcamp (http://www.seedcamp.com), (Europe’s leading micro-seed investment and mentoring

programme) is also available to Irish start-ups.

In addition to its accelerator program the company also runs initiatives to support the European

start-up community such as Seedhack and Seedsummit.

The fund now has a portfolio of over 100 companies and is backed by over 50 institutional Venture

Capital firms, corporates and angel investors.

For the winning companies of any event where we choose to make an investment, there are three

options:

• €50,000 for 8-10% per cent of the company

• €25,000 for 5% per cent of the company

• No funding for 3% of Ordinary Shares

Tech All StarsTech All Stars (http://www.f6s.com/techallstars) connects twelve of the best start-ups from

accelerators and web camp competitions across Europe with top EU funding sources, successful

entrepreneurs and networking opportunities. Tech All Stars is sponsored by the European

Commission Information Society and Media.

UCD Student Innovation FundLast year six early-stage start-ups by UCD students received a combined total of over €15,500

through the UCD Student Innovation Fund (http://www.ucd.ie/studentcentre/dragonsden/).

This new fund was established by the UCD Student Centre, in association with the UCD Students’

Union, to encourage entrepreneurship among UCD undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Dell’s €10 million fund for Irish tech start-upsDell has launched a new initiative aimed to support the start-up community in Ireland. The Dell

Centre for Entrepreneurs says it will provide access to funding, mentoring and Dell’s technical help

to assist Irish start-ups “grow and scale quickly”.

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€10m will be made available to help support viable, tech start-ups. “We’re looking to attract start-

up businesses with a technology focus,” says Aongus Hegarty, President, Dell EMEA. Check it.

(http://eir.dell.ie/)

The Summit’s start-up competition – PITCHLast year start-ups could compete in PITCH – a competition held at The Web Summit sponsored

by Box. The winner landed a prize to the value of €500,000 making it one of the largest prize funds

for a start-up in the world.

Keep an eye out on here (http://summitdublin.com/) for details of this year’s Summit competition.

Microsoft’s Imagine CupThis is a competition for third level students. The idea is that students will go on to develop their

concepts into successful start-ups. The Imagine Cup has been running in Ireland for the past eight

years and previously Irish teams have had great success on the global stage. Microsoft Imagine

Cup is part sponsored by Invest Northern Ireland. Further information on the Microsoft Imagine

Cup is here (http://www.imaginecup.com).

The Versari HubDo you have an idea or a product for the ‘learning tech’ sector? The Versari Hub

(http://versaripartners.com/hub/)is Ireland’s first dedicated facility for early-stage learning

technologies companies in Dublin today.

Companies already at the Hub have raised over €8m in capital to date, employ over 100 people

and are actively recruiting. Expenditure on learning technologies is projected to grow at 23% each

year leading to $250bn global market by 2017 across all Education and corporate sectors. So,

there’s a great opportunity for Irish companies in the sector.

The SAP Startup Focus programThe SAP Startup Focus (http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/about/our-company/innovation/start-up-

focus-program.html) program supports start-ups in developing new applications on SAP HANA,

SAP’s real-time database platform that streamlines analytics, planning and predictive assessments

to allow business to operate in real time.

The program is an accelerator for big data, predictive and real-time analytics start-ups and now

has more than 1,500 start-ups with very distinct SAP HANA-based use-cases, from gaming to retail

to finance to manufacturing and more.

Food Academy Start programmeIt’s not all just about tech firms in Ireland. Other sectors are now being targeted by enterprise

offices and private firms. For example, food business start-ups as can apply to the Food Academy

Start programme (http://www.bordbia.ie/corporate/press/2013/pages/FoodAcademy.aspx), a

collaborative initiative between the Local Enterprise Offices, Bord Bia and SuperValu.

Music start-ups backed by GuinnessGuinness has launched a new music programme called Guinness Amplify

(http://www.guinnessamplify.com ). Guinness Amplify offers 60 days of free studio time will be to

qualifying musicians. Places at the workshops will be offered to musicians on a first come, first

served basis and those interested should check it (http://www.guinnessamplify.com ) for further

details.

OPTIMISE e-commerce fundFifteen companies can each win prizes of 10 days of professional consultancy, training and

development, from a total fund of €150,000. OPTIMISE Awards give small business owners the e-

tools and know-how to ‘optimise’ their existing website and grow their business online. For further

details about the OPTIMISE Fund and how to apply, check it (http://www.iedr.ie/optimise).

Origin8 from NCADA new on-campus centre for commercialisation (sic) and innovation at the National College of Art

and Design (NCAD). Origin8 (http://www.ncad.ie) aims to allow industry partners to access the very

best and latest in design research. At the same time, it allows on-campus designers and

researchers to get access to successful companies that need good designers.

Opel’s Springboard Graduate ProgrammeOpel Ireland and its parent company General Motors (GM) has announced a partnership with the

HEA’s (Higher Education Authority) Springboard programme, introducing new Graduate

Programmes in University of Limerick and NUI Galway which will run from 2014 up to 2018. All

Springboard courses are available for review here (http://www.springboardcourses.ie).

Compass Group Ireland and The Idea Works

Compass Group Ireland has launched The Idea Works, a new initiative which encourages SMEs in

the food service, hospitality and facilities management industry to come forward with cutting-edge

products, solutions and applications. Companies across Ireland can submit their concepts via a

dedicated website. Check it. (http://www.compass-ideaworks.ie)

DealStartThe tech start-up programme DealStart set up by it@cork European Tech Cluster, helps start-up

businesses to grow faster, smarter and more profitably by matching them with a large company

mentor in the area of procurement and business development. Interested parties should visit

itcork.ie (http://www.itcork.ie ) and complete the application form online.

Start-up competitions in IrelandThere are many competitions, grants and award programmes for a variety of start-up sector. You

don’t have to be in the tech area to enter these. Good ideas, businesses that have the potential to

build and sell products and scale are welcome.

Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur Competition (https://www.localenterprise.ie/DLR/Start-or-Grow-

your-Business/Ireland-s-Best-Young-Entrepreneur-IBYE-/) is open to all sectors. The competition

takes place at County level initially, with a prize fund of €50,000 available to the winners of three

separate categories. Are you 30 or under with a business idea or an existing business? If so, the

Ireland’s Best Young Entrepreneur (IBYE) Competition could be for you.

The Irish Times InterTradeIreland Innovation AwardsThe Irish Times InterTradeIreland Innovation Awards has been showcasing new, Irish product and

service innovations – from drug delivery systems and state of the art network switching, to anti-

allergy pillows and leading technologies for cleaning and disinfection.

The prizes involved aren’t enormous, but the kudos is good. Check it (http://www.sfi.ie/news-

resources/noticeboard/the-irish-times-and-intertrade-ireland-innovation-awards-2014.html).

OTHER WAYS TO GET MONEY FOR YOUR BUSINESSYou could have a great product that has global potential. If so, you may need to approach venture

capitalists for money, lots of money. For a full list of all the VCs operating in Ireland go to The

IVCA’s site ( http://www.ivca.ie/).

The IVCA represents venture capital in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. Its full

members are venture capital firms which provide equity funding to growing unquoted companies.

Check it. ( http://www.ivca.ie/)

The Top 10 crowdfunding sites in the worldFrom Kickstarter to Indiegogo, crowdfunding may also help you raise some seed capital to get your

product or service to market. Here are the top 10 platforms worldwide

(http://www.crowdfunding.com/). With low deposit rates for would be investors and conventional

finance opportunities being slim for start-up businesses, crowdfunding has emerged as a popular

alternative form of finance and the market for 2013 is estimated to have been in the region of €1

billion in the EU.

Ireland does not, however, have a regulatory framework governing crowdfunding, which puts the

country at a disadvantage in terms of encouraging new start-ups in the space and protecting

investors.

It’s all about the money, money, moneyOnce you ‘graduate’ from your accelerator fund, you then need to scale, perhaps raise more

money, and go to market. For this you need to dream big, so, here are: ‘The Top 100 Venture

Capital Firms in the US’.

(http://bit.ly/1mQyjBf)

Irish Universities and Institutes of Technology love start-upsBusiness development programs are available and the Universities and Institutes of Technology

below:

• National College of Ireland (NCI)

• Invent Centre DCU, Dublin City University

• M50 Enterprise – Tallaght IT and Blanchardstown IT

• South East Enterprise Platform Program – Waterford IT

• NUIG Business Innovation Centre, NUI Galway

• Innovation Centre, NUI Maynooth (Centre is under construction)

• gatewayUCC, University College Cork

• Tyndall Incubation Centre, Tyndall National Institute Cork (Centre under construction)

• Trinity Technology and Enterprise Campus, Trinity College Dublin

• Nexus Innovation Centre, University of Limerick

• Midlands Innovation & Research Centre (MIRC), Athlone Institute of Technology

• Learning & Innovation Centre (LINC) Blanchardstown Institute of Technology

Read more by Stephen Conmy (http://www.digitaltimes.ie/author/stephen/) Follow Stephen Conmy (http://www.digitaltimes.ie/author/stephen/) on:

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• Enterprise & Research Incubation Campus, Carlow Institute of Technology

• Rubicon Centre, Cork Institute of Technology

• DIT Incubation Centre

• Regional Development Centre (RDC), Dundalk Institute of Technology

• Innovation in Business Centre (IIBC), Galway, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology

• Innovation in Business Centre (IIBC), Castlebar, Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology

• The Media Cube, Institute of Art, Design and Technology Dun Laoghaire

• CoLab, Letterkenny Institute of Technology (Under Construction)

• Enterprise Acceleration Centre, Limerick Institute of Technology

• NCI Business Incubation Centre, National College of Ireland

• ITSBIC, Institute of Technology Sligo

• Synergy Centre, Institute of Technology Tallaght

• Tom Creen Business Centre, Institute of Technology Tralee

• Arclabs Research and Innovation Centre, Waterford Institute of Technology

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STEPHEN CONMY (HTTP://WWW.DIGITALTIMES.IE/AUTHOR/STEPHEN/) - Editor and co-founder of Digital Times, co-founder of The Appys, writer and publisher.

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