€100k prize up for grabs in Spark of Genuis competition

The finalists of the Electric Ireland Spark of Genius Competition have been revealed, with the winner to be announced at the Dublin Web Summit on 18 October with a prize fund worth €100,000.

The competition, now in its third year, focuses on the most promising high potential startups in Ireland.

Some 1,000 entries have been shortlisted to 100, who will be offered an opportunity to pitch to leading international investors, including Google Ventures, Andreessen Horowitz, Kleiner Perkins, Atomico and Accel, industry leaders and startup experts at the Dublin Web Summit in the RDS.

Paddy Cosgrave, CEO, Web Summit said “This is the third year of the Electric Ireland Spark of Genius Award and we have received a five fold increase in applications. The finalists will present from one of four separate stages – social, mobile, consumer and enterprise – to judges of investors, industry and startup experts.

“We have also seen a huge increase in the numbers of startups at this October’s Summit with over 250 startups exhibiting. Of the 3,000 attendees at the summit, over half will come from outside of Ireland.”

Former winners of the Electric Ireland Spark of Genius Award include daily deals software providers Redeem&Get who have enjoyed success since their 2011 award, with a launch to a global audience and private investment of €1.5 million.

The list of finalists was available at WebSummit.net, but they have taken down the page.

Sorcha Corcoran