Inventive self-starters will be gearing up to pool their resources and spawn new web or mobile applications during the marathon 54-hour event taking place at the NDRC between 25-27 February 2011.
Since the first successful Startup Weekend was held at the NDRC last May, there have been many success stories to emerge from the event. One such example is GeoDealio, the overall winner. Microsoft was a co-sponsor of the weekend along with Dublin City Enterprise Board. Sean Murphy, senior research fellow at UCD and NDRC collaborator on the LocalSocial project, has been instrumental in bringing Startup Weekend to Dublin.
Based out of Seattle, Startup Weekend started out as a non-profit in 2007 and has held 207 events spanning 120 cities and 35 countries since then. In September 2010, Startup Weekend received a grant from The Kauffman Foundation, the largest foundation for entrepreneurship in the world.
Globally, the weekend is known for its quick decisions, “out of the box” thinking, unique facilitation techniques and letting the participants show what they can do. It aspires to bring people with diverse skill sets and interests together to form groups, each focused on building a web or mobile service.
Those taking part will work intensively with local developers, innovators and entrepreneurs. At the end of the weekend, all of the groups will show their wares, demonstrate the system they have developed and communicate how it could be used to realise a viable business.
Success stories from Startup Weekend Dublin
GeoDealio is a location-based deal-finding system, comprising a mobile application which shows nearby deals and a back end where merchants can upload information on deals available. The company launched its service before Christmas, having just completed the NDRC’s LaunchPad programme. The team is promoting the service by getting sign ups from merchants and end users.
Bragbet is a company that also grew from the May Startup Weekend in Dublin. It brings a social media twist to traditional online betting, allowing participants to banter, communicate and brag about their winning choices.
Like GeoDealio, Bragbet has just completed the LaunchPad programme and is working on progressing the proposition. The team came second during the LaunchPad final pitch event.
Meanwhile, CauseHere is a platform for enabling people to organise causes, including finding people who are interested in the cause, sharing information relating to the cause and raising funds for the cause.
CauseHere has also just completed the LaunchPad programme and is working on the next stages of its offering.
HitTheRoad is a web app for navigating the Dublin public transport network. A basic version of the app was developed over the course of the last Startup Weekend. Since then, the team has added new functionality, improving the look and feel of the app, which is now live.
Classometer is a web app for managing classes, such as yoga classes, dance classes and karate classes. The app enables the class teacher to log who attends classes weekly, who has paid for classes and to send a group text to all members of the class. Classometer is a live, operational website and the team is considering future options.
Dublin Startup Weekend will take place during the last weekend of February – 25-27 February 2011. The event will take place in the NDRC, as before.
Those who are interested in attending the event should click here.
LaunchPad
NDRC’s LaunchPad programme is a three-month accelerator programme targeted at enabling people to launch great ideas in the digital space. The three-month programme provides participating projects with financial support, mentoring and workspace.
