Web 2 Ireland

3V Transaction Services – enabling online shopping without credit/debit cards – raises €20m from Atlas and Benchmark.

“3V Vouchers are a new way to buy online that anyone can use and which allow you to shop safely and securely without needing a credit or debit card or even a bank account”.

3V was born out of the Alphyra Group

Thanks to James for the tip. Also check here for more details.

Just spotted on Ken Norton‘s blog

Joe Kraus also talks
here about the acquisition.

Jotspot is an ideal tool for any startup – especially one with people spread over the world.

One of the leading investors in early stage business, Josh Kopelman of First Round Capital has this to say

“I don’t look to fund Web 2.0 businesses – I look to fund good businesses. I don’t care if you use AJAX to develop your website any more than if you use Ajax to clean your office furniture — just show me how you will satisfy an urgent and pervasive customer need and how you will generate revenue.”

James Lee in Dublin has followed up on Sam Sethi’s Techcrunch UK post on AngelPitch and has put together this service

Any interest in Irish companies doing a 2 minute elevator pitch for this service ?

From the SB Post article

Web Reservations International, a Dublin internet company[owner of brands such as Hostelworld, Hostels.com, etc], plans to launch a travel search engine next January, pitting the firm against internet giants such as Google….. The company made a pre-tax profit of €12.5 million last year as turnover rose by 79 per cent to €28.5 million. He said that a valuation of $1 billion was ''not beyond the realms of possibility'' for WRI.

alarm:clock euro: Pigsback.com Raises €4M For UK Growth Archives

Pigsback, founded in Ireland raises more money to build their network of consumers and brands – leveraging “Empathy Marketing“

Since the much enjoyed TechCrunch UK launch party last week, word suggests that with the arrival of Mike Butcher (writes for Irish Times on technology) on-board, the site will change to TechCrunch UK & Ireland this week.

Our little tri-colour will be flying up there with the US, UK & Japan on the web 2.0 scene. A good achievement.

Company name: Segala
Location: Dublin HQ, UK Satellite Office
URL: www.segala.com
Founded: 2002
CEO: Paul Walsh

Description:
Segala is a certificate authority in Web accessibility and mobile standards compliance. Specialist in content labelling using Semantic methods.

The Segala-Certified Trustmark is a clear visual indication that a site has been independently audited and certified for Web accessibility standards compliance. Segala is an expert in the field of mobile testing and is the first testing & standards compliance expert worldwide to become an Associate member of the GSM Association.

As a Founding Sponsor of the W3C Mobile Web Initiative (MWI), Segala is well placed to help organisations apply the best practice recommendations for mobile Web content standards. Segala is co-editor of the MWI mobileOK conformance document with Google and ICRA.

Segala-Certified Partner Programme:
The Segala-Certified Partner Programme enables members to audit Web sites and award them with a Segala accessibility Certificate and Trustmark. Any company that provides Web design, development, usability or accessibility services can join the Programme.

Industry focus
* Independent and Privately Owned
* Founding Sponsor of the W3C Mobile Web Initiative (MWI)
* Co-editor of the W3C MWI ‘mobileOK‘ document with Google
* Active contributor to the W3C Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.0
* Active contributor to the W3C WAI Evaluations and Repair Tools (ERT) Working Group
* Sponsor member of the Content Label Incubator Group (WCL-XG), a worldwide initiative to develop content labelling standards for the Web. Co-author of the final report.
* Active contributor to the W3C Semantic Web Outreach Programme

Something to keep an eye out for:

Personalised Search Revolutionised (literally)
www.searchthresher.segala.com/

Simon Grice of etribes is hosting another one of his excellent mashup events.

For more information check mashup* – 13th December, London

Joe Drumgoole (of Secantus/Putplace) attended the last Mashup event. See here for writeup

There is a blogger meetup lined up for November 28th in Cork (venue tbd).

Because this is the night before the it@cork 2006 Annual Conference, there is a great lineup of international attendees:

Hugh MacLeod
Marc Canter
Salim Ismail
Jeff Nolanand
Dennis Howlett

If you’d like to attend, (or to sponsor any portion of the event) leave a comment here