Categories: Business

Launching 12 start-ups over 12 days – one university takes entrepreneurship to the extreme

In spite of the economic crisis one Irish university is working with a dozen entrepreneurs to launch one promising startup a day for 12 days this December.

From left to right, Billy Kelly (Associate Dean for Teaching & learning of DCU Business School), Gavin Lockhart (Director of Sales and Marketing at Smartouch Media), Sandra Maguire ( Managing Director of Edubills), John Pryor (Co-Founder of Smartouch Media), Trevor Dagg ( Co-Founder of Talentevo), John Maughan (Founder at Nimble Tours), Carmel Shiels ( Regional Manager of AIB, DCU Branch), Mannix Ryan (Founder of Maybe Video)

In an initiative called the “12 Business Days of Christmas” (#12bizdays) Dublin City University (DCU) will bring 12 young Irish companies to the market between December 1 and 20 in what is likely one of the largest startup initiatives Ireland has seen since the death of the Celtic Tiger.  But emphasising the tough economic times, the series of launches will take a break on December 5th and 6th as the Irish Government announces what is known to be an extremely difficult austerity budget for 2012.

According to Dr. Theo Lynn, the Director of Industry Engagement at DCU Business School, it is because of these economic challenges that the university sector should be doing more to support young enterprises.  He said, “DCU is Ireland’s University of Enterprise. We believe small business is big business and SMEs will play a crucial role in Ireland’s future economic growth.

Universities, whether through research, education, or engagement, should and can play a much more tangible role in helping entrepreneurs and startups develop and grow their businesses.”

The series of launches comes from DCU’s Leadership, Innovation and Knowledge Research Centre (LINK), a department of the university that works to connect entrepreneurs and established companies with academia.

LINK will work with each of the 12 startups’ founders to develop their ideas into larger businesses.  Currently they plan on creating 24 jobs in the first your of the initiative, with more expected as the enterprises grow.

The 12 companies range from educational e-commerce systems to Web TV platforms and the companies themselves have been founded either by former students of the university or clients of the LINK Research Centre.

The launch schedule is;

Speaking to The Sociable Philippe Brodeur, AerTV’s Director said that this is the first step in the development of the company,

Social TV is one of the fastest trending activities worldwide – and there are a lot of new players entering the market in a number of different ways.  The partnership between Aertv and the DCU LINK programme is one that is producing amazing results.  Locally, consumers are picking up the service and interacting with live TV.  Internationally, big players are looking at what we are doing and wondering how they can become part of it or even replicate the model.  Watch this space….

Today the university launched Smartouch Media (@SmartouchMedia | Facebook) a web development firm specialising in e-commerce sites and smartphone apps for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone 7 platforms.

Ajit Jain

Ajit Jain is marketing and sales head at Octal Info Solution, a leading iPhone app development company and offering platform to hire Android app developers for your own app development project. He is available to connect on Google Plus, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

View Comments

Recent Posts

AI and the Dopamine Trap: How Algorithms Are Rewiring Our Social Cravings

New research shows AI companions can lift mood and teach social skills, but only when…

1 day ago

Hate speech, deepfakes & false info undermine UN work: comms chief

Hate speech is a launching point for crackdowns on narratives that impede UN agendas: perspective…

1 day ago

Making Sense brings strategic insight to the SIM Hartford Chapter

On June 4, technology executives gathered at the SIM Hartford chapter presided over by Fariba…

3 days ago

‘Digital disinformation undermines trust in climate & health authorities’: WHO Pan European Commission on Climate & Health

The PECCH is an attempt to persuade us into believing that climate & health policies…

5 days ago

WEF ‘Summer Davos’ in China to tackle transhumanism, AI & One Health agendas

The program agenda for the World Economic Forum's (WEF) 16th Annual Meeting of the New…

1 week ago

10 design and architecture writers to put on your radar this year

It’s easy to get caught up in the visuals—perfectly styled rooms, dramatic before-and-afters, bold architectural…

1 week ago