NI startup ESTHER takes flight to New York

by Startacus Admin

Northern Irish tech startup ESTHER, a peer-2-peer giving platform allowing charitable donors to give money directly to people living in poverty in their own city, heads to New York for a 4-day fact finding mission.
The Belfast-based startup won an all-expenses paid trip to New York (taking place 21st - 25th Feb 2020) thanks to their startup pitch competition win at leading 2-day tech event Digital DNA back in June 2019, where they beat 25 other NI startups to the prize.
The ESTHER MVP is live in Belfast, Northern Ireland right now with 250 donors, with recipients receiving donations on their ESTHER card, which is a normal pre-paid card, with limited spend on high risk products such as alcohol, gambling, online purchases and cash withdrawals, ensuring that the donation goes directly into the hands of people in poverty, with the assurance that the help is helping.
Speaking after their win at Digital DNA 2019 about their plans to visit the tech start-up scene in New York, Carol Rossborough – the firm’s Chief Executive – said they will be on a “fact-finding mission” with their visit over to New York.
"There is a real wealth divide in major cities such as New York and San Francisco, so it’s important for us to learn what is happening in the American third sector."
With a focus on Inner City Poverty alleviation and the UN SDGs, the founding team of Carol and Ailis McCaul, will be supported on the visit by Alastair Cameron, Startacus Co-Founder and Digital DNA Startup Programme Manager, and the team of three will be spending time understanding the New York startup and investor ecosystem and attending a number of meetups and socials.
We look forward to following ESTHER’s journey in New York (21st - 25th Feb 2020) and keep an eye on Startacus' Twitter feed during the week, where we will be asking team ESTHER to update us all on their progress.
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Published on: 16th January 2020
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