DCU Ryan Academy calling on hardware and travel tech start-ups

23 Feb 2016

The DCU Ryan Academy is currently searching for four start-ups to join an international field in an “immersions programme”.

Based in Citywest, at the DCU Ryan Academy home, a special one-week programme will see 16 start-ups from four countries gain access to “top mentors and corporates”.

The Cross Border Mentorship Week is in mid-April, and start-ups in the area of hardware and travel tech have been encouraged to apply – with the deadline for applications being 3 March.

What do travel tech start-ups do? Well, according to the DCU Ryan Academy, they could be building a social platform for users to choose restaurants, “a seat-pricing algorithm that increases an airline’s profitability, an augmented reality app that raises a visitor’s enjoyment of a city” or even a tool to help conference attendees get chatting.

In the hardware sphere, all the obvious areas like wearables, 3D printing, internet of things and digital manufacturing are included.

The four countries taking part are Ireland, Germany (Berlin), Italy (Milan) and Spain (Madrid and Salamanca), with the whole thing free for the chosen start-ups.

It’s free because of something called the Welcome Project, which is developed under the Startup Europe Initiative and funded by the EU Commission.

The whole idea is to get entrepreneurs to reach out into other countries, for access to funding and expertise beyond what may be considered easier lines.

Travel technology image via Shutterstock

Gordon Hunt was a journalist with Silicon Republic

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