Founders of the start-ups selected for the latest NDRC at PorterShed accelerator. Top row from left: Artur Leonowicz, Cian Collins, Noel Dykes, Anika Riley, Sebastian Kühn, John Maguire, John Harney and Ray O’Neill. Bottom row from left: Patrick McDermott, Sohini De, Karina Kelly, Joleen Looney and Andy Kelly. Image: NDRC
NDRC at PorterShed has announced the seven start-ups taking part in its latest three-month accelerator in Galway.
Seven start-ups make up the latest cohort to settle in at NDRC’s PorterShed accelerator in Galway.
This third PorterShed accelerator sees an increased investment in each start-up, amounting to €75,000 per company. As well as a welcome cash injection, the start-ups will receive strategic business development advice and mentoring from digital enterprise experts over the course of the three-month programme.
The PorterShed programme is a result of a partnership between NDRC and the Galway City Innovation District, and is co-funded by Enterprise Ireland. As well as fast-tracking these companies’ route to market, NDRC and Enterprise Ireland hope to produce some high-quality start-ups with the potential to employ more than 10 people and achieve €1m in export sales within three years.
Previous PorterShed participants include PlanDomino and Luna Connect. The latest cohort represents a range of sectors from tourism and finance to renewable energy, and some start-ups relocated to Galway to partake in the programme.
“This group of businesses vary greatly in the areas in which they intend operating. However, they share a common trait in that they each provide digital solutions, and they each are looking to scale globally,” said Ben Hurley, NDRC CEO.
EasyCount
Founded by Patrick McDermott (CEO) and Artur Leonowicz (CTO), EasyCount provides software that assists in the counting and reporting of non-barcoded stock such as food, cleaning materials, hardware and construction materials. Formed in 2016, EasyCount’s inventory helper is available as an Android and iOS app as well as a web platform. Users can synchronise data across devices, and dispense with pen, paper, Excel sheets and double entry.
Fincovi
Pitched as a financial specialist for renewable energy asset owners, Fincovi was founded by John Harney and Ray O’Neill to help companies cut the cost of maintaining renewable energy funds and leverage financial data for actionable insights. Fincovi claims that its cloud platform, Amplifi, can cut the cost of back- and middle-office functions by at least 25pc, thus freeing up developer and fund manager time to build, originate and fundraise for new projects.
Mypicdrop
Founded by Karina Kelly and Joleen Looney, Mypicdrop assists online retailers, web developers and digital marketing agencies with batch image resizing, renaming and editing. The key to this is Conveyor, a workflow software that reduces the time and cost of publishing product content by enabling faster uploads of new stock. A recent Silicon Republic Start-up of the Week, Mypicdrop’s ultimate goal is to fully automate product content publishing for e-commerce retailers around the world.
Trustfy
Trustfy is an escrow service for freelancers and their clients. Founded by Anika Riley (CEO) and Sebastian Kühn (CTO), the platform provides payment protection on both sides of the transaction through a secure system. Kühn was inspired by his own father’s work as a contractor and his struggles to get paid. The company aims to keep the process as simple as possible, with the option for payment to be released as project milestones are reached or on completion.
Frankli
Hailing from Sligo, Frankli is a HR tech company founded by Noel Dykes (CEO) and Cian Collins (chief commercial officer) with David Kenny, VP of software development at Overstock, as a technical adviser. Founded in February 2017, Frankli aims to make the workplace smarter and more personal with intuitive, employee-led tools. Its flagship product offers employee engagement and performance management solutions to global SMEs with local and distributed teams.
Wind of Change
Founded by CEO Sohini De, Wind of Change is another platform for employees, this time centring on health and wellness. Aligned with the belief that productivity improves along with the physical and mental wellbeing of employees, the Wind of Change platform enables employers to analyse and report on wellness programmes using a cloud-based multi-device SaaS and analytics platform.
Trip Admit
Founded by John Maguire and Andy Kelly, Trip Admit is a very early-stage start-up that provides live access to top attractions and guided tours, with a focus on voice interaction and artificial intelligence. Maguire’s background is in sales and marketing, with more than 20 years’ experience largely focused on e-commerce initiatives.
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