Small Business

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…

‘Champions’ sought to drive the creation of start-up communities around Ireland Start-up Ireland has launched a national call for ‘start-up champions’ in each of Ireland’s cities who would lead start-up initiatives. A key part of the role of these start-up champions will be to help get the basic tools of successful start-up communities in place. These include a digest of relevant events, an infographic of start-up resources in the area, networking opportunities, a monthly showcase for start-ups and a Startup Weekend every six to 12 months. Start-up Ireland is a not-for-profit grassroots organization providing an independent focal point for the Irish startup community regionally, nationally and internationally with the objective…

In planning for the year ahead, the focus for many small and medium-sized businesses will be to leverage success, achieve profitability and maximise and capitalise upon business opportunities, writes Maura Quinn. To ensure competitiveness and to remain resilient, it is vital that your business is operating efficiently and effectively, that there is a clear path to realising your business strategy and that you are delivering for your customers. Below are five areas to focus on to develop your business in 2014 and beyond. Bring your strategic plans to life Far too many business plans end up on the shelf, with little attention given to them from one year to the…

Four start-ups drawn from Ireland north and south have been selected to pitch at Northern Ireland’s newest entrepreneurial support network. Friday Night Mashup is a regular event series created to connect and empower entrepreneurs to go out and take on the world. CanDo3D, Komodo and Pirate Dashboard from the North and Sian’s Plan from the Republic of Ireland will demo at the event on Friday, 29 November at the Titanic Docks and Pumphouse in Belfast’s Titanic Quarter. Over 150 leading figures in tech, business, investment, and media from Belfast, Dublin, and Derry will attend the event, which aims to provide a platform for new talent and act as a launch…

Host Ireland Business Broadband is moving to a new office complex in Dublin and is to create 15 new jobs in the next six to eight months. Development has started on the new office, occupying the entire second floor of the former Guinness Mahon Bank building on Trinity Street and involving an investment of €120,000. On track to achieve 45pc turnover this year, the privately-owned technology company recently signed a €1.2m deal with Sharp Security in Dublin for security monitoring telecoms infrastructure and will have doubled its workforce in 2013 to 21 people. Employee numbers are expected to almost double again in 2014, with countrywide roll-out of its high performance…

London company Import.io and New York’s Placemeter were announced as the Later Stage Company and the Early Stage Company award winners respectively at the Pitch 2013 presented by Box competition at the Dublin Web Summit yesterday. The winners were chosen from a shortlist of 150 finalists after two days of intense pitching in front of thousands of people including the world’s foremost technology leaders and prospective investors. Import.io employs 16 people in its London headquarters and in its office in San Francisco.  The company’s stated mission is to structure the web and make web data available to everyone. “We are focused on growing our company and it means a lot to…

Increased Threshold for SME Loan Appeals and Enhanced SME Supports A number of measures have been announced affecting the SME sector in Budget 2014, including the threshold being increased increased from €500,000 to €3m for SME loan appeals to the Credit Review Office (CRO) and €2 billion in SME supports. The CRO helps SME or farm borrowers who have had an application for credit declined or reduced and who feel they have a viable business proposition. Introduction of a Two-Day Programme for SMEs This is expected to facilitate requests from a broader range of SMEs as well as large requests for refinancing. Among the State supports to SMEs announced is…

Dublin-headquartered Induction Manager said today that it is creating nine new jobs after raising €400,000 in funding to support its growth strategy. Business angel investors from Cork-based Boole Investment Syndicate provided €100,000 of the investment with the remainder raised from Enterprise Ireland and other private investors. The nine new roles will be in the areas of sales and customer support and will all be based from the company’s Dublin office. Induction Manager also has a presence in London with 90pc of its business coming from the UK. Induction Manager is an online induction platform for large organisations in UK and Ireland. Customers of Induction Manager customise the platform to suit…