This is a guest post from Dermot Lally of Ex Ordo, a startup aiming to be the ‘EventBrite for Academics’. It’s another good example of EI clients using video to show explain how they can help customers.

An academic conference is where researchers present and discuss their research papers with their peers. It can take 12 – 24 months to organise, involve hundreds of people and is a serious drain on the conference chair’s time. The conference chair is usually an academic or researcher with a full-time schedule, and is certainly not an event manager.  By saving the chair over 3 weeks, Ex Ordo enables the chair  to focus on what makes a conference great – getting the best mix of research, speakers and sponsors to their event.

Still not sure? Watch the video to find out more about Ex Ordo.

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Internet or Games based Start Up? – Apply for iGAP Here

Over the last 2 years 29 companies, 58 promoters have completed iGAP.  We in Enterprise Ireland believe that IGAP  is a brilliant and innovative internet start up programme.  More importantly so do the participants…..

In an Internet based startup? You should apply for iGAP.

Ronan Skehill co-founder of Cauwill. www.cauwill.com

“I know many such management training and incubation programmes exist, we were on LEAP which was good for us at the time, but iGAP is different because it focuses specifically on the needs of internet businesses.  Over a period of seven months, six modules were led by international lean start-up and customer development experts such as Eric Ries, Scott Rafer, Paul O’Dea , Justin Knecth, Sean Ellis and Oren Michels .Over the programme they addressed issues such as lean startup theory, product market fit, monetisation strategies, internet customer acquisition, business development using APIs, etc. Here is a quick synopsis of the content covered by the speakers………http://www.ronanskehill.com/2011/02/05/in-a-startup-you-should-apply-for-igap/#comments

 In a Games based startup? You should apply for iGAP.

Steven Collins, Swrve, www.swrve.com

“The iGAP program is an excellent opportunity to both network with a peer group of companies all experiencing many of the same challenges as you, and to hear from some of the world’s leading speakers on building companies and products.  The speaker lineup was second to none, with lots of opportunities for interaction and feedback and to build connections.  The program itself is very well structured, with lectures, group sessions and mentors and a great curriculum.  It presented me with the perfect opportunity to reflect on my own startup and to put the spotlight on our processes for customer discovery, product design and business strategy.  I can’t recommend the IGAP program highly enough to anybody building an internet or games industry company and lucky enough to be offered a place.

In a Business 2 Business internet startup? You should apply for iGAP.

Connor Murphy, Datahug, www.datahug.com

“iGAP is one word…. ‘mandatory’. If you want to accelerate your web business and compete globally then you NEED to be on iGAP. If you want to learn from Silicon Valley insiders and world class thought leaders then you NEED to be on iGAP. If you want to collaborate and learn from a brilliant peer group then you NEED to be on iGAP.”

Ronan Perceval http: www.phorest.com

 “The really great benefit for me has been the other companies taking part. We were a bit concerned because our company has been in business for longer, but actually the start-up companies on iGap has given us a new lease of life. We’ve started thinking more like a start up again and that’s given us a real focus. That alone has been great.

Hopefully we’ve been able to share some stuff back with other people on the programme as well.

One of the big benefits of iGap has shown in our marketing. I think it’s much more focused now. It’s the first year we have a proper marketing plan, and we’re analyzing the metrics so we’ll actually know for sure what’s working and what’s not.

All in all I think iGap is the best programme Enterprise Ireland has done. Why? Because it’s all practical. They seminar leaders are all guys who have done it.”

Brian Caulfield

Brian Caulfield was the Programme Lead for the iGAP1/2.

“I have spent the last eight years as a venture capital and angel investor in technology companies.  Prior to that, I was a technology entrepreneur for ten years.  In those 18 years working in and with start-up companies I have become convinced that many entrepreneurs fail simply because they don’t have a clear vision of what their business really is…who their customers are; what their proposition for those customers is; how they are going to reach those customers; how they will make money from those customers.  In a nutshell, they don’t have a clear strategy.

Getting to that clarity is essential for every business.  That clarity enables you to prioritise tasks amidst the chaos of a start-up. It enables you to focus the team on what’s important. It enables you to articulate a clear and, hopefully, compelling investment opportunity to potential funders of the business.

Get your application in today! Online applications close on Friday 9^th of September

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Following last weeks IGAP finale, this is a guest post from IGAP 2 participant Siún Ní Raghallaigh’s of TunePresto, which allows you to create music using video and pictures. This post originally appeared on Siún’s blog.

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co-post with Anna Marie Turley

Update: This round of the fund has now closed. But a 2nd Round was launched in Feb 2011.

Let the FUND commence!  We have listened to the community and now we have launched a pilot equity fund to assist Internet and Games Start-Ups to help them launch new products and services in the international marketplace. The Internet and Games Competitive Start Fund (IGCSF) provides funding to new early-stage companies to  get to a ‘product  market fit ‘  and interact with customers from an early stage.

Starting on a pilot basis, ten companies in the Internet and Games sector will be selected for this fund. The key to being one of the ten is being able to demonstrate an ability to develop your business internationally. The initial fund is €500,000, but further calls   maybe be rolled out next year .

(more…)

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We all love winning, but when you come out top in front of almost 600 event attendees, you just might feel like breaking open a case of beer. That was surely what Irish technology mapping firm, DataHug, must have felt like when, at the recently held Dublin Web Summit, they won the Spark of Genius 2010 competition, not only earning kudos and respect from its peers and iGapers but also walking away with a cool €30,000 worth of selected prizes.

Supported by Enterprise Ireland, DataHug was co-founded in 2009 by Connor Murphy and Ray Smith, and has developed technology which indexes corporate email systems and generates actionable insight about the everyday connections between people. Commented one member of the judging panel

Like LinkedIn/xobni on steroids,as it not only answers who knows who, but how well they know them.

As well as the €30,000 worth of prizes (which includes costs towards legal, hosting and translation services), DataHug also won a partner package and speaking opportunity at next year’s Dublin Web Summit. Colm Rafferty, partner at Dublin’s Maples & Calder (which provided €10,000 worth of legal services), said that DataHug was chosen out of the five finalists because it was the one that best answered the judges’ question: ‘which company would you invest in?’

On his company’s win, DataHug’s Connor Murphy noted that the prize offers

“a fantastic opportunity for DataHug to accelerate its growth and market profile. We are already live with several clients in the US, UK and Ireland, and we are looking forward to launching our public beta towards the end of this year.”

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Web 2.0 Ireland is currently carrying out  a survey linked to the Apps landscape in Ireland   – Take the Survey – Share your thoughts

http://www.web2ireland.org/2010/04/30/app-economy-in-ireland/

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