The first graduating class from Dublin's Wayra academy
Wayra Ireland, one of Telefónica’s global network of digital start-up accelerators, has revealed the 18 start-ups who have been shortlisted to take part in a selection event on 11 and 12 September for the accelerator’s next nine-month programme.
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.
The 18 short-listed companies are mobile publishing vehicle Appticles, crowd DJ solution Buzzoo, travel app CityHook, entertainment software firm Curlybrow, social commerce platform Frock Advisor, entertainment app Gigstarter, social learning platform Gotcha Ninjas, alumni social network KonnectAgain, digital identity player Nivpat, ad-tracking software firm PropelAd, social business intelligence firm Ripple Platform, text-to-speech player Scream Technologies, e-commerce player Scurri, aggregator StockStreams, online trading platform Style Finch, restaurant app Tempster, event management analytics firm The Voucher Link, and video player Vbot.
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.
To date, Wayra has received more than 20,000 submissions through 22 calls for entries, making it one of the world’s largest technology accelerator programmes.
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 €4m in investor capital.
“Over the last nine months, Wayra has provided the space and tools for 11 start-ups to drive rapid growth and become highly investable with real market traction,” explained Wayra director Karl Aherne.
“The level of innovation and entrepreneurship in Ireland is tremendous, equal to anywhere in the world, and this is reflected in the high quality of applications we received for the second intake.”
