Irish start-up Clevermiles makes finals of Castrol 20/20 Challenge

22 May 2012

James McNamara, CEO, CleverMiles, with team members Chloe McGuckin and Chris McNamara. The trio were at Startupbootcamp last week

New Irish start-up Clevermiles, which has developed an app to inspire safer driving, has been named as one of five finalists for the Castrol 20/20 Challenge in the UK.

The start-up, which has just finished up at Startupbootcamp in Dublin, is aiming use this competition as a platform to introduce its app technology into the UK marketplace.

Clevermiles has also made it to the finals of the Blueface Elevator competition that will take place in Dublin this July.

The venture itself came about when four students at IT Sligo – Matthew Padden, Calum Cawley, Aíne Conaghan and James McNamara – won in the global finals of the Microsoft Imagine Cup last year for their software to help prevent vehicle crashes.

Following the win, two of the students – McNamara and Cawley – decided to take the technology one step further by co-founding Clevermiles, along with McNamara’s brother Chris. Since then, another team member, Chloe McGuckin, has also come on board.

So what is their technology all about? James McNamara says the system aims to enhance road safety and save lives via a three-part strategy of driver monitoring, education and incentivisation.

The team has been working on a device that can be plugged into any car that’s manufactured post-2000.

The aim of the application is to monitor and analyse driving behaviour using various metrics and to encourage safer driving based on a type of awards scheme.

For instance, via the app, drivers will get feedback on their behaviour after each journey.

“We’ve spent the last 10 months developing and testing our concept. We believe there is a real need for a product like Clevermiles,” said McNamara, now CEO of the start-up.

The Castrol 20/20 challenge finals will take place at the end of May in London.

Carmel Doyle was a long-time reporter with Silicon Republic

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