David Curtin, IEDR, Eamon Gilmore TD and WhiteRiver Park representative
The 10 recipients of the IE Domain Registry’s (IEDR) €100k OPTIMISE fund have been revealed, ranging from a tourist attraction to a mobile app developer.
The OPTIMISE Fund will enable these Irish SMEs and micro-enterprises to begin upgrading their existing online presence to fully featured websites which incorporate e-commerce functionality and other facilities designed to support business growth and development.
Each recipient gets €10,000 worth of professional technical and marketing support. Some 100 companies applied to take part.
At the announcement, An Tánaiste Eamon Gilmore, TD, congratulated IEDR “on 10 years’ work in creating an important brand for Ireland in .ie, which McAfee has consistently credited with being one of the world’s safest and most trusted domain names”.
Slow to capitalise on the internet
David Curtin, chief executive of the IEDR, said companies in Ireland remain slow to capitalise on the internet and new technologies.
“Our annual Domain Name Industry Report found that just 66pc of Irish businesses had a website by 2009 and of those, only 21pc had any kind of e-commerce functionality, an increase of just 3pc since 2000.
“Our decision, therefore, to establish the OPTIMISE Fund on our tenth anniversary was to highlight that Irish companies need to make more of their presence online if they are to compete in a marketplace that demands e-commerce capability.”
The OPTIMISE recipients:
- National Leprechaun Museum – Ireland’s first attraction dedicated to Irish mythology and folklore
- Paul Carberry – Tara-based company supplying clothing for equestrian and outdoor pursuits
- Galway Bead Shop – Galway-based company selling loose beads, handmade customised and ready-to wear jewelry
- Seymours Fine Foods – Bandon-based company producing handmade sweet and savoury biscuits.
- Connacht Tribune – Galway publisher of three local newspapers
- Kate and Ava – Dublin-based fashion label established in 2006
- WhiteRiver Park – Louth start-up for a new racing circuit and outdoor go-kart track
- Element Software – Galway-based smartphone and mobile app development company established in 2011
- Irish Decal Products – Family-run Irish souvenir and toy making business started in 2007 in Wicklow
- Newsaccess – Dublin-based media monitoring agency set up in 2007.
