NovaUCD will present the latest 14 new high-tech and knowledge-intensive ventures that are emerging from its current enterprise support programme at the annual NovaUCD 2010 Campus Company Development Programme (CCDP) Awards on 16 November.
At the NovaUCD awards, which are coinciding with the Innovation Dublin 2010 festival, each of the participants will deliver a short “elevator pitch”. Three shortlisted ventures will then present their business plans in more detail to an audience comprising members of Ireland’s venture capital, research, state agencies, industry and business communities.
The participating start-ups include Belfield Technologies, which is developing a more energy-efficient lighting system to help businesses and industry reduce their lighting operational and maintenances costs, as well as reducing their carbon footprint. Meanwhile, the start-up JLizard has developed a cloud-based software product that scans and checks the “log files” of errant software programs, while Magnetic Diagnostics is developing a biosensor that can detect disease-causing agents and subsequently identify multiple infectious diseases within minutes. Information about each of the 14 start-ups is detailed below.
The overall winner at the CCDP Awards will be presented with the NovaUCD 2010 Start-Up Award, a cheque for €5,000, free desk space at NovaUCD for six months and €5,000 worth of legal services from Arthur Cox. The winner will also receive a year’s free subscription to AccountsIQ software.
The two other shortlisted ventures will receive runner-up awards, cheques for €3,000 and €2,000 along with €3,000 and €2,000 worth of legal services from Arthur Cox respectively. They will also obtain free desk space at NovaUCD for six months.
Philip Sharpe, chairman, DANÚ Technologies, will be the guest speaker at the awards.
Dr Pat Frain, director, NovaUCD, said: “The participation of UCD researchers in the establishment, growth and development of high-tech and knowledge-intensive ventures, such as those participating on this year’s CCDP programme, is of critical importance for the development of a sustainable smart economy in Ireland.”
“The development of such new high-tech ventures will also generate opportunities for the creation of highly-skilled employment which is so critical in the current economic climate,” he added.
2009 winner – Equinome
The equine genomics company Equinome was the overall winner of the NovaUCD 2009 Start-Up Award. Since then, the company, which was co-founded by Dr Emmeline Hill of UCD School of Agriculture, Food Science and Veterinary Medicine, and Jim Bolger, the Irish horse breeder and trainer, has officially launched the Equinome Speed Gene Test. The company has already secured major clients in Australia, France, Ireland, UK and USA for this test.
Participating start-ups In NovaUCD CCDP 2010 Awards
The 14 start-ups that will vie to be the overall winner at the NovaUCD 2010 Campus CCDP Awards are:
Advanced Microbe Control, which is developing services, using ozone technology, to control the effects of odours and microbial contamination in the food processing and waste-management industries.
Belfield Technologies, which has developed a high intensity discharge (HID) lighting control system to enable businesses and industry to significantly reduce their lighting operational and maintenances costs by using more energy-efficient HID lighting systems.
Dublin Ethical Testing is developing products and services, using micro-organisms, for the ethical testing of drugs and chemicals in the pharmaceutical industry.
EDCo Industrial Development Company aims to exploit modern power-generation methods to create a local market for sustainable biomass and catalyse local economic development through the provision of green electricity in Sierra Leone and in sub-Saharan Africa.
Innovation Research Unit – Business Branch is developing an advanced software suite and consultancy service to enable commercial and non-commercial users to scan, map, analyse and simulate their innovation networks so as to improve their business strategies or policies.
Irish Centre for Design and Manufacturing Innovation is developing an “internationally networked” centre of excellence in applied research to support Irish industry in design, development and manufacture of high-value products for global markets.
JLizard has developed a cloud-based software product called Logentries.com to assist large organisations to manage their log data.
Magnetic Diagnostics is developing a portable point-of-care biosensor that can detect trace amounts of disease-causing agents, with the aim of identifying multiple infectious diseases within minutes.
NanoOpticSolutions is developing specialist high-resolution imaging tools for the nanotechnology industry, enabling detailed information about the chemical make-up of materials in very small volumes.
PreTract has developed a magnetic resonance imaging method that provides health professionals with an insight to screen for the early onset of injury in athletes.
Restored Hearing has developed and is marketing SomtusTM, an online sound therapy for the sufferers of temporary tinnitus.
Sruth is being created to brand and disseminate the publications of Comhairle Bhéaloideas Éireann, largely based on the National Folklore Collection at University College Dublin, to a wider national and international customer base.
Tetra Materials is developing novel mould inserts for high-volume injection moulding of microfluidic devices. The mould inserts are made from bulk metallic glass to allow biotech companies to produce microfluidic devices with nanoscale features at high volumes and at a lower cost than current models.
Veutility is developing a hosted utility consumption portal and benchmarking service, offering large and SMEs enterprises real-time, personalised, hosted community, utility consumption data. It says this will enable companies to benchmark their utility consumption against others of a similar industry, size or geography.
