Web 2 Ireland

A quick reminder on Smartcamp – which is happening in Dublin on October 15th 2009

Great resources for entrepreneurs

- Mentors – including folks from SeedCamp
- Cash – Smartcamp is a partner of the NDRC – €25k prizes
- Corporate partners and international VCs

Apply before October 1st

The National Digital Research Centre is investing in a programme to develop small scale projects with aspiring entrepreneurs to produce commercially focused applications preferably in the web and mobile space.

The upper limit of funding for projects is €25k in total project value for a 3 month project.

All applicants will be required to attend a pitch training workshop on 14th October 2009, 14.00 – 17.00, at the NDRC. This workshop will provide an overview of the NDRC approach and vital information on how to present a convincing pitch.

To apply for this programme you must register on the NDRC site and complete an online application form. You can download the Guidance for Applicants here (.pdf).

The deadline for propsoals to the Entrepreneurial Internship Programme is 30th October, 5pm.

Welcome news to Irish entrepreneurs

SmartCamp is an exclusive networking and mentoring event for entrepreneurs with global ambitions. The program is dedicated to great entrepreneurs who believe that technology can make our world a better place. It provides access to world-class advisors plus a direct route to seed and venture capital.

Apply before 1st October, 2009

Five finalists will be invited to attend an intensive 1 day event session on October15th. This event will be held in the Dublin City Council My Dublin Conference Centre located at the Civic Offices on Wood Quay, Dublin.

Each company will meet and have informal discussions with groups of experienced entrepreneurs, international VC's and executives from large corporations. A total of 25 mentors will be split into teams of 5, meeting each company seperately for a 45 minute roundtable.

An overall winner will be chosen and announced at the closing of the event.

Partners involved with Smartcamp include Seedcamp and the NDRC

Congratulations to Niall and team at Macalla on acquisition by Roamware

Check recent video of Niall explaining Macalla

Macalla from dhtv on Vimeo.

Last year at the IWTC keynote event – the view was that all investment monies were going to commercial properties in the likes of Berlin – and where was our “Ron Conway” – who actually sold his first business to CBT – and then went onto to make hundreds of angel investments including the likes of Google, etc.

On twitter recently we asked “Who are the top 10 Irish Angel investors ?”

Response – 3 names so far. Ray Nolan, Paddy Holohan and Pat Lynch. [we welcome any more names/suggestions]

Related to Angel investing in Ireland, cmypitch.ie is hosting an event Dublin on 22nd September 2009. The “Dragons” are Pat Brazel, Brian Caulfield, Eamonn Fallon and Maurice Roche.

The uber-connected Irish Opportunist, Paul Walsh, has recently joined forces with Angels Den, and Paul will soon be announcing some exciting new initiatives for the Irish market.

To cap it off, Chris Horn, in today’s Irish Times, has an excellent piece on the Smart Economy – Strategy

Quote

In what sectors can Ireland win? Digital media, renewable energy and novel telecommunications come to mind. But whatever sector, civil servants should not guess what is going to be hot in the years ahead; rather the State agencies should follow and endorse those angels and founders who put their own money, business experience and commitment to work.

Any suggestions on how to grow the Angel investing scene in Ireland ? please comment….

After the success of the Facebook Garage Ireland events in Dublin, we’re now heading out of Dublin.

First up is Belfast. The event is on Monday, October 12, 2009 from 3:00 PM at The Black Box, Hill St, Belfast

Thanks to Andy McMillan (twitter:goodonpaper) who is hosting/organizing the event. We also have great support from Elaine Thompson at InvestNI

If you’re interested in attending, participating, talking, etc please sign up and check the Facebook Page

Interesting initiative from FAS and DMF

FAS and the Digital Media Forum are planning to pilot a Traineeship programme for the digital media industry in the autumn. The Traineeship will be piloted in Dublin with 20 FÁS participants and 20 companies as agreed with the Digital Media Forum.

The Digital Media Forum recently hosted a meeting of interested companies and FÁS made a presentation outlining the key components of the proposed programme. The target audience for the Traineeship is unemployed personnel who hold 3rd level qualifications in a range of disciplines such as: business management; law; human resources; marketing; sales; software development, have a minimum of 3 years post graduate experience and are in receipt of a Social Welfare payment. The purpose of the Traineeship is to up-skill participants with digital literacy and broad management skills which combined with their professional qualifications and experience will enable them to work with digital media companies. On completion of a 4 week training period in a FAS Training Centre, each course participant will be placed with a participating company for a period of 16 weeks structured work practice, during which time they will complete a company specific assignment as defined by the Company. The assignment should be outlined in the attached form.

If your company is located in Dublin and you wish to participate in the pilot you are invited to complete the attached information form and return it to FÁS before the 28th August 2009. All applications received will be forwarded to the Digital Media Forum. Companies will be selected on the basis of the first 20 companies to return the completed form. Therefore, only completed forms sent electronically can be accepted as this will provide a record of date of receipt.

The application needs to be returned to Colin Flaherty at colin.flaherty@fas.ie on or before Friday, 28 August 2009. Participants will be chosen on a first come, first serve basis.

To download the Application Form: http://www.scribd.com/doc/18750091/Digital-Media-Traineeship

Two Irish companies announced deal with Global impact.

Hostelworld.com, the leading provider of online reservations to the budget, independent and youth travel market recently announced the launch of its Travel Store which includes the TravelnRoam mobile SIM powered by MAXRoam.

Now when travellers make bookings in over 20,000 hostels and budget hotels in 170 countries worldwide, they have the opportunity to further save on their travelling bills with a TravelnRoam mobile SIM.

Pat Phelan, Cubic Telecom CEO, makers of MAXRoam said: “We’re absolutely delighted to partner and align ourselves with HostelWorld.com, a massive online success and a brand that’s respected worldwide.

Everyone from business people to backpackers travel the world and TravelnRoam can be there on their phone saving them considerable amounts on their incoming and outgoing calls. If it’s making a business call or in a hostel in China taking a call from Mum back home, we’re there watching that bill for you.”

Santina Doherty, VP of Commercial Development at Hostelworld.com said We're excited to launch our partnership with TravelnRoam. Hostelworld.com is global market leader for hostel and budget accommodation and TravelnRoam will provide a winning solution to our customers when they travel and roam, reducing call costs and staying in touch.

Seedcamp 2009 application closes on Sunday, 23rd August, 2009

20 lucky startups get invited to Seedcamp week – which is an intensive week-long event held in London every September. Check out the list of top notch mentors/advisors/folks.

At the end of the week Seedcamp make a funding decision to invest up to €50K each in 5 teams for a small equity stake (5%-10%) which enables the teams to move to London for at least three months. The goal of this 3-month period is to help grow and nurture the teams by providing the same level of intensity and in-depth focus on developing the product and business.

No doubt we’ll see loads of Irish folks involved in Seedcamp 2009 – Apply Now

Eircom have annouced the winners of their Web Innovation Fund

The four winners are

Diaryplan
SocietyMail
Getitkeepit
Beeherd

Marie has more details at SiliconRepublic