After the huge success of Founders last year we were left wondering what was next from the Dublin Web Summit guys. This guest post from Daire Hickey, answers that question. While you’re at it, you may want to signup for the next Dublin Web Summit , which we in EI are sponsoring.
Cash strapped startups take note. Together with ESB Electric Ireland the Dublin Web Summit have put together a €40k prize funds for Ireland’s top startup. This is the second year of the Summit’s Spark of Genius competition. Former winners of the competition have gone on to great success. Datahug came to international attention after judges described the company as “LinkedIn on steroids”. Data Hug co-founder, Connor Murphy said,
“Winning the Spark of Genius Award changed everything for DataHug.
The award gave us a dream platform to introduce Datahug to a global audience of potential customers, media and technology investors. Within a few weeks we had hundreds of registered companies, coverage on TechCruch, and several meetings with leading international venture capital firms’
We cannot thank the organisers, judges and sponsors enough”
The existence of this enterprising competition indicates there is endless talent and innovation growing within the industry and we hope to highlight this further and encourage start ups to come forward and be part of something very special.
The purpose of this competition as part of the Dublin Web Summit is to highlight Ireland’s up and coming tech start-ups as well as offering our winner a support package of over 40K in cash and services. This is a fantastic opportunity to promote your start up and be seen by many of those in the tech industry. Whether your start up is in its infancy or you have developed a strong following within a short space of time, by entering ESB Electric Ireland Spark of Genius competition you will have an experience with your peers of great innovation and creation that will be immensely rewarding.
During this process, entrants will pitch their business to a number of tech leaders in a Dragon’s Den like scenario in advance of the October summit. Five finalists will then present in front of 1,000 people at the summit itself. The judges include Brian Caulfield of internationally renowned venture capital firm DFJ Espirit, Shay Garvey of Delta Partners, Mark Roden of Ezetop and TechCrunch Europe Editor Mike Butcher.
This is ESB Electric Ireland’s first year with the competition. Ken McKervey from ESB Electric Ireland says
“At ESB Electric Ireland we are committed to embracing innovation and new technology to offer value and choice to our customers. We are delighted to be able to sponsor this inspiring initiative at a time when the technology sector can play a leading role in our economic recovery”.
To enter your start up should be less than 2 years old and have less than 2 million invested in the business. You will have a purchased ticket for the October Web Summit and should you be chosen to be in our final 25 start ups you will get a second complimentary ticket from the Dublin Web Summit. Interested? Signup over on DublinWebSummit.com.
