Sizzling synergy at TU Dublin Tallaght campus
By William O'Connor
THE Synergy Centre at TU Dublin–Tallaght Campus hosted one of the biggest events in its annual calendar which is the New Frontiers Phase 2 Graduation Showcase.
The Synergy Centre provides incubation facilities for start-up companies and promotes Entrepreneur Development through the delivery of the New Frontiers Programmes which are funded by Enterprise Ireland.
Dairine Clinton, Sinead Moore, Eddie Gahan, Caroline Fox, Vincent Lonij, Diane Tangney, Michael Egan, Jennifer Lawlor, Glenda Hahn, Colm Casey, Ian Walsh (For Ciara Sheahan) and Jeremiah Ryan
(Image: Ben Ryan)
The event debuts 13 new Entrepreneurs and their innovative new businesses which will operate across a wide variety of commercial and industrial sectors including advertising, agriculture, amateur sports, gaming, family, healthcare and pharma monitoring, property sales, recruitment, corporate and personal wellness.
Ena Coleman, of Enterprise Ireland, who monitored the progress of this year’s group over the six months of the programme said: “New Frontiers is a critically important programme within Enterprise Ireland’s offering.
“It is the national entrepreneurial development programme and helps start-ups on their journey with expertise and funding.
I am very impressed with the 2019 TU Dublin Tallaght cohort. The progress they have made in the last six months as entrepreneurs and in developing their business ideas is testament to their focus and determination, strongly nurtured by the New Frontiers support environment.
I wish them well in the months ahead in progressing their business idea to the wider commercial stage.”
Dairine Clinton and Dearbhail Flanagan of Shuffil
The six months of the programme, which sometimes the participants refer to as the roller-coaster, is an opportunity to learn and apply to their own businesses, various disciplines including market research, lean start-up, product and organisational development, and IP protection, marketing and financial planning.
The climax of the six months full-time programme is the Showcase day.
This provides an opportunity for celebrating their achievements alongside other entrepreneurs, industry professionals, mentors and investors.
During the event, Elaine Ralph of Superdisty spoke and underlined how important the New Frontiers Programme was for her in developing a successful business.
Vincent Lonij Swyg Ltd (right) winner of the Philip Lee Invest Start Award and Hugo Grattirola of Philip Lee
Elaine reflected on the value of being part of a peer group when undertaking the programme in 2014 to share the journey.
She continues to run a growing business from Synergy Global in Citywest which is part of the Synergy Centre incubation space.
The day started early with each of the participants delivering a short business pitch to a judging panel to decide the destination of two prizes totalling €12,000, sponsored by Philip Lee and AIB Tallaght.
The quality of businesses was high with Hugo Gratirolla of Philip Lee commenting: “The quality and originality of each participant’s project was remarkable.
Glenda Hahn, Hygiene Audits (Right) Winner of the AIB Supporting Start-Ups Award with Sinead Goff, AIB Tallaght Branch
It was very interesting to see the level of creativity and innovation in the programme and the participants’ enthusiasm was contagious.
We wish them all the best in their future achievements in the exciting world of start-ups.”
The formalities concluded with the much anticipated announcement of the two prize winners.
Glenda Hahn of Hygiene Audits was the winner of the AIB “Supporting Start-ups” award which was presented by Sinead Goff, Manager of AIB Tallaght.
Hygiene Audits have designed and developed technology to digitise and automate workflows, prioritise “patient care time”, and gain a real-time understanding of healthcare facility’s quality and compliance.
Hugo Gratirolla, Associate at Philip Lee presented their “Invest Start” award to Vincent Lonij of Swyg Ltd, whose platform provides a novel candidate-screening technology for recruiters and HR departments.
Jennifer Lawlor from My Little Wonder with her Wonder Lable
Swyg’s unique AI platform, brings scale and efficiency to the face-to-face interview process. Julian Seymour of HBAN who chaired the judging panel reflected on the judging: “I always enjoy chairing the panel at the New Frontiers final showcase.
“The standard of potential companies coming through this accelerator is always very high.
“The participants are well-prepared and grounded in the reality of what it takes to take their business to the next stage, and the pathway to do it. There were some great projects”
The showcase then continued with networking at the various business displays.
This was an exciting week for Jeremiah Ryan from Kiltipper who launched his mobile web App SubsNinja.com earlier in the week.
This low-cost App which runs from the web browser of any smartphone will be a godsend for any manager of a small sports or athletic club by helping them manage membership and subscriptions.
Knocklyon woman, Jennifer Lawlor, of My Little Wonderful, got guests to think about their family life while providing helpful Wonder Labels and other products which help busy families stay organised.
Jeremiah Ryan of SubsNinja.com
Dairine Clinton of Shuffil showed that employee health and wellbeing can be enhanced via their platform which connects companies and their employees with expert-led wellness solutions both on-site and off-site.
Rathcoole resident Caroline Fox demonstrated her strategy-based board game “The Causeway” which she recently presented at Europe’s premier gaming event “Spiel” in Germany.
Ciara Sheahan and her business partner Ian Walsh demonstrated how their Orb Media business creates greater brand interest through their interactive 360 media.
Dr Sinead Moore showcased some of the innovative products for better spinal care they have developed as a result of years of experience treating patients with chronic spine and back problems which they sell online at the Spinery.com.
Dr Diane Tangney of Atmos Q is developing patented technology for improving the air quality of homes and offices while Nicole Baker of Biologit is developing pioneering software to identify adverse events for pharmaceutical products.
Eddie Gahan of 3Scribe has developed the best in class speech to text platform for those who need speech transcribed.
Finally and underlining the strong reputation of the New Frontiers programme, Colm Casey who travelled regularly from Mayo, explained how his platform ‘HonestyHub’ will transform the property-buying process for buyers and sellers alike while Michael Egan from Galway unveiled his new product for the farming community.
