Irish Startups impress at inaugural Newry tech event Innovation Nation 2018
by Startacus Admin
Irish startups both North and South came to pitch at Innovation Nation 2018, the inaugural, two-day -min.png "Ascend startup pitch comp at Innovation Nation 2018")
Newry tech event, with Cork startup SmartRoutes claiming the £50k valued prize fund.
Irish startups both North and South came to pitch at Innovation Nation 2018, the inaugural, two-day Newry tech event, an event that championed the Newry, Mourne and Down district area of Northern Ireland as a national hub for digital innovation.
Led and hosted by Startacus co-founder Alastair Cameron, the Ascend startup pitch competition was an integral part of the Newry, Mourne and Down District Council organised two-day tech event, with the winning Irish startup, SmartRoutes announced as the overall winner that evening at the event dinner at the Newry City Hall.
SmartRoutes is a Cork based startup who have designed and built a delivery route planning solution. Their Cloud-based platform helps businesses to seamlessly plan their routes, giving them the ability to run an efficient delivery fleet in-house 24/7.
Coming a close second was Clare based startup Get the Shifts, a tech-centric staffing solution which is disrupting the Irish hospitality sector by supporting bars, restaurants, cafes, festivals, and other hospitality and events businesses to source experienced, temporary staff in their area on demand.
The Judges namely Kevin McGivern of Kx, Ashleen Feeney of KPMG in Northern Ireland, Garrett O’Hare of Flexi Work Space and Drew O’Sullivan of InterTradeIreland, who were impressed with the early stage Irish startups that pitched, also awarded Northern Irish startup Cropsafe with a ‘One to Watch’ title.
Cropsafe, with a team of three co-founders aged 17, impressed beyond their years, and their pitch for their AgriTech platform that utilizing satellite imagery to accurately detect and predict impending diseases within farmers crops, left a mark on the audience and the Ascend Judges.
Alastair Cameron, co-founder of Startacus who hosted the startup pitch competion said:
“It is no exaggeration to say that we were totally delighted with the standard of the early-stage Irish startups on show. Whilst all credit must go to Smartroutes, Get the Shifts and Cropsafe for bring awarded with the 1st, 2nd and ‘One to Watch’ titles, it is fair to say that a good number of startups also scored heavily by the Judges and scoring was very close on the day.”
Alastair continued: “I would not be surprised if quite a few of these startups go on to raise angel and VC investment over the coming 12 months.”
RISCalert, Unitek.AI, Motoklik, Afterbook, Journey Protector, Jadeblok, Elastic Energy, Compensave, MiBudi, Machine Eye, made up the list of early-stage Irish startups on show.
Innovation Nation 2018 took place over two days and attendees heard from Brian Conlon, Founder and Chief Executive of First Derivatives plc; Norbrook Laboratories Chief Executive Liam Nagle and STATSports Chief Commercial Officer Sean O’Connor, as well as inspiring entrepreneurs and tech leaders from elsewhere.
Subscribe to our newsletter
If you would like to receive our startup themed newsletter, full of the latest startup opportunities, events, news, stories, tips and advice, then sign up here.
Vasile Foca, co-founder and managing partner at Talis Capital outlines why the Chancellor's measures are not enough to tackle the skills deficit and social security issues
Ambition, a pre-accelerator programme run by LEO Donegal and NDRC launches to help early-stage female founders from Donegal take business ideas from concept to pitch
ATI Boeing Accelerator, the 3 month programme supporting and backing startups in the UK aerospace industry announces Rolls-Royce as partner for its second cohort
.jpg)
Amy Robinson, Senior Brand Development Manager at Esendex shares her tips on why customer feedback is vital for businesses in this economy
Pingza is an innovative new app that “uncorks the complex world of wine for amateur and expert alike”...
.jpeg)
Jayne Harrison, Head of Employment Law at Richard Nelson LLP shares some thoughts on striking the balance between working from home or returning to the office
Female founder or woman in business, looking to start, grow or scale a business in NI? Here are a few of the resources, organisations and networks that should help
Artificial Intelligence is a powerful tool for business owners and marketing - here is the lowdown on what AI is, how to use it and its future in business
Some tips and advice on what companies should do and how they can differentiate their service for verified and unverified customers
Mountain Technologies, the innovative Northern Ireland-based startup secures investment to launch and market its connected ski pass system
Published on: 30th September 2018
.png)
If you would like to enable commenting via your Startacus account, please enable Disqus functionality in your Account Settings.
- VC Firm Talis Capital critique Rishi Sunak's Job Support Scheme 25th Sep 2020 Vasile Foca, co-founder and managing partner at Talis Capital outlines why the Chancellor's measures are not enough to tackle the skills deficit and social security issues
- Ambition, a new pre-accelerator programme for female entrepreneurs in Donegal launches 25th Sep 2020 Ambition, a pre-accelerator programme run by LEO Donegal and NDRC launches to help early-stage female founders from Donegal take business ideas from concept to pitch
- Rolls-Royce joins the ATI Boeing Accelerator as Partner 24th Sep 2020 ATI Boeing Accelerator, the 3 month programme supporting and backing startups in the UK aerospace industry announces Rolls-Royce as partner for its second cohort
- Logistics and Warehousing Focused Startups Wanted for Wincanton Innovation Lab 16th Sep 2020 Got a startup that can offer innovative solutions for the logistics sector? The third edition of Wincanton's innovation programme W² Labs is now open for entries
