20 Irish startups took their chances in the AIB Start-up Academy in The Irish Times building on November 19, representing some of the best talent and professional drive in the Irish startup scene today. Longlisted from a group of several hundred that applied for the 10 places on the academy, the standard that got through to this stage of the process was naturally very high. Including technology, food, the environment and publishing themes, each startup pitched to
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with great industry experience behind them.
While nerves always play their part, the pitches were uniformly good and the atmosphere in the pitching room travelled from practised poise to relaxed confidence to simply great conversations about doing business. Host, Gary Quinn (The Irish Times) said "while the prize was always a place on the academy, the feedback from the judges paid off immediately with excellent industry knowledge flowing directly into the product planning of each startup. Participants didn’t hide their enthusiasm for taking part in such a useful process and the determination to succeed shaped the atmosphere in the Irish Times boardroom throughout the day."
Finally, however, the judging process had to arrive at its destination: 10 incredible businesses going forward to the academy itself.
The finalists are
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, Everest Granola,
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,
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,
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,
,
,
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,
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and
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.
Over eight weeks, starting in January 2015, the finalists will be guided through a startup curriculum designed to help them scale their businesses, nail down their accounting, refine their marketing strategies, test their market fit and find and reach customers.
One winner will be selected at the end of the programme and awarded the ultimate startup package.
The prize will include €50,000 worth of print and online advertising from The Irish Times and €90,000 of advertising spend from Joe.ie and Her.ie.
The winner will also get digital and social media mentoring with AIB’s head of digital and innovation.