Pictured are Darryl Bannon CFO; and Simon Rand CTO of frockadvisor
Telefónica’s Wayra accelerator in Ireland has selected the next 10 companies to take part in the second intake to its programme.
The 10 start-ups are CityHook, Stylefinch, Gotcha Ninjas, Frockadvisor, Vbot, Propelad, Fonesense, CipherDocs, NIVPAT, SeeSearch.
The successful start-ups will take up residence in Wayra and benefit from a programme that includes financing of up to €40,000, access to expert mentors, dedicated workspace in Wayra, and favourable commercial terms with leading technology suppliers including Amazon, Google, PayPal and Microsoft.
Launched in Ireland in September 2012, Wayra is part of Telefónica’s global accelerator programme for digital start-ups. There are 14 Wayra academies in 12 countries in Europe and Latin America.
Eleven start-ups have so far been accelerated in Wayra Dublin. During the programme, the start-up teams grew in size by 70pc and have closed, or are currently closing, financing of more than €5m in investor capital.
The 10 latest winners were chosen from a shortlist of 19 projects by an independent judging panel following two days of pitches and training.
The judging panel consisted of: Debbie Rennick (ACT Venture Capital), Tim Rea (ePlanet Capital), Barry Winkless (Katawave), Connor Murphy (Datahug), David Coallier (Engine Yard), Gary Stewart (Wayra Spain) and Eugene Mitchell (Telefónica Ireland).
“Once again the Irish eco-system has demonstrated its ability to produce great entrepreneurs and start-up businesses which have the potential to disrupt major markets,” Wayra director Karl Aherne said.
“For the selected start-ups, Wayra presents a huge opportunity to drive their business forward at pace, leveraging the global network of Wayra accelerators, resources and customer access.”
