Web 2 Ireland

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.

Finalists Announced from Dublin Workshop : Innovate!Europe.

These eleven companies will now advance to the Master Class, to be held in Zaragoza, Spain May 4-6. Congratulations go to:

Byte Surgery/Decisions for Heroes tools to enable emergency rescue personnel and volunteers to collect and analyze data at emergency scenes

Emergence SaaS application that provides real-time risk management across a range of corporate business functions

iFoods Ltd/LookandTaste.com professionally-produced and user-generated digital video library of recipes; online video glossary of food and kitchen terms

IGoPeople software that socially connects consumers and businesses to better build brands and enable consumer involvement in marketing

Locle location-aware social networking tools to identify people and places on mobile devices

LouderVoice SaaS application that enables customers to review products and provide feedback on business sites

PutPlace cloud storage platform for consumer PC- and Web-based digital media and information

Revahealth online directory of health clinics, providing a detailed and normalized view of services and medical personnel

Sentry Wireless security for mobile phone devices by providing a firewall on a SIM card. First product is a service that insures the privacy and safety of children when using mobile phones

Toddle provides easy-to-create email marketing campaigns for small businesses, leveraging the tools with which customers are already familiar: Outlook and a browser

TouristR interactive online travel planner that allows users to plan, book and share their travel with an innovative search tool

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Now Innovate!Europe are looking for other Europe's top startup – and the deadline to apply is March 23rd.

Innovate!Europe will be hosting Going Global workshops and networking meetups in Europe and Israel from March 30th – April 8th – check calendar

Start-ups will receive mentoring and feedback from Guidewire Group's renowned analyst team on how to improve your pitch and hone the skills you need to compete in fast-paced markets like Silicon Valley.

Best of all, there is no cost to apply or to participate in the Going Global workshops.

Start-ups in the workshops held so far have raved about the experience. Conor O'Neill of LouderVoice, called it pure gold and said it was the most impressive start-up workshop I have ever encountered.

If you want to participate in the competition but can¹t attend one of the workshops, fill out the form anyway.

If you’re selected, Guidewire Group’s analysts will conduct a phone interview with you.

Note: You don't need to be a workshop participant to attend one of the networking meetups. The meetups are also open to investors, journalists and other members of the entrepreneurial community. However, an RSVP is required as space is limited.

Last Wednesday saw the team from Guidewire host a leg of Innovate!Europe in The Digital Exchange in Dublin. And what a day! Chris Shipley, Mike Sigal and Carla Thompson ran the most impressive start-up workshop I have ever encountered. If you missed it, you really missed out.

The format was very simple. There were approx 12 Irish startups there including PutPlace, IGOpeople, LouderVoice, Locle, Toddle. The day kicked off with each of us giving a 90 second elevator pitch. Then we gave our 10 minute company pitch and got feedback from the Guidewire team.

That feedback was accurate, fair, pointed and deeply useful. I gave the first company pitch of the day and everything I heard back from them was spot-on. During the rest of the day I was able to refine the deck quite a bit.

However, it was’t just the feedback on our own presentation that was valuable, it was hearing about the problems (and successes) in everyone else’s that made the day so special. As the afternoon progressed, we had more and more discussions involving everyone. This included some excellent insights from Ray Walsh in Enterprise Ireland.

One thing I did notice was the difference between the expectations of  Valley VCs  and Irish ones. I was told I could easily ditch my detailed financials slide in a Valley pitch. I was told the complete opposite as part of the Genesis programme.

The Innovate!Europe roadshow then moved to London on Friday. The remaining venues are:

• 31 MARCH in Bern, Switzerland
• 3 APRIL in Berlin, Germany
• 6 APRIL in Paris, France

If you are a start-up based on the continent, you owe it to your business to attend one of these sessions. The best companies from the roadshow will then attend a Masterclass in Zaragosa Spain in May. The best of those will take part in a Trade Mission to the Valley in June.

Thanks again to Chris and the team for an invaluable day.