More than half of NDRC companies attract follow-on investment

29 May 2017

Image: Connor McKenna

New insights from NDRC reveal high level of backing for start-ups.

More than half – 51pc – of NDRC companies attract follow on investment, the early stage accelerator has revealed.

Ahead of the organisation’s Investor Day this week (Wednesday 31 May), NDRC revealed new numbers about the companies that pass through its programmes.

For example, it revealed that its highest performing companies typically have three or more people in the founding team.

Its data indicates that, over the last 10 years, digital start-ups in the health, travel, data and analytics realms were more likely to raise investment and grow.

Age is just a number

The number of digital start-ups created at the accelerator is rising annually, doubling from 16 in 2014 to 32 in 2016.

And proving that start-ups don’t necessarily have to be led by teens or 20-somethings, the average age of start-up founders at NDRC companies is 35.

The new figures follow on from stats released in March that indicated women founders attract higher levels of follow-on investment than men.

The research showed that 67pc of companies with women in the founding team at the accelerator went on to receive follow-on investment, compared with 51pc of all-male founding teams.

At the last investor day held at NDRC, more than 20 companies pitched, with the winning investments of €30,000 and €20,000 going to Vizlegal and Glissed, respectively.

NDRC recently issued a call for start-ups to join its Summer 2017 Accelerator Programme, with initial cash investments of between €30,000 and €100,000 per venture.

NDRC investor insights graphic

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com