Malaika Judd. Image: NDRC
Seven budding start-ups, including a former Start-up of the Week, will now work towards a Demo Day event in September where they will pitch their business ideas.
NDRC, the national start-up accelerator co-managed by Dogpatch Labs, has announced a new managing director and cohort for its accelerator programme kicking off this week.
Malaika Judd, a Dutch-American angel investor and entrepreneur, co-founded Kenyan logistics and fulfilment start-up Sendy. She will now lead the flagship NDRC accelerator that will see seven start-ups receive guidance and mentorship from some of Ireland’s leading entrepreneurs to hone their business ideas.
Managed by Dogpatch Labs in collaboration with PorterShed Galway, RDI Hub Kerry and Republic of Work Cork and Tipperary, NDRC recently revealed that start-ups in its portfolio have created 650 jobs over the past three years. Around the same time, it bagged a two-year contract extension to continue supporting founders and entrepreneurs from across the island and to make the country an attractive European destination for building a company.
Now, its latest cohort of start-ups, hailing from Waterford, Kildare, Clare and Dublin, is getting ready to launch their business journeys. NDRC said four out of seven start-ups in the cohort (57pc) are either led by women or have women co-founders.
Together, these start-ups are aiming to solve a range of global issues while operating in industries such as pharma, finance, sales, investment, tourism, digital accessibility, blockchain and tax reporting. The programme will culminate in a Demo Day in September, where they will pitch their ideas to an audience.
“This new cohort of start-ups is next level,” Judd said as part of the announcement today (10 July). “I’m very excited to be leading the team accelerating these entrepreneurs and look forward to mentoring them as they scale fast.”
Start-ups that have participated in its programmes over the past three years have raised more than €56m, according to a report it published along with the announcement in April. NDRC said that its entire portfolio of start-ups over the same period raised around €180m.
Those that went through its accelerator – such as GreyScout, Cytidel and Examfly – collectively raised more than €35m, while pre-accelerator alumni including ByoWave and Zerve raised €21m together. Around 30pc of NDRC accelerator investments comprise women-led or co-led start-ups.
The latest cohort will learn from more than 30 successful speakers and entrepreneurs, including Tines co-founder Eoin Hinchy, &Open co-founder Ciara Flood and Hostelworld’s Ray Nolan. All seven start-ups will also receive €100,000 each on founder-friendly SAFE investment terms to support their growth in the programme.
“At NDRC, one of our core principles is to be entrepreneur-led,” said NDRC managing director Ian Browne.
“That means bringing in experienced entrepreneurs to help support the next generation of Irish start-ups. I am delighted to welcome someone with such stellar credentials as Malaika to the team and her international experience will undoubtedly add significant value not just to this cohort but to the whole organisation.”
Here are the seven companies in NDRC’s latest accelerator cohort:
DevA11y: A company that uses AI to make building accessible products simpler.
Hatched Analytics: Provides institutional investors with precise data on the performance of global companies.
Kreoh: A company that automates R&D tax credit reporting.
Meta-Flux: A former Start-up of the Week that uses AI for personalised medicine.
Revium: A patent-pending platform for AI-powered B2B sales engagement.
Sulu: Enables monetisation of APIs through Bitcoin and the Lightning Network.
Tourmata: Creates software for group tour operators to streamline their work.
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