Start-ups urged to pitch to global investors at ITLG ‘gathering’ in Cork

4 Jan 2013

Irish-based start-ups are being offered the chance to pitch to seasoned investors from the US, China and Russia, as well as RTÉ ‘dragons’ Barry O’Sullivan and Sean O’Sullivan at the Irish Technology Leadership Group (ITLG) annual summit, which takes place in Cork on 21 and 22 January.

Companies in the areas of mobile, cloud, biotech, convergent pharma, nanotech, and renewable energies are being invited to pitch their business ideas to the international delegation.

The pitch camp sessions will be hosted by CIT at the Nimbus Centre, while UCC will host the ITLG investors at an in-camera dinner on campus on 21 January.

The ITLG summit will take place in City Hall in Cork on 22 January.

The already full-to-capacity event will include a number of leadership panels and a technology showcase.

The delegation of Irish, Irish-American, Chinese and Russian executives are to be led by former Intel chairman and CEO Craig Barrett.

The delegation will visit a number of global companies based in Cork, as well as research centres, such as EMC and the Tyndall National Institute.

The deadline for firms wishing to enter the pitch camp sessions is 7 January. Interested entrepreneurs can apply to enter at online.

“There is a great opportunity for indigenous industry to meet and engage with international investors and business leaders at this international summit, being held in Cork in January 2013,” said Conor Healy, CEO of Cork Chamber and partner with ITLG, Cork City Council, CIT and UCC in the Cork event. 

“An incredible line-up of speakers has been put together for the event, and includes Cork-grown global success stories such as Liam Casey (PCH), Barry O’Sullivan (Cisco), Rory McInerney (Intel), James Whelton (CoderDojo) and Sean O’Donoghue (Madison Square Garden), as well as significant international players, such as Una Fox (Disney), Richard Moran (Accretive Solutions), Kevin Barrett (Elan Corporation) and a host of other world-class speakers,” Healy said.

Cork sunset image via Shutterstock

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

editorial@siliconrepublic.com