From left: Karl Aherne, director, Wayra Ireland; entrepreneur Liam Casey, founder and CEO of PCH International; and Richard Whelan, CEO of Popdeem, one of the start-ups that presented at Wayra in Dublin today
Eleven Irish start-ups that have been incubating their businesses at Wayra Dublin, part of Telefónica’s global start-up accelerator, are today pitching their wares to potential investors and venture capitalists.
The 11 companies that are making their investment pitches today are Hiri, Trustev, Conker, Popdeem, Paymins, Superbly, Glass Robot Studio, Woopie, BragBet, Numerosity and OptiWi-fi.
According to Wayra, more than 100 investors and influencers are attending today’s session.
The incubator opened a Dublin base at O2’s headquarters on Sir John Rogerson’s Quay last September.
The 11 start-ups that were accepted onto the first programme have each got €40,000 in financing, access to mentors, and workspace for up to nine months.
These companies have closed, or are in the process of closing, more than €3m in investor capital, said Karl Aherne, director of Wayra Ireland.
The Dublin incubator recently completed its call for entries from start-ups to enter its next programme. Wayra will be announcing the 10 winners in early August.
“The Irish start-up ecosystem is incredibly buoyant and is continuing to evolve,” said Aherne, who added that this is being driven by the influx of digital multinationals to Ireland, support from Enterprise Ireland and the positive attitude of self-starters.
Started by Telefónica in 2011, Wayra now operates start-up accelerators in 12 countries around the globe. To date, it has financed more than 240 new companies, with funds amounting to more than €7.5m.
