One of Poznan's pedestrianised central streets. Image by Wikimedia Commons
To tie in with Euro 2012, Enterprise Ireland is hosting a novel videoconference next Monday from the Guinness Enterprise Centre in Dublin when Irish start-ups will hook up with the Polish Huge Thing accelerator bootcamp for start-ups in Poznań.
The aim of the Dublin-Poznań Startup Bridge videoconference will be to highlight links between the Polish and Irish start-up communities, as well as promote Ireland and what it offers potential Polish entrepreneurs should they wish to relocate their new ventures to Irish soil.
€10m International Start-Up Fund
Back in 2011, Enterprise Ireland launched a dedicated €10m International Start-Up Fund to target investor-ready overseas entrepreneurs to start their business in Ireland. Companies that have availed of the fund include the US games studio 2PaperDolls, which relocated to Dublin last year.
Lorcan O’Sullivan, Enterprise Ireland’s manager for overseas entrepreneurship, said the fund is open to start-ups anywhere in the world.
He said it is also targeted at the Irish diaspora, international expatriates, as well as the ‘new diaspora’, meaning people from overseas who have previously worked or studied in Ireland. The fund is also open to serial and mobile entrepreneurs.
“This is a great opportunity to bring the message about Ireland’s strong start-up ecosystem to the entrepreneurial community in Poland.
“The aim of this event is to highlight opportunities in Ireland for Polish start-ups in the technology area and to tell them about the ecosystem here and the range of support services we can offer,” said O’Sullivan.
Doing business in Ireland and Poland
During the event Paul McKeown, an Irish tech entrepreneur based in Poznań, will be giving his insights on doing business in Poland and Ireland, while Polish entrepreneur Mike Sikorsky, CEO and founder of Huggity, who is based at the Guinness Enterprise Centre, will also be speaking about his own experience of relocating to Ireland.
“There will also be an opportunity for the Irish participants to hear about Polish start-ups and opportunities to co-operate together,” said O’Sullivan.
And, in keeping with the competitive theme of the football championships, three start-ups from Ireland and three from Poland are taking part in a pitching competition.
TextMeADrink Cluey and 45Sound will be pitching from Dublin, while Moodup and Pocademy are two of the start-ups that will be pitching from Poznań.
The event itself at the Guinness Enterprise Centre will start at 1pm on Monday, 18 June. Any start-up interested in heading to the event should email naghmeh.reilly@enterprise-ireland.com.
