START-UPS
NEW €90M FUND FOR EARLY-STAGE START-UPS
NEWS, VIEWS AND PROFILES ON THE LATEST START-UPS IN IRELAND
63%
of companies feel Ireland is a better place to start a business than five years ago, according to early responses to the TechIreland Innovation Island Pulse 2022 survey.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
The Government has launched a new €90m fund for Irish start-ups, prioritising areas such as climate change and female entrepreneurship. The Irish Innovation Seed Fund Programme will provide capital to innovative Irish companies at the seed stage. It brings together three partners, each allocating up to €30m – the European Investment Fund, Enterprise Ireland and the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund participating as a coinvestor. “We’re looking for companies working in a number of areas we’ve identified as strategic opportunities for Ireland but have traditionally struggled in attracting earlystage investment,” said An Tánaiste Leo Varadkar.
CHARLIE GLEESON, CEO AND FOUNDER, ZIPP MOBILITY How have you funded the business to date?
We have raised over €2.1m from private individuals/angel investors, a venture capital fund, Enterprise Ireland, as well as a crowdfunding campaign run through the Spark platform.
What’s the best advice you have been given?
To be patient. It is a long time from ideation to actually launching. Patience is key to make sure you’re making the right long-term decisions for the business.
What was the most important lesson you learned starting out?
I’ve certainly had to learn to delegate. There has been great learning in hiring a team that complements my own strengths and weaknesses.
Your biggest make or break moment?
Winning our very first licence in the UK’s scooter-sharing trials in 2020 was a huge moment for the business. It legitimised the early work we had done to build our vision of ‘mobility done right’ and enabled us to convince councils to choose us over our much larger incumbent competitors.
Is there anything you would change in hindsight?
I would have started thinking bigger, earlier. We only looked internationally when university campuses, where we had secured our very first trials, closed due to the pandemic. Now that we’ve launched internationally, our confidence in our ability to scale is much higher.
Company: Zipp Mobility, founded in 2019 Location: NovaUCD, Belfield Innovation Park, Dublin Product: Ireland’s leading micromobility provider Staff: 25 Website: https://www.zippmobility.com/
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INTEREST RISING IN ANGEL INVESTMENT Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) business angels have invested an average of €200,000 each in start-ups on the island of Ireland, with the majority preferring to invest as part of a syndicate, rather than alone. The survey of 114 HBAN investors revealed that the average angel has invested in 6.3 companies and the industries that attracted the largest number of angel investors in the past 12 months were ICT, fintech, medtech and life sciences. Angels will continue their interest in these sectors this year, while also considering sectors including engineering, manufacturing and electronics; food, beverages and agriculture; and business services.
InBUSINESS | SPRING 2022
31/03/2022 12:41
