Web 2 Ireland

We would love to know what’s happening @ Apps within the Irish ecosystem. (iphone, android, facebook, etc – any type of app. )

Please complete this short survey, so we can profile some cool applications, companies and developers.

We asked for some input via twitter – and we would only end up with Amp & Crogall (Thanks Ross & Peter)

————–

AMP – online marketing service for Music Industry

Crogall – online music store for small bands/labels to connect with their fans

Abaltat – compose royalty free music

BalconyTV is a leading daily online viral music show that features bands, musicians and other variety acts on balconies around the world.

i-tab – the i-Tab straps on to the end of a guitar and scrolls through the lyrics and chords of a song (see recent Irish Times Coverage)

dbTwang – a social network for people who love guitars!

Echodio – platform for syncing, protecting and sharing your digital media collection. (Y Combinator Alumni)

Rocudo – online music community in which Fans discover and remix music in an innovative interactive format

DownloadMusic.ie – Independent Irish Music Chart – Pay for music by text

Muzu – Watch, Create and Share Music video playlists

Tapadoo – Firepit – creating apps for bands on tour.

RSR/Tunetrak – audio fingerprint technology – NRDC launchpad company

Sonic Academy – learn to make music online.

Trezur – they make apps that “turbo-charge” your digital music collection

Grab Radio is here to revolutionise the way you listen to radio on your iPhone.

diddlyi – social network around Irish Dancing & Music Community

===================

Any more that can be added to the list ?

Carsonified have just announced a StartUp Pass for FOWA Dublin 2010 – May 14th 2010

The Startup Pass includes
3 tickets for the price of 2 – All 3 tickets must be booked at the same time
Free FOWA Dublin micro sponsorship (worth €100)
Your link + 140 characters, emailed to all attendees one week before the conference
Automatic entry into the Start Up Pitch panel
5 lucky winners will get to pitch their web app to the panel of speakers and audience
Your company name and url displayed throughout the breaks on the main screen
A great way to get your web app known and talked about

There are only 20 packages available – book now to avoid disappointment

Congratulations to Irish startup Plink who were recently acquired by Google.

We’ve covered Plink in the past, and well done to the founder team of Mark Cummins and James Philbin, who are both Phd Candidates at Oxford University.

Despite some other media coverage, Plink is very much Irish (registered company in Ireland), and is a past finalist in IQPrize. Colin Farrell has suffered from same confusion as Plink

Hopefully its the first of many acquisitions by Google in Ireland/Europe.

Some positive news for Web2Ireland community from Q1

Donegal based Iontas acquired by Verint Systems for $14.8m

Contrast production, Qwitter acquired by Agora Technology

Long time Web2Ireland sponsor, Hosting365 was acquired by SunGard

Congratulations to all the entrepreneurs and no doubt we will continue to see healthy M&A activity in the Web2Ireland community over the rest of the year.

Apologies for the lateness of this post but we’ve been too busy grinning from ear to ear since the finalists were announced for the Irish Blog Awards. We’re in the Best Technology Blog/Blogger category along with these fantastic bloggers:

• The Gaming Liberty
• Pat Phelan
• Matt Johnston
• Sinead Cochrane

Fergus Burns started this blog for the Irish Web Community way back on the 17th September 2005. I did my first post on 31st July 2006 and we’ve had posts from tons of people since then, including James Corbett, Walter Higgins, Joe Drumgoole, Sean O’Sullivan and David Lenihan.

This is the 872nd post here since 2005 and we hope the blog has been of use to all of you in the web biz whether in Ireland or elsewhere.

As always, this is a blog by the community for the community, so if you’d like to be a contributor, give us a shout on web2ireland.editor@gmail.com

Looking forward to Saturday night in Galway!

Interesting to see references to local Web2Ireland community in IDA Ireland Horizon 2020 strategy document

The ICT sector in Ireland is already playing a leading role in showing this model in operation, with Facebook connecting with local application developers through its
Developer Garage programme and Google's Code Jam engaging in a similar way.

One of the sections is very interesting – titled – Connect with Tomorrow's Twitter

High growth technology companies have impact hugely disproportional to their size. They are often first to market with new ideas and new business models in digital media, life sciences, mobile technology and financial services. These young companies are the seeds of tomorrow's multinationals whether through organic growth or in mergers or acquisitions, often with more established firms. IDA will increase its emphasis and focus on these high potential companies in support of the development of
Ireland as a global innovation hub. IDA has established a dedicated team focused on the needs of these companies. Working with sister agencies and other stakeholders, we will assist these emerging companies with financial support and in making connections in Ireland. These high-growth firms
will become an increasingly important part of Ireland's innovation ecosystem, linking up with established multinationals in ICT and globally traded businesses; third level institutions and their talented graduates; and indigenous companies of similar scale and potential.

Newbay are hiring, Facebook are hiring in Dublin and Crowdstar are looking for a biz analyst (see below)

——–

Job Specification Business Analyst
Crowdstar International is seeking a Business Analyst to join its fast-growing HQ located in Dublin, Ireland. This role involves providing ongoing market, competitor and product analysis within the Business Development team, to assist the company in successfully identifying and evaluating new business opportunities.
Responsibilities Include:
* Performing competitor and market analysis to facilitate ongoing strategy development.
* Recommending and assisting in the development of strategies for growth.
* Analysing product performance, trends and activity to provide business insights.
* Identifying emerging market trends and patterns in customer behaviour.

* Developing intelligence on the social gaming industry by playing current games, gathering and analysing relevant industry news and reports.

* Building and using strategic and analytic tools to evaluate current and emerging business opportunities.

* Creating clear and concise dashboards, presentations and reports as required.

The requirements for this position are:
* Strong passion for social media and gaming
* Strong analytic skills and experience with metrics driven strategic decision making
* Experience in online games, social media or consumer internet
* Understanding of virtual economies, viral channels, and online monetization
* Strong verbal and written communication skills
* Enjoy working in a fast paced start-up environment
* Apply a collaborative and consensus driven approach
* BA/BS degree

Applications may be submitted by email to Business Development Manager Gavin Barrett – gavin@crowdstar.com

John McColgan of Riverdance fame, came up with Gateway Ireland concept at Global Irish Forum at Farmleigh event, after discussion with business luminaries such as Dermot Desmond, Denis O’Brien and others.

“The vision is for a national online content hub was proposed and this was met with widespread support. This initial proposal has gathered momentum, an Advisory Group was established (it includes Google, RTE and Facebook among others) and a small team has now been put in place to carry out a feasibility study to review all aspects of the project.”

They are currently seeking a web specialist to work with the team as they “prepare a fully-specified feasibility report to be submitted to Government at the end of May.”

You can listen to a recent interview with John on Marian Finucane

The question is will Gateway Ireland be another Mobhaile or something that can both move the needle in terms of Global Irish business as well as helping to stimulate the Irish web startup scene.

I have some suggestions for John and his team, and no doubt the community has loads of ideas. Please leave some comments and I’ll collate.

Apply to Innovate!2010 to be named as one of The World's 100 Most Promising Startups and win a share of nearly $250,000 in prizes.

The Irish leg of the Pitch Slam takes place on March 8 after the BizSparkCamp program. Judges for the Dublin Pitch Slam include Brian Caufield, Martin Kelly, Cliff Reeves (MD of MSFT Emerging Business Team)

Readers of web2ireland can attend the Pitch Slam for FREE (thanks Microsoft & Enterprise Ireland!!) using the registration code: BZS2010 here

And startups can apply to the competition here – DEADLINE MARCH 1st

Innovate!2010 is a global competition to identify and promote the Innovate!100: a prestigious list of the world's 100 most promising technology, media and communications startups..

Produced by market intelligence firm Guidewire Group, developers of the G/Score proprietary assessment methodology for evaluating startups, Innovate!2010 will offer participating companies valuable training and promotion along with a chance to win a share of nearly $250,000 in sponsored prizes.

Partners and sponsors of the competition include market-leading companies like Best Buy, HP, Motorola, O2 Litmus, RIM, SAP, Sun, SWIFT and Verizon, dozens of early-stage investors, and marquee media partners.

Here's how the program works:
* Startups apply online to compete for expert feedback & validation, promotion and nearly $250,000 in prizes.
* Finalists are invited to pitch at one of over 20 networking events called Pitch Slams where they will deliver rapid-fire pitches to a panel of expert judges and an audience of local investors, entrepreneurs, executives and members of the media.
* After the Pitch Slam tour, the top-ranking startups will be named to the Innovate!100 list and will receive extensive promotion.
* A follow-on program called the Innovate! Connection Program offers the Innovate!100 finalists pre-qualified introductions to potential partners, investors and customers for a fee.