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funding & support

Jul 12
Enterprise Ireland’s PSSF Propels Your Startup From Promise To Powerhouse

Enterprise Ireland’s PSSF Propels Your Startup From Promise To Powerhouse

By New Frontiers blog
The Enterprise Ireland Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF) provides investment of €50,000 or €100,000 (in two €50,000 tranches), plus access to a Development Advisor and supports from the agency such as 10 sessions with a mentor from the Enterprise Ireland panel, access to their Market Research Centre, and other appropriate supports to develop your business. I spoke to Anna-Marie Turley, Department Manager for Entrepreneurship & HPSU Operations at Enterprise Ireland, to learn more about PSSF (which recently replaced Enterprise Ireland’s Competitive Start Fund, or CSF) and why it is of particular interest to New Frontiers alumni. PSSF is a springboard for ambitious startups First things first. CSF has been retired, but PSSF is not simply CSF with a new name. There...
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Jun 19
Start Up In Cork! Aoife McInerney Welcomes Us To The Rubicon Centre

Start Up In Cork! Aoife McInerney Welcomes Us To The Rubicon Centre

By New Frontiers blog
The Rubicon Centre at MTU’s Bishopstown Campus in Cork has supported 500 companies over the past 10 years, with its client businesses raising some €88 million in funding from a mix of public and private equity. Every year, Rubicon delivers a range of programmes, including New Frontiers. Aoife McInerney, Enterprise Programmes Manager, tells us everything we need to know about New Frontiers at Cork. About Programme Manager Aoife McInerney After university, Aoife went to work for an entrepreneur, gaining a real appreciation of the drive, commitment, resilience, and flexibility required to make a fledgling business successful. She then moved into an international setting for over a decade, at the heart of a rapidly scaling global tech startup. Following this, she...
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Nov 21
Lauren O Reilly and Bidemi Afolabi cofounders of ProMotion rewards

ProMotion Rewards Is Creating Real Value For Both Brands And Consumers

By New Frontiers blog
ProMotion Rewards is a consumer rewards startup that connects brands and shoppers. Founded by Bidemi Afolabi and Lauren O’Reilly, the company recently raised €725,000 in pre-seed investment. For this blog, we spoke to New Frontiers alumna Lauren about the journey so far. Lauren and Bidemi met while completing degrees in pharmacy. In fact, they had an idea for a different promotion startup before having the lightbulb moment that led to developing the ProMotion Rewards app. Because of their degrees, the founders were already immersed in research and gathering data. While working for a large retail pharmacy group, Lauren saw first-hand how retailers of all types need customer insights that they can turn into concrete business results. But are loyalty cards...
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Nov 11
Startup In Waterford Dr Eugene Crehan Introduces Us To The South East Ecosystem

Start Up In Waterford! Dr Eugene Crehan Introduces Us To The Southeast’s Ecosystem

By New Frontiers blog
The sunny southeast isn't just an idyllic holiday spot, it’s also an ideal place to live and work. Waterford – the country’s oldest city – has been voted the “best place to live in Ireland” and also boasts a vibrant network of business support agencies and organisations. The newly formed South East Technological University (SETU) delivers the New Frontiers programme at campuses in Waterford and Carlow. Today, we’re catching up with the New Frontiers Programme Manager at Waterford, Dr Eugene Crehan. He oversees all programmes at the Centre for Enterprise Development & Regional Economy (CEDRE) at South East Technological University (SETU), formerly Waterford Institute of Technology. New Frontiers Waterford past participants include the CEOs of Engage XR (the first New...
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Mar 30

The 7 Deadly Sins Of Bad Elevator Pitches

By New Frontiers blog
You may have a fantastic startup idea, but unless you can effectively communicate it to investors that is all it might ever be – an idea. The good news is that even the most terrible elevator pitches can be polished and honed until they sing. If you’re looking for secrets to pitching success, then it starts with knowing what not to do… 1.     You’ve forgotten that you’re pitching to a human being This is a very common mistake entrepreneurs make when they first start pitching. Rather than recognising that investors can be persuaded to be as passionate and excited about your startup as you are, it is easy to fall into the trap of treating them like the inscrutable sphinx....
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Feb 28
Enterprise Ireland’s Action Plan For Women In Business targets diversity - New Frontiers programme

Enterprise Ireland’s Action Plan For Women In Business

By New Frontiers blog
Enterprise Ireland has launched the Action Plan For Women In Business, an ambitious and wide-reaching strategy to achieve greater representation of women in business and, particularly, in business leadership across Ireland. We spoke to Sheelagh Daly at Enterprise Ireland to find out more. Numerous studies prove that having women in executive positions and on boards leads to better outcomes for organisations – with better financial performance and higher employee engagement. Putting women in decision-making roles improves all kinds of business metrics, but we are still not seeing gender parity in business. An ongoing commitment to gender balance Focusing on gender balance in business is not new for Enterprise Ireland. There have been a number of initiatives over the past years...
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Aug 21
4 actions entrepreneurs need to take to scale up quickly New Frontiers Entrepreneur programme (1)

4 actions entrepreneurs need to take to scale up quickly

By New Frontiers blog
So, you think your startup is scalable. You’ve looked at your turnover, you’ve studied the market and you believe your business could handle a bigger piece of the pie. That’s great, but growing your business successfully requires not only a shift in operations but a change in mindset. With all the research and speculation that goes on in the business industry, you can be sure there are known habits and practices that successful entrepreneurs adopt to grow their business. We’re going to share a few of them with you to get you started on your road to success. Scale up your startup with these great business tips 1) Visualise success and set a deadline for it The first step to...
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Aug 01
A framework for founders how one VC thinks about pre-seed investments - New Frontiers

A framework for founders: how one VC thinks about pre-seed investments

By New Frontiers blog
‘When Frontline say we invest early, we mean it.’ At Frontline, 70% of our investments have been pre-revenue and 60% pre-product. At Pre-Seed and Seed, there is little to be learned from intensive quantitative analysis pre-investment (woo). That said, over the past year and a half at Frontline, I’ve built a qualitative framework, designed around four key questions, to help me quickly assess the companies I meet. Together, I believe that these four questions are critical in predicting success.  1. Can you convince me to quit my job? The first question I ask myself is, would I quit my job at the fund and work for these people on this problem? I know, it seems like a completely crazy idea, you...
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Apr 11
Financial advice every entrepreneur needs to hear - New Frontiers - Ireland (1)

Financial advice every startup entrepreneur needs to hear

By New Frontiers blog
Make sure the money coming in is more than the money going out - that’s the crux of accounting, right? Well, that’s not bad advice, but it’s not exactly helpful either. The day-to-day, month-to-month monitoring of a company’s finances requires a more detailed approach if you aim to make a profit, identify new opportunities and grow your business. If you want your company to thrive beyond the shaky startup phase, past the inevitable “bad year” and towards a stable and profitable future, then you need to ensure your company is financially healthy. What does that mean? A financially healthy company has the appropriate strategies in place to maintain regular cash flow, be protected during rainy days, secure profits, invest wisely...
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Aug 02
Innovation: give your SME a competitive edge with SBIR

Innovation: give your SME a competitive edge with SBIR

By New Frontiers blog
Young companies tend to be perfect micro-cultures for the development of novel approaches to common problems. Enterprise Ireland manages a national pre-commercial procurement programme, Small Business Innovation Research Ireland (SBIR), designed to tap into this well of innovation. Does your start-up have the drive and vision to come up with a workable prototype to overcome a societal problem? If yes, keep reading to find out what is involved in this great public-private partnership! Public-private partnership through SBIR SBIR is a global innovative pre-commercial procurement initiative. It aims to address public sector needs and more generally benefit citizens, through engagement with the private sector. The public sector body (or challenge owner) in partnership with Enterprise Ireland, identifies an unmet need or...
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Apr 26
New Frontiers -a crowdfunding conversation with Crua Outdoors

A crowdfunding conversation with Crua Outdoors

By New Frontiers blog
Donncha Hughes, New Frontiers mentor and trainer, shares tips and insights about crowdfunding, including a video of a recent conversation with New Frontiers alumnus Derek O'Sullivan. I recently met up with Derek O’Sullivan of Crua Outdoors in the Tom Crean Centre, IT Tralee, for a chat about crowdfunding. This article will highlight some of the key takeaways from the conversation. We spoke about what they have learned during their Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns and how they raised significant equity funding using Seedrs Crua Outdoors: A Kerry and New Frontiers startup success story I first met Derek O’Sullivan several years ago when delivering training on the New Frontiers programme in IT Tralee, and I have kept an eye on their progress...
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Apr 26
New Frontiers Innovation Vouchers Technology Gateways Enterprise Ireland

Extend your R&D capability with an Innovation Voucher

By New Frontiers blog
Are you an Irish SME looking for help with research and innovation? Have you a product or service that requires expertise currently outside of your existing R&D capacity? The Technology Gateway Network, in conjunction with Enterprise Ireland Innovation Vouchers, can help! Technology Gateways The Technology Gateway Network is composed of 15 specialist gateways, situated within 11 Institutes of Technology around Ireland. We focus on key technology areas which are aligned to industry needs in areas such as polymers, photonics, mobile, coatings, industrial design, mechatronics, biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, wireless technologies and precision engineering. Each centre works in conjunction with industry to aid the research and development of innovative products and services through a dedicated team of specialised engineers. Technology Gateway Clusters To boost the...
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Sep 09

New tricks: my journey from administrator to entrepreneur

By New Frontiers blog
It had always been at the back of my mind to start a business. A group of us had been a lifetime in education, working in international schools. We knew what we were doing. Teaching and learning was at the centre of what we did – and now we were going to practise what we preached at school and try something new as lifelong learners. For me personally - at the end of another six year contract and after more than 30 years in international education - it was a good time to stop and use my knowledge in a different way. An industry we knew The new business we set up was to serve an industry we knew well. It wasn’t quite clear at first...
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Jun 02

Pitching: avoiding the pitfalls and answering the right questions

By New Frontiers blog
I've been watching a lot of pitches recently - at Wayra, Ryan Academy, NDRC and the Web Summit, to name a few. I've also pitched plenty of times myself. I've pitched at UCD's Innovation Academy and the Digital Skills Academy, I've pitched to all kinds of decision makers in business as well as to public stakeholders (ministers, TDs, local politicians, residents, planners) when I was launching and promoting GAP. I've worn the various hats when it comes to the elevator pitch: journalist, entrepreneur, judge... Many were good, others less so. Some common mistakes, though they seem obvious, keep popping up. The basic rules are the same, no matter what you're pitching. So, here are some tips that will enhance your chances of success: What problem are you solving? Tell us early and...
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May 07

Innovation Vouchers: helping SMEs to develop creative solutions

By New Frontiers blog
Innovation Vouchers are an excellent way for companies to tap into leading research expertise in order to develop a solution or product at the pre-commercial stage. The scheme allows businesses to improve their innovation capability and builds links between Ireland’s public sector knowledge providers and the SME community. Innovation Vouchers were launched by Enterprise Ireland seven years ago and have proved phenomenally successful. Some 1,400 applications are received every year, around 70% of which are successful. Innovation Vouchers offer Irish SMEs the chance to connect with knowledge providers around the country in order to develop a solution or product. Vouchers are worth €5,000, valid for 12 months and can be redeemed at one of the 38 registered centres that provide...
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Apr 30

What I learned from the New Frontiers programme

By New Frontiers blog
I founded my visual effects startup, Glue, in 2013 and was looking for a dedicated startup programme that would complement my industry experience with the business knowledge and structure I required. In 2014, I participated in Phase 1 of New Frontiers, and subsequently went on to Phase 2 later in the year. I learned a huge amount on the programme and Glue is gaining momentum; we've been able to grow our team and develop custom systems to improve our processes. Looking back, I've identified seven areas that were key to my startup journey. Building on an idea New Frontiers was my first major step in starting up the business. Personally, I found it extremely helpful and challenging in so many...
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Apr 14

Getting your fundraising strategy right

By New Frontiers blog
Raising capital is never easy, but it's also essential for growing a successful startup. The hunt for investment is highly competitive and there is no guarantee of success, so knowing how and where to solicit funds is crucial. As always in business, preparation is the key! To start with, it's important to understand that in fundraising you are effectively “selling” yourself and your business opportunity. It takes a lot of work, and a little bit of luck, to find an investor who's the right fit for your company. In simple terms, you need a plan so that you can: assess the financing options available; decide on the correct course of action; agree a timeline; and ensure the internal resources, commitment...
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Nov 06

The importance of support in early-stage startup

By New Frontiers blog
Creating a successful business is a complex process, which involves lot of hard work and determination. Continuous support from all the stakeholders is required throughout the life-cycle of the business; however the initial phase is perhaps the most critical. Events in the initial stages usually shape and drive the short and medium-term strategy of a company. In the following paragraphs I will try to highlight the importance of early support in general and the help we received from Enterprise Ireland at the very early stages of our business; and how that helped us to define a roadmap and determine our future direction. Ask for help from the beginning When I initially thought about setting up Tuition Desk, I was looking...
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