NDRC set to pick 15 Launchpad participants
The National Digital Research Centre (NDRC) in Dublin is currently evaluating 70 Irish and international applications to participate in its Launchpad accelerator programme for digital start-up enterprises.
The 15 most promising start-ups will be selected for the investment programme, which starts in mid-February and concludes with a year-end competition for a follow-on investment sourced from VCs and angels.
NDRC will provide up to €20,000 per project in micro-seed investment to support the founders during the programme.
After the current selection process, NDRC Launchpad participants will begin a three-month intensive mentoring and advisory programme, alongside other start-ups, innovators, engineers and investors. At the end of this, the start-up promoters will pitch for follow-on investment. All of them will then also have the option of a further six to nine months of development time at NDRC in Dublin’s Digital Hub.
Last year, NDRC Launchpad was identified in the top six best accelerators in Europe following a study by the US Kauffman Fellows Program. NDRC has supported the acceleration of 30 start-ups through the Launchpad programme since it was established in 2009.
NDRC is an independent enterprise, formed through a consortium of Irish higher education institutions, which promotes investment in emerging start-ups and the commercialisation of promising digital research. It is supported by the Department of Communications, Energy and Natural Resources and works in joint venture collaborations with industry and a range of investment partners. It has secured commercial investments of €4.8m in technology developments and emerging enterprises by third party partners in the past 18 months.