Small Business

A 47pc rise in the number of Irish tech company start-ups (122) was recorded in April 2014 compared to the same month last year (83), according to new figures from Vision-net.ie. Managing director of Vision-net.ie Christine Cullen said the increase indicated “positive growth within our indigenous tech sector”. “Ireland is the second largest exporter of ICT services in the world, an industry that contributes €72bn to the national economy annually. Presently, however, only 3pc of that revenue is generated by Irish companies. “It is certainly heartening, then, to see Irish tech entrepreneurs committed to investing their skills and ideas here, increasing the share of industry revenue made by indigenous businesses.…

A new law firm Jordan Law has just opened in Dublin’s Baggot St and is aiming to enable small and medium-sized enterprises an affordable and reliable way to get the most out of their legal services. Aisling Jordan wants to bring confidence back into the legal sector through transparency and structured fee plans.Jordan is a former associate at Noel Smyth & Partners and her company is offering fixed price fees and 24/7 client access to the firm’s online, interactive, file management system.Its offerings are in response to smaller companies’ demands for greater cost control, efficiencies and transparency from their legal services providers. “With higher corporate governance requirements than ever before, small…

Medical software company 3D4Medical has collaborated with researchers at University College Cork (UCC) to develop ‘Radiology-Head, an iPad radiology app. Developed with the departments of radiology and anatomy and neuroscience at UCC, the app illustrates brain anatomy on MRI in clear and simple detail. Dr. Kevin Murphy, who is a lecturer in these departments, believes the app will be an important resource for undergraduate medical students and all healthcare students, medical doctors and healthcare professionals in facilitating the learning of neuroanatomy. It may also be helpful for patients with neurological diseases and their families in gaining a deeper understanding of their illness. The Radiology-Head app uses an intuitive graphics platform,…

Entrepreneur and one of the Dragons on RTÉ’s Dragons’ Den Barry O’Sullivan is to share his secrets to success with start-ups and small businesses as part of the Vodafone Smart StartUp Network series. Having previously led some large divisions for Cisco, this month O’Sullivan launched tech start-up Altocloud as co-founder and CEO. With teams in place in Galway and California, it is creating a cloud-based communications platform that uses data analytics and machine learning to produce more effective customer-to-company interactions. “Our vision is to revolutionise customer communications by delivering personalised experiences, smarter interactions, faster resolution and satisfied customers to your business – without brands having to invest more money in…

Decoded Fashion, a global event series and networking community that encourages entrepreneurship and advances technology innovation in fashion and retail, is hosting its first Irish ‘meetup’ in Dublin. Taking place in the Wayra Academy on 19 March, Decoded Fashion has been brought to Dublin by Sonya Lennon, a designer and stylist, and co-founder of Frockadvisor, a social commerce fashion platform that supports the independent retail sector by connecting and communicating with existing and new offline and online fashion fans. The theme of the first Decoded Fashion Dublin ‘Globalisation versus Localisation’ and the panel of speakers will include Rory Caren of IBM; Fidelman Healy, Gilt Groupe; and Renate McIntyre, Etsy. The…

Access to finance and skilled talent are the key challenges facing Irish entrepreneurs, according to the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year (EOY) Entrepreneurship Barometer. These findings stemmed from the collective feedback gathered from 350 of Ireland’s leading entrepreneurs, all of whom are previous EY EOY finalists. “It is vital for Government, industry and academia to understand the specific challenges facing entrepreneurs and collaborate to solve problems, address legislative and cultural barriers to success, and together shape the future of entrepreneurship in Ireland,” said partner-in-charge of EY EOY Frank O’Keeffe on the release of the EOY Entrepreneurship Barometer. Talent and funding emerged neck and neck as the main challenges facing Ireland’s…

Irish company Instant Opinion’s QnA product, which offers a private and secure way to capture event interaction in real-time, has gone international with contracts secured for the Canadian government, the NUI Maynooth Innovation Value Institute (IVI) Spring Summit in New York and the forthcoming International Confederation of Private Employment Agencies (CIETT) World Employment Conference in Brussels. CEO Aidan Kenny said that reaction to QnA in the global conference sector has been hugely positive. “Using QnA does away with the need for roving mikes, putting your hand up to ask a question and the potential legal problems posed by using a Twitter wall for feedback and comments,” he explained. The QnA…

As the innovation and technology transfer office for Dublin Institute of Technology, DIT Hothouse has been involved as a key partner with the IBM Global Entrepreneur Partner programme since its launch in 2010, according to Bernadette O’Reilly, who is the innovation centre manager there. A graduate of the New Frontiers programme at the centre, Irish start-up Profitero won the global SmartCamp finals in 2012. The three co-founders of Profitero – Volodymyr Pigrukh, Dmitry Vysotski and Kanstantsin Chernysh – grew their business idea while working at Google, IBM and Microsoft in Dublin, respectively, before entering DIT Hothouse. Their company has pioneered pricing intelligence software targeted at retailers and manufacturers. Following IBM’s…

Electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) brand VIP plans to open four new stores in the next four weeks in Ireland – one in Co Cork, two in Dublin and one in Co Meath – as well as create up to 15 jobs this year. An e-cigarette is a battery-powered device which simulates tobacco smoking. It generally uses a heating element that vaporises a liquid solution. Joe Dunne introduced the VIP brand to the Irish market in October 2012, initially opening a store in the Jervis Centre in Dublin and then expanding into Stephen’s Green Centre. It’s now the leading electronic cigarette brand in the country, in 22 locations nationwide, with seven stores…

Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Enterprise Board is looking for ten internationally focused start-ups to take part in its next ‘Hi-Start’ programme. The programme assists ambitious early stage growth focused companies to identify and build the foundations required to secure investment together with Enterprise Ireland high potential start-up support if applicable. Running from March to October, it involves seven workshops each designed to contribute a key component to the development of the investor-ready business plan. A related mentoring session will follow each training module to assist the participant with the specific outcomes required. The training and mentoring will be delivered by business development consultant John McMahon of Forum 21. The applicants must…