Ignite alumni plan expansion thanks to Competitive Start Fund

Uniwink, Ottera and Mohago are the three Ignite alumni that are receiving up to €50,000 each to help them expand and grow under the fund.

Founded by Sarah Dineen, Uniwink is a peer-to-peer online learning platform that caters specifically toward the educational needs of third level students.

Its objective is to help students to achieve high grades through the provision of tutorials and notes online.

With aspirations to become the No 1 peer-to-peer online learning platform in Europe, Dineen plans to launch in the UK before the end of 2015 with the help of the Competitive Start Fund.

Mohago was founded in October 2012 by Declan Gordon, Alan Morrison and John Hayes. Gordon developed the product idea based on his experiences of managing long duration research data collection.

Looking Glass, Mohago’s first product is a software platform that simplifies the capture, management and analysis of data for individuals and teams. It is in commercial use within SMEs and has generated interest from multinationals.

Mohago wants to raise private investment of €200,000 (€400,000 with Enterprise Ireland matched funding) to fund commercialisation of the product via direct sales in the UK and Europe.

Ottera, founded by Glenn Goggin, creates video-based training technology in the form of video capture classes and online training software for markets such as healthcare, medical devices, microelectronics and pharmaceuticals.

In addition to the financial element of the Competitive Start Fund, Ottera has been offered an experienced mentor to help the company to accelerate growth and build management capability.

The Ignite programme, supported by Cork City Council, Cork County Council, the Local Enterprise Offices in Cork City and County, UCC and Bank of Ireland, is now open for expressions of interest for the next intake of participants, starting this Autumn. More information can be found here.