YEARBOOK 2019 Empowering Entrepreneurs to
START and SCALE
The team
Inspired by entrepreneurship Emma Curran, Dublin BIC
Laura Ahern, Dublin BIC
Leonie Kinsella, Dublin BIC
Mortimer Cullinan, Dublin BIC
Julian Seymour, Dublin BIC/HBAN
Paula Finnan, Dublin BIC
Empowering entrepreneurs
Heidi Corr, Dublin BIC
Eugene Smyth, DBIC Ventures
Siobhan Killen, HBAN
Collaborative community builders Linda Mooney, GEC
Martin Murray, Dublin BIC
Oonagh Fox, Dublin BIC
Conor Carmody, Dublin BIC
Grainne Tallon, Dublin BIC
Michael Culligan, Dublin BIC
Donna Byrne, Dublin BIC
Ronan Donnelly, GEC
Julianne O’Leary, GEC
Eamonn Sayers, GEC
Alicia Greene, GEC
Saurabh Kumar, DBIC Ventures
Niamh Sterling, HBAN
Alex Hobbs, DBIC Ventures
Enabling & empowering
∂ DBIC Ventures launched a new €23m seed to series A venture fund to address a market gap in early stage funding.
∂ Space@DublinBIC which leases vacant office space in Dublin continued to meet an ongoing need for early stage entrepreneurs and scale-ups.
John Phelan, HBAN
∂ The Dublin BIC Investor-Ready Programme remains the bedrock of our business. Our staff and consultants continued to provide high quality advice to our clients in the preparation of business plans and identification of funding sources.
Like the people and businesses it supports, Dublin BIC is committed to ongoing change and development. In this regard I would like to thank our staff and consultants for their passion, resilience and expertise in delivering on the mission of Dublin BIC. I would also like to thank our board of directors for their commitment and support of the organisation. During 2019 we were pleased to welcome Teri Smith of Enterprise Ireland’s HPSU division onto our board. Dublin BIC has a long history of partnering with Enterprise Ireland to deliver key entrepreneurial programmes, including most recently, Innovate, the female founders accelerator; Sprint, the HPSU pipeline development programme; and the Investor-Ready Programme. Dublin BIC works closely with many public and private organisations to deliver on its mission. On behalf of the Dublin BIC Board, I would also like to thank the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland, Dublin City Council/Dublin LEO, Diageo and the European Business Network for their continued partnership. Finally, on behalf of all in Dublin BIC I would like to wish all the entrepreneurs working with our organisation every success as they build the next generation of global Irish companies. Clive Brownlee Chairman, Dublin BIC January 2020
Dublin BIC is a Company Limited by Guarantee. Its operations are governed by the Board of Directors who provide their time on a voluntary basis: Clive Brownlee (Chairman) I Hugh Governey I Ronan King I Michael Moriarty I David O’Meara I Professor Frank Roche I Teri Smith I Alan O’Driscoll (Co. Secretary).
Resilient & determined 2
∂ The HBAN business angel network passed the notable landmark of €100m of private funds raised for start and scale businesses on the island.
∂ FutureScope goes from strength to strength - a record 1600 people attended the event in 2019; we also ran a wide range of other learning and development events in support of our clients.
Generous with knowledge, expertise & networks
Madison Roche, GEC
Empowering entrepreneurs to start and scale remains Dublin BIC’s core purpose whatever the economic challenges of the day. Since we were founded as an organisation in 1988 we have supported thousands of budding entrepreneurs to create businesses, many of which have been highly successful in both the local and global economies. Over the years we have expanded the range of supports we provide to “start and scale” businesses and we are pleased that 2019 was another successful year in this regard:
∂ We provided ongoing support to the Guinness Enterpise Centre including the management of the project for a doubling in size of the centre in the coming year.
Authentic, honest & trusted Majella Murphy, Dublin BIC
Welcome
Richard Watson, DBIC Ventures
Lisa Doyle, Space@DublinBIC
Vicky Rush, GEC
For more on Dublin BIC governance, see page 22.
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A year in review Empowering Entrepreneurs to START & SCALE Empowering Entrepreneurs Empowering Entrepreneurs Dublin BIC provides the most comprehensive range of practical
to START and SCALE
supports available to entrepreneurs in Ireland.
2019 was a watershed year for Dublin BIC with key strategic projects becoming a reality:
ACCESS ACCESS TO TO FINANCE FINANCE
∂ DBIC Ventures launched the Ireland Smart Tech Fund in November 2019 with a first close of €23m and a targeted €30m+ before the end of 2020. The Ireland Smart Tech Fund is a seed to series A venture capital fund that will invest in highly scalable, export-focused companies in Ireland that have exceptional growth potential in identified sectors.
WORLD WORLD CLASS CLASS INCUBATION INCUBATION
We thank Enterprise Ireland for supporting Dublin BIC in the creation of this fund and salute the 15 visionary technology entrepreneurs and business leaders who have helped make the fund a reality. DBIC Ventures is a fund by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs supported by the State. A truly unique collaboration.
COMMUNITY COMMUNITY & & COLLABORATION COLLABORATION
of Dublin BIC supported companies survive their critical first five years
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With 30 years of ‘empowering entrepreneurs to start & scale’ under our belt, Dublin BIC set out in 2019 with ambitions to further grow our capability to support economic wealth creation in Ireland. The ongoing macroeconomic uncertainty makes it more important than ever that Ireland Inc. invests in supporting export-focused, innovative companies. It is these companies that enable our economy to compete globally and be more self-reliant and robust.
INVESTOR INVESTOR READY READY PREPARATION PREPARATION
82%
Building for the future
85%
of Dublin BIC investor-ready start-ups have secured third party finance
450+
start-ups have raised funding through Dublin BIC managed programmes
€129m
direct equity investment enabled by Dublin BIC & €256m leveraged funding
∂ Work commenced in December 2019 on the €10m expansion of the Dublin BIC managed Guinness Enterprise Centre (GEC), effectively doubling its size. The enhanced GEC will be a global entrepreneurial super-hub serving the local Dublin 8 community as well as the national and international marketplaces. It will be both a springboard for the international growth of its Irish clients as well as a soft-landing location into Europe for global scale-up companies. We were delighted that the GEC was recognised as one of the top five private incubators globally at the UBI Global World Incubation Summit in Doha, Qatar in November 2019.
Growth and development continued apace across the Dublin BIC activity set: ∂ HBAN, the all-Ireland group responsible for the development of business angel syndicates, managed by Dublin BIC, surpassed the €100m milestone of private funds raised. ∂ The Dublin BIC Investor-Ready Programme supported 33 HPSUs in partnership with Enterprise Ireland in 2019. Over the last five years companies on the programme have raised over €60m in funds. In 2019, 12 early stage female entrepreneurs participated in the Innovate Programme, the accelerator co-hosted by Enterprise Ireland and Dublin BIC. ∂ FutureScope is the annual Dublin BIC event that brings entrepreneurs together with technology and innovation leaders to explore business opportunities of the future. In 2019 the event continued to grow, attracting over 1600 people to the Convention Centre on 28th March. FutureScope is extremely relevant in the context of unprecedented innovation enabled by new technologies. ∂ Space@DublinBIC is back with the launch of a new location on Bride Street in Dublin’s city centre scheduled to open in February 2020. As the Dublin BIC community continues to grow with new entrepreneurs and business partners attracted by our broadening activity set, we look forward to working with them and our public stakeholders, including the Department of Business, Enterprise and Innovation, Enterprise Ireland and Dublin City Council/Dublin LEO, to continue to empower entrepreneurs to scale globally innovative businesses out of Ireland Yours in entrepreneurship, Michael Culligan CEO, Dublin BIC January 2020
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Dublin BIC Investor Ready in 2019 BleeperBike - Hugh Cooney
ZiggyTec Limited - Peter Murphy
Change Donations Lizzy Hayashida & William Conaghan
CloudKPI - Brenda Jordan
Change Donations’ mission is to help people change the world through everyday spending. They are a community of everyday philanthropists donating one cent at a time to incredible causes that are inspiring positive change across the globe.
Challenging & rewarding
Food Marble - Aonghus Shortt
Food Marble uses the best digestive health research, making the solutions accessible to everyone.
K9 Collectables - James McIlvenna
K9 Connectables has developed dog toys designed to engage, stimulate and entertain by utilising a dog’s natural instincts to hunt and work for food, challenging them to unlock the treats inside.
Completing the Dublin BIC Investor-Ready Programme is the most effective way to enable companies to attract the investment required to scale. In 2019, 49 companies completed the programme, with 33 completing their seed round within the year. Additionally more than 80% of Dublin BIC Investor-Ready companies survive their critical first five years in business.
Empeal aims to reduce health risks for individuals and organisations by using proactive interventions and continuous improvement through unique algorithms. The measurable metrics based on medical, nutrition, lifestyle, behaviour and individual goals data, help users understand their health footprint and act on it.
The CX Company - Michael Killeen
The CX Company helps businesses to deliver customer experience excellence across all channels through benchmarking, training and developing CX design solutions.
Odyssey VC - Oisin Curran
2019
The Dublin BIC Investor-Ready Programme is a challenging yet rewarding experience for those that are selected to participate. Each company is assigned a dedicated Dublin BIC investment preparation specialist who has deep domain knowledge and expertise. The programme involves a deep analysis of the product, market opportunity, competitive positioning and scalability. This process often leads to fundamental changes to the proposition, team, targets and ambition.
Empeal - Sohini De
49
completed business plans
33
completed funding rounds
Odyssey VC uniquely offers Integrated GxP Cloud and Computerised System Lifecycle Management Services to Life Science companies that operate in highly regulated environments.
MedModus Bi - Deaglan MagFhloinn
Medmosdus Bi is driving measurable performance improvement in healthcare by offering business intelligence, decision support tools and software as enablers.
Dr Coy’s Health Foods - Alison Stroh & Aaron Stroh Dr. Coy’s Health Foods, a family run Irish business, is passionate about promoting positive eating and a healthy lifestyle.
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ZiggyTec delivers accurate, reliable and consistent data from commercial utility meters to the cloud for a simple monthly fee. A trusted partner for property managers and asset owners who are seeking to benchmark sustainability improvements. CloudKPI is an analytics software solution that consolidates information from across a business’ existing software and provides valuable insights.
Selio Medical Colm McGarvey & Garrett Ryan
Selio Medical has developed a unique solution that prevents pneumothorax occurring before the biopsy even takes place.
KitchTech - David Moran
KitchTech is Ireland’s leading provider of affordable and scalable compliance software solutions to the food industry, specialising in providing a world class online application that streamlines food safety and HACCP compliance in commercial kitchens.
UNITEK.AI - Martin Brown
Unitek.AI offers a smart, innovative artificial intelligence platform that utilises deep learning, NLP and machine learning to deliver solutions in handwriting recognition, facial recognition, fraud detection and virtual agents across multiple industries.
Exit Entry - Lewize McCauley Crother
Exit Entry is the online community that truly connects businesses, students and colleges in the most personal way possible. It uses data and machine learning to provide employers with deeper candidate insight providing a better candidate culture fit for organisations and increasing retention rates.
Head Diagnostics David van Zuydam
Head Diagnostics’ device iTremor provides an objective concussion diagnosis in 10 seconds, radically improving the slow and subjective methods currently used.
Output Sports - Dr. Martin O’Reilly, Dr. Darragh Whelan & Julian Eberle
Output Sports is revolutionizing the way athletic staff optimize sports performance. Using advanced signal processing and machine learning techniques, it has developed an end-to-end solution that can test multiple components of athletic performance with a single wearable sensor.
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Investor-Ready Preparation
BleeperBike is Ireland’s first stationless bike sharing scheme. Stationless bikes are equipped with a smart lock fixed above the back wheel of the bike that controls usage of the bike by communicating with a custom built app.
Dublin BIC Smart Start offers guidance to early-stage and developing companies, meeting the requirements of entrepreneurs whether they are at concept, ideation stage or development stage.
12 female entrepreneurs participated in the Innovate Programme during 2019. Now in its third year, Dublin BIC developed the Innovate Programme in partnership with Enterprise Ireland. It is an intensive 12-week programme to assist female entrepreneurs to build, grow and scale a business and to become investor-ready. Innovate uses a blended approach which includes interactive workshops, intensive mentoring, peer-to-peer and experiential learning, together with curated online learning content.
2019 Innovate Programme participants ITUS Secure Technologies - Dr Clare Ryan, CEO ITUS Secure Technologies supports the insurance industry to quantify and manage cyber risk in SMEs through the use of their innovate CYBRISC platform.
an Enterprise Ireland programme Enterprise Start 2 (ES2) is a short programme delivered by Dublin BIC on behalf of Enterprise Ireland. The programme consists of two half-day group workshops and two mentoring sessions. In 2019, Dublin BIC, through Enterprise Start 2, worked with 31 companies. The aim is to challenge the early stage idea from a commercial perspective, getting the entrepreneur to focus on defining the customer problem and to clarify the value proposition. Participants will also get an opportunity to pitch their business idea in a supportive environment and benefit from expert as well as peer-to-peer feedback.
Sprint, an Enterprise Ireland accelerator delivered by Dublin BIC, is designed to help pre-investment start-ups get investor-ready. Participants will acquire an understanding of how to develop a compelling customer value proposition, a deep understanding of the sales process, the importance of customer validation and the development of an investor ready financial model.
Campus Start Enterprise Ireland and Dublin BIC deliver a half day workshop for earlystage Competitive Start Fund applicants. This half day course consists of an interactive presenter-led overview of the CSF application process, including a detailed examination of the application form and the video pitch.
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Dublin BIC works closely with Trinity College Dublin to support the development of start-ups and spinouts on campus. Dublin BIC supports the creation of new companies and high potential start-ups from within Trinity’s research community. Campus Smart Start works alongside Trinity’s other entrepreneurship functions including the Innovation Academy, Launchbox and LaunchPad.
Examfly Learning - Deirdre Lyons, CEO and founder Examfly develops online learning management systems and exam preparation tools for professional exams. Our solutions are exam focused and use proven techniques from Ed Tech and Education Psychology. Avtrain - Julie Garland, founder & CEO Avtrain certifies drone pilots and operators for fixed wing, hybrid, single and multi rotor drones. Irish Aviation Authority approved, Avtain provides online training and certification Europe-wide. Peachy Lean - Sharon Keegan, founder & CEO Peachy Lean is an international brand of high waist, support leggings made with a unique mix of materials to help support a lady’s shape. Squid - Katie Farrell, co-founder and CTO A loyalty app that increases sales and customer retention by digitalising paper stamp cards, Squid promotes special offers, rewards fans and provides data insights. Styl.wrap - Shana Chu, CEO & founder Styl.Wrap is powering the next generation of software solutions for the fashion industry. Solving costly fit & sizing issues across the complete supply chain from initial design to providing instant fit recommendations to online shoppers.
The Wedding Wizard - Mike & Kayleigh Breen, co-founders The Wedding Wizard is an online platform that allows couples plan their wedding start to finish in one place and connects them with wedding suppliers. Bonafi - Katarina Antill, founder & CEO Bonafi helps businesses maximise their ability to maintain pharma compliance and integrity of the pharmaceutical supply chain, providing automation, reliability and a central location to manage their GxP customer and supplier verifications. Anewmum - Marian Kennedy, CEO & founder Anewmum has developed products, technology and support to provide new mothers relief, reassurance and recovery.
Investor-Ready Preparation
For many entrepreneurs, one of the most daunting first steps is to fully commit to a new business. For some, this might mean leaving a secure career or investing savings. Dublin BIC actively supports entrepreneurs at this pre-product stage by working with them to establish how robust and feasible their idea is.
Soothing Solutions - Sinéad Crowther, founder & CEO Soothing Solutions manufactures natural, medicinal-free products to promote comfort to young children when they are suffering from coughs and colds. Focused on product innovation, it offers clever concepts to help parents support children through illness. KO Kombucha - Tracy Armstrong, co-founder & marketing director
Hand crafted in the heartlands of Ireland, KO Kombucha is the first micro-brewery to produce Kombucha, an ancient raw fermented tea that can help aid modern day aliments. Tympany Medical - Dr Elizabeth McGloughlin, CEO Tympany Medical delivers the next generation of “chip-ontip” sterile, panoramic endoscope technology which will revolutionise endoscopic surgery, while also delivering first-inclass sustainability solutions in the MedTech industry, starting with ENT surgery.
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43% ¤25k
43%
517
¤306m
2019
SECTOR
round
2019
12
Average Angel investment per deal -
¤256k
3
International Syndicates at early stage
Health & Beauty 12%
Sector breakdown Food, Beverage & Agriculture
5% Misc 3%
50%
to date
Or less
75%
¤306m
∂ HBAN Ulster launched a¤new 50k investor group and 5angel money &
deals
¤50k
SECTOR
leveraged funds
Or less
2019
Average individual ∂ HBAN’s MedTech Syndicate ledininitial €1.2m investment
investment in BluedropSyndicate Medical Average Angel investment per deal -
20%
Medtech Lifesciences
BREAKDOWN
2019
12
Syndicates & National Network
3
International Syndicates
¤256k ∂ HBAN backed Phorest scoops major angel investment at early stage
European award
10
Health & Beauty 12%
Medtech Lifesciences
BREAKDOWN
∂ CroíValve raises €3.2m in oversubscribed funding deals in total
¤25k
20%
Syndicates & National Network
Average individual investment in Syndicate
ICT
invested in those deals
50%
angel money & leveraged funds
Or less
∂ HBAN passes €100m angel investment milestone
¤111m+
517
¤50k
5 HIGHLIGHTS FOR HBAN FROM 2019:
5%
deals in total to date
75%
HBAN is funded by Enterprise Ireland, InterTradeIreland and Invest Northern Ireland. It is managed by Dublin BIC in partnership with the regional Irish BICs in Cork, Galway and Waterford, and with Clarendon Fund Managers in Northern Ireland. HBAN actively works to increase the number of angel investors involved in investing in early stage companies and supports the formation of new angel networks regionally, internationally and within industry sectors.
across island of Ireland
ICT
invested in those deals
Or less
¤50k
5 HBAN success stories Misc 3%
¤111m+ 2019 was a record year for HBAN which saw it reach and pass the €100 million investment mark. As the all-island umbrella group responsible for the development of business angel syndicates, HBAN is delighted to announce that, during 2019, across the island and international groups, 66 deals were concluded, which represented €16.9m direct angel investment (€256k average per company) and leveraged an additional €37.6m investment, for a total of €54.5m (an average of €825k per company) with investments from over 230 investors for the year.
Food, Beverage & Agriculture
11% Engineering Manufacturing
11% Engineering Manufacturing
∂ HEXAFLY was established in 2016 by Alvan Hunt and John Lynam in response to the growing issue of the global food shortage. The founders developed an innovative method of sustainable insect farming that converts low value waste streams – using black solider flies – into highvalue feeds, fertilizers and bioplastics. HBAN angels have invested over €1.3m into the company. Hexafly has secured a total of €2.2m and is now targeting a large series A round to scale production. ∂ FOODMARBLE has developed and brought to market ‘Aire’, a health breath test device and connected app. Aonghus Short, CEO and founder, built Aire using customer pre-sales and launched the product in 2018. With over €2m in sales in the first two years across the US and Europe, it is the first personal device of its kind that the millions of people who suffer from digestive difficulty can use to measure their bodies unique response to the food they eat. Angels from HBAN’s Irish and US networks have invested almost €500K to support scaling the business in the US. ∂ BUYMIE is a mobile first, on-demand grocery delivery platform that enables users to order any grocery or household item from large grocery retailers using their mobile device. Orders can be delivered in as little as one hour by a fully vetted and trained personal shopper who uses their own car and smartphone. Devan Hughes, CEO & founder, met one of his earliest investors and now Chairman, Eamonn Quinn, at Dublin BIC’s FutureScope event in 2016. Alongside key industry strategic investors, including Unilever Ventures, HBAN Bloom Equity has invested over €800k in Buymie. In 2019 Buymie entered into a partnership with Lidl to provide a home delivery option for its customers. ∂ PRO-VERUM originated out of the Bio-Innovate Programme where Dr Conor Harkin identified the opportunity to develop an effective way to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). Together with CTO, Dr Ríona Ní Ghriallais, they developed a novel minimally invasive expander device that is placed inside the urethra to restore function to men experiencing BPH. This medical device addresses a huge unmet need and aims to become the gold standard in treatment of the condition. To date Pro-Verum has raised over €7m with over €2m from HBAN medtech investors and Irrus Investments. ∂ PAYSLIP founder, Fidelma McGurk, founded her digital technology company to empower payroll professionals to streamline their global payroll processes and manage their international data, resources and vendors efficiently. The former CEO and director of taxback.com spotted a significant gap in how payroll is centrally coordinated and managed by multinational organisations. In 2015 she founded Payslip and began building the innovative global payroll management software which delivers efficient reliable payroll as well as useful business intelligence. Over two rounds of investment, Payslip has raised close to €4m, with HBAN angel investors actively involved in both rounds.
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Access to Finance
Halo Business Angel Network (HBAN) 2019
Investment focus Our fund is focused on investing in highly scalable, early-stage companies developing B2B software products and services, as well as Class I and II medical devices.
Fund launched in Q4 2019
Healthcare
Digital Media
IoT
Data Analytics
Ed-tech
Donnchadh Cullinan, Banking Relationships & Growth Capital Department, Enterprise Ireland; Heather Humphreys TD, Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation; Michael Culligan, CEO, Dublin BIC and Richard Watson, Managing Partner, DBIC Ventures
Investing at seed stage and beyond DBIC Ventures’ Ireland Smart Tech Fund successfully launched in Q4 2019, having reached a first close of €23m. The fund is backed by Enterprise Ireland together with a number of leading Irish technology entrepreneurs and business leaders. The fund is now in active investment mode and is mainly targeting B2B software companies in areas such as fintech,
Fintech
cybersecurity, healthcare, ICT, smart grid and digital transformation as well as medical devices. It will invest in highly scalable, early-stage tech companies in Ireland over the next five years that are positioned to become the next generation of Ireland’s leading technology companies.
Enterprise Solutions
Cyber Security
Internet & Mobile
Energy & Smart Grid
Sample Dublin BIC AIB Seed Capital Fund portfolio companies at 31st December 2019:
10 years 5-year primary investment period
Early stage tech Seed & Series A
€200-€650k
in first rounds
Max €2.5m cumulative
30
companies 6/7 investments per year
Deliver
€50m+
valuation exits Target 5x-10x return on each investment
The Dublin BIC managed AIB Seed Capital Fund has to date invested €14.2m in 40 companies through 90 investment rounds. Portfolio companies have attracted an additional €101m in co-investments. The AIB Seed Capital Fund was established with investment from AIB Bank and Enterprise Ireland. A large number of companies in the fund portfolio are now well-established and growing into significant international players within their industry sectors.
40 companies selected for investment by Dublin BIC over an
7-year period (1st round period)
12
Access to Finance
€30m+ fund
€14.2m invested through 90 investment rounds 13
CoConnect initiative CoConnect’s purpose is to enrich the start-up ecosystem throughout the country by increasing engagement and collaboration between the regions.
2019 will go down as a momentous year for the Guinness Enterprise Centre (GEC). In February, the GEC announced a project to deliver on its long-held vision to develop a global entrepreneurial superhub and from there embarked on an ambitious €10m expansion of the Guinness Enterprise Centre. The expansion is supported by Diageo, Dublin BIC, Dublin City Council, Dublin City LEO, Enterprise Ireland, the Guinness Workers Employment Fund and the Irish Strategic Investment Fund.
In collaboration with more than 45 hubs and enterprise centres across Ireland, the CoConnect programme offers the use of the GEC’s excellent facilities in the heart of Dublin and direct access to the GEC’s awardwinning university programme to start-ups across Ireland. This year, the GEC has collaborated with regional partners such as the Western Development Commission, Grow Remote and Udarás na Gaeltachta to support and drive the growth of regional hubs across Ireland.
The GEC provides a modern, spacious and flexible working environment as well as best-in-class, on-site business support services. What sets the
By sharing best practices between our hubs and communities, together, we develop regional start-ups and support the growth of the entrepreneurial CoConnect Home Away From Home network across Ireland. CoConnect Home Away From Home
GEC apart is the vibrant entrepreneurial community and a strongly influential start-up support ecosystem.
CoConnect CoConnect CoConnect CoConnect CoConnect CoConnect CoConnect CoConnect CoConnect CoConnect CoConnect CoConnect CoConnect CoConnect CoConnect
Home Away Home Home Home Home Away Away From From From From Home Home Home Home Home Away From Home Home Away From Home Home Away From Home Home Away From Home Home Home Home Away Away Away From From From Home Home Home Home Away From HomeHome Home Away From AwayHome From Home Home Away From Home
Away From From HomeHome HomeHome AwayHome From Away Home
World class centre to start or scale your business Europe Private Business Incubator
(Collaborating with University)
The GEC-Key Facts: ∂ Ireland’s home to entrepreneurs ∂ Home to 160 start-ups
The Guinness Enterprise Centre has been recognised as ‘Europe’s Top Business Incubator to Collaborate with Universities’ by the prestigious UBI Global Benchmark Study. This award recognises business incubators that work to catalyse the spirit of entrepreneurship globally. Through our University Programme, the GEC connects top Universities and MBA Programmes with Ireland’s most innovative entrepreneurs giving start-ups here access to some of the world’s best young entrepreneurial minds.
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∂ Capacity for 200 co-workers ∂ A community of 800+ entrepreneurs and innovators ∂ Directly creating 1,500 jobs every 5 years
2019:
World Class Incubation
#1
A Year in Review
400+
Employed on-site
100+
Co-working companies
85+
Resident start-ups
45+
University partners
50+
Regional partnerships
Your County is your Business The Guinness Enterprise Centre has successfully launched the Prosper Series with the counties of Kerry, Limerick and more recently Cavan. The Prosper Series was developed by the GEC to create a network among a county’s business diaspora to enhance the prosperity in a county through co-operation, knowledge sharing, creativity, inspiration and a stronger entrepreneurial ecosystem. In 2020, we’re adding more counties to the Prosper Series and growing the network of business diaspora who are eager to give back and see their county prosper! For more information on how you can support your county or how the Prosper Series can support you, email us at Prosper@gec.ie.
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What does a company need to know before taking on investment?
Dedicated to helping you succeed
A quarterly event exploring approaches to fundraising
Space@DublinBIC offers clients the benefit of being immersed in a hub of entrepreneurship, surrounded by the supports they need to ensure their company is a success.
Why Space? Events & social activities
Accessibility
Meeting rooms
Central Location Networking opportunities
Lockers
16
Flexible terms
Parking
Business advice & support
Security High Speed WIFI Kitchen Facilities
Room to grow
Space@DublinBIC Bride Street
Productive environment
24hr Access
Offering four floors of both private and shared office areas with panoramic rooftop views of the city, co-working and hot-desking facilities, meeting rooms and 24/7 access. Space@DublinBIC Bride Street offers an affordable and practical workspace aimed at assisting growth-oriented start-ups to expand and scale.
Registered attendees:
1,273
Venues:
Windmill Lane and Facebook
Thank you to our Funding & Scaling partners in 2019:
PARTICIPANTS: Travis George, Vela Games I Adrian Walsh, Check Ventory I Brendan Noud, LearnUpon I ACT I Crowdcube I Enterprise Ireland I HBAN I Avril Copeland, Tickerfit I Irish Jobs I Colm Lyon, Fire I Julie Currid, Go Contractor I Darragh Geoghegan, Effective Software I Linked Finance I Dublin City Council I Spark Crowd Funding I Frontline Ventures I Sonia Neary, Wellola I Rafael Pages, Volograms I Martin O’Connell, Nasal Medical I Marianne Checkley, Camara I Paul Quigley, Newswhip I Richard Watson, DBIC Ventures I Barry Dowling, Transfer Mate I Faye Drouillard, Angel Investor I Phil Barnes, Wales Bank I Ian Jones, Amplyfi
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Community & Collaboration
World Class Incubation
Following the success of Space@DublinBIC on Dawson Street, Dublin BIC has launched a second enterprise centre on Bride Street in Dublin’s City Centre. Space@DublinBIC has been designed to offer a well-located, flexible workspace for start-ups and scale-ups at affordable rates.
Funding & Scaling was designed to tackle this question and demystify the process of raising investment for start-ups and scale-ups. At Funding & Scaling, we explore the different approaches to securing early-stage investment and hear perspectives from entrepreneurs and investors. Held quarterly in 2019, attendees benefited from hearing successful entrepreneurs talk through their scaling stories.
1611
attendees in 2019
132
speakers & panellists
FutureScope 2019 took place in the Convention Centre Dublin on Thursday, 28th March. It attracted 1600+ attendees, featured 132 speakers and panellists and catered for 49 exhibitors.
49
exhibitors
Highlights of the day included keynotes exploring the implications of emerging technologies and how they will shape the business opportunities of the future and multiple panel discussions exploring the challenges and opportunities arising from IoT, robotics, 5G, data analytics, VR/AR and artificial intelligence. FutureScope 2019 examined how disruption and innovation are impacting key sectors, including energy, sport, smart cities, manufacturing, agriculture, health, transport and security.
Ireland’s #1 innovation event
Thank you to our FutureScope
2018 18
The winner of the FutureScope One2Watch 2019 was Change Donations, crowning it as Ireland’s most scalable start-up. Change Donations has created a platform that helps charities to fundraise by facilitating the donation of digital spare change. In an exciting pitch competition on the Entrepreneurship Stage at FutureScope, Change Donations saw off strong challenges from CitySwifter, Unitek AI, Output Sports and Tympany Medical to claim the coveted One2Watch prize. Many thanks to One2Watch 2019 sponsor, Dublin law firm, OBH Partners.
2019 partners! Dublin City Council, Smart Dublin, Enterprise Ireland, Vodafone, Science Foundation Ireland, An Post, Strata 3, Dublin LEO and The Irish Times.
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Community & Collaboration
Some of the companies that participated in FS19
Spotlight
Minister Heather Humphries, Lord Mayor of Dublin, Niall Ring and David Varian, Diageo & GEC Chair at the GEC expansion announcement.
A major collaboration between Diageo, Dublin BIC, Dublin City Council, Dublin City LEO, Enterprise Ireland, the Guinness Workers Employment Fund and the Irish Strategic Investment Fund to embark on a major €10 million expansion of the Guinness Enterprise Centre that would double its capacity, came to fruition in 2019. Construction began in November 2019 and is scheduled to be completed before the end of 2020.
The GEC: A global entrepreneurial superhub Ireland’s springboard for ambitious start-ups and soft landing for overseas companies setting up in Ireland. The expanded GEC will be home to over 160 start-ups with 750 employees with capacity for a further 220 co-working companies. 1,500 direct jobs will be created over the next five years, with the exchequer receiving a €75 million boost.
20
Guinness Enterprise Centre, Taylor’s Lane, Dublin 8.
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Dublin BIC governance Dublin BIC was established in 1988, at a very challenging time for Ireland, to promote and support entrepreneurship and the creation of long-term economic wealth. It is a public/private organisation working closely with public agencies and the private sector to deliver on its mission. Dublin BIC is constituted as a Company Limited by Guarantee operating under the companies act 2014. Dublin BIC is governed by a board of directors which gives of its time on a voluntary basis. The organisation is a registered charity, operating under the Charities Regulator’s Charities Governance Code of 2018. Dublin BIC is also registered as an investment intermediary under the Investment Intermediaries Act 1995. Dublin BIC, along with its fellow Irish BICs, is a member of EBN (The European Business Innovation Centre Network). The Irish BICs are supported by the Department of Business Enterprise & Innovation via Enterprise Ireland.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS Clive Brownlee (chairman) - Clive Brownlee is a former managing director of Guinness Dublin and Guinness Nigeria. He was Deputy MD of Diageo Ireland. Clive is a past president of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce and CIMA Ireland as well as former chairman of the Coombe Hospital Board and of Headway. He is a non-executive director of Sicon Ltd, the holding company for the Sisk construction businesses. Clive is a qualified executive coach.
247 Meeting I 250Kal I 20-20 Insights I Ability Software Ltd I Activation
Medmodus I Meetingsbooker.com I MicksGarage.com I Miravex I M&J Nutrition
Energy I Actus Mobile I Adaptive Mobile I Addoceo Digital Media Ltd I AER
I MMSoft Design I Monread Systems Development Ltd I Motor Check I Moving
Sustainable Energy I Alba Logistics I Alpha Wireless I Anveck/Hole More
Media Ltd I Msemicon Teoranta I Mxsweep I Mypp I MyPlace Connect I Nasal
Puts I Aphix Software I AQZ Ltd I Arann Healthcare I Arconics Ltd I Arekibo I
Medical I Network Recovery I New Life Learning I Newswhip I Register.ie
Aspirico I Atomic Sports I AV Edge Ltd I Axonista I Balcony TV I Balls Media I
I OCREX I OddsFuture I Odyssey I Officemetrics I Omac I Omnimotion
board and is a former chairman. He was professor of entrepreneurship at the UCD Business School. Frank has been a long-term activist in promoting an entrepreneurial society in Ireland as an academic, consultant, executive educator, contributor to policy and as a director of a small number of early stage technology companies.
Bankhawk Analytics I Barracuda I Benetel I Betapond I Beautifeye I Beeinstant
Technology I Onformonics I Onlinetradesmen I Openjaw Technologies I Opitgen
I Big Mountain I BleeperBike I Bloom Magic I Blueface Ltd I Boulder Media
I Optrace I Oriel Sea Salt Company I Pharmapod I Pilot Photonics I Picosoft I
I BNC I Britebill I Bookapitch I Brown Bag Films I Build Online I Busterbox I
Pix.ie I Pixalert I Point of Care I PowCow Frozen Yoghurt I Precise Design
C.C.S Ltd I Caragon I Cashflow Works I Celtrino I Changing Worlds I Chasing
Solution I Prime Carrier I Property BaseCamp I Property Button I Pro Stainless
Returns I Check Ventory I Chilly Moo I Cibenix I Cinario I Circle B2B Lt I CiviQ I
I ProVerum Medical I Puca I Racecaller I Ragespark I Red Sky I Red T I
Teri Smith - Teri is a manager in the Enterprise Ireland
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I Cluey Systems I Connexicon Medical I Construction Boss I CR Entertainment
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I Crechecom I Credebtors Exchange I Crème Software I Croivalve I Cruatech
I Salon Addict I Scientific Systems I Screenlock.com I Selio I Sensormind I
I Cx Company I CX Index I CyberRisk International I Danalto I DataChemist I
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I DemonWare I Dermot Foley Landscape I Digital Marketing Institute I Digital
I Smarttrace I Smart Wall Paint I Softedge Systems I Sonex Metrology I
Reach I Digitar I DKI Ltd. t/a Salespulse I DME Engineering I Dobiquity I Dot.
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ie Ltd I Dovetail I Dr Coy Health Foods I Dreamtec Software I Dublin Vinyl
Technologies I Specialised Metals Ltd I Spectral Signatures Ltd I Speedauthor
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Straatum I Stratus 5 I Subrosa I Surfholidays I Surplus Stock Worldwide
Endeco I Eneclann I Entando I Enterprise Imaging Systems I Errigal Software
I Swiftcomply I Sytorus I TCAS Online I Tenderscout I Terminal Four I Test
Solutions Ltd I ESM I Eurocollege Institute of Education I Eventovate I EVEO
Triangle I The Big Create I The Handmade Soap Company I The Oriel Sea Salt
I Exoftware I Factory Automation I Fenestrapro I Fiid I Fijowave I Firmwave
Company I TickerFit I Ticket Lord I Topchem Laboratories I Touchtel Ltd
I Flowers Made Easy I Fluidedge I Food Marble I Fort Information Technology
(Go Ireland.Com) I T-Pro I Transpoco I Trapedza Financial Systems I Tridelta
I Fr3dom I Fun Fitness I Generator I Glanta I Glofox I Go Create Academy I
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management consultant, has 40+ years’ experience assisting early stage companies and entrepreneurs. A former partner in BDO Simpson Xavier, Ronan has served as director and chair of several public and private entities and is a former president of Dublin Chamber of Commerce. He was also on the board of Special Olympics Ireland.
I H2H Care I Havok I Healthcomms I Hexafly I Hibernian Healthcare I House
Development Ltd I Visible Thread I Visual ID I Voice Engineer Ireland Ltd I
My Dog I Huggity I Icabbi I ICAP Media Ltd I Iconic Translation Machines I
Volograms I VRAI I VRM Technology I Wattics I Wellclever I Worldnet TPS I
ID Pal I iHotelligence I Ikon I Impedans Ltd I Industrial Training I Infocell I
Xpreso Software I X Webs International I Xbox Game Centre I Xintec I Zamano
Initiafy I InMusic I Innovatec I Insero I Insight Statistical Consultancy I Integral
I ZeroGrey I Zutec
Michael Moriarty - Following roles in London and
I iTraffic I Jam Media I Jobbio I K9 Connectables I Kitman Labs I Klas Ltd I
Frank Roche - Frank is a very active member of the
High Potential Start Up Division leading the development of early stage innovative companies with scalable international growth potential. Teri is a passionate supporter of entrepreneurship and has 20 years of experience in business development and investment roles within Enterprise Ireland.
Hugh Governey - Retired 2005 as CEO of Coyle Hamilton
Willis, Hugh is a fromer president of Irish Brokers Association and the European Brokers Federation. Elected president of Dublin Chamber of Commerce 1999 having chaired committees to address the city’s high unemployment levels in inner Dublin and the Dublin Built Environment.
David O’Meara - David was CEO of Havok which sold to
Dublin BIC Values Inspired by entrepreneurship I Authentic, honest and trusted I Collaborative community builders I Enabling & empowering I Resilient & determined I Generous with knowledge, expertise and networks
82%
of Dublin BIC supported companies survive their critical first five years 22
450+
start-ups have raised funding through Dublin BIC managed programmes
Dublin BIC start-ups 1988-2019
Intel in 2007. He also acted as group vice president business Development of Sterling Commerce (NYSE- SE), which was acquired in 2000 for $4 billion by SBC Corp (AT&T). He was founder and CEO of PostGEM (acquired by Esat) and director of business development, Unisource Business Networks (Amsterdam).
Ronan King - Ronan, a chartered accountant and
Paris, Michael joined The Irish Trade Board (forerunner of Enterprise Ireland). During his career at Enterprise Ireland, he held several senior positions including head of European operations, head of innovation and head of international sales and partnerships. Michael is a qualified business coach and is fluent in several languages.
Computers Ltd I Interactive Return I Invizbox I Isle Systems I Iterate I IT Force Kleerex I Kosran Ecv Ltd I Labcyte Europe I LCS Informatics I Learning in Motion I Learnosity I LearnUpon I LiveCosts (Ground upSoftware) I Locumotion Ltd I Louet Woods Products I Lucid Information Management Ltd I Lumafit Ltd. I Magnetic Solutions I Makers and Brothers I M-Birr I MCor Technologies I
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Get in touch, email startup@dublinbic.ie or call us on 01 671 3111 www.dublinbic.ie www.dublinbic.ie
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