Proving the world of start-ups are as tumultuous as the world of politics, political media start-up MiCandidate was acquired yesterday in a management buyout (MBO) for an undisclosed sum.
The company’s co-founders are to depart, Paddy Cosgrave to focus on the upcoming Dublin Web Summit and Oisin Hanrahan to focus on a new mobile start-up.
Former chief technology officer Paul Healy will take on the role of interim managing director. Healy has served in management roles for a range of Irish and international technology companies, including Intuition Ltd and Stepstone plc.
MiCandidate organises political media into a single platform, compiling information on politicians’ policies, backgrounds and experiences. That information is then syndicated to news websites across Europe.
MiCandidate launched on the back of the 2009 European Elections. Within its first eight weeks it was providing information to media organisations across Europe, including The Daily Telegraph and Independent in the UK, TV5 Monde in France, RTBF in Belgium, Volksrant in the Netherlands, and Jyllands Posten in Denmark. In Ireland, the Independent Group and the Advertiser Group syndicated MiCandidate’s Local and European election content.
In addition to syndication, politicians can pay to take control of elements of their content on the MiCandidate site, updating their information in real time, posting new videos, photos and relevant content.
Scheduled national elections in Europe in 2010 include the UK, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Sweden, and Latvia. The Irish General Election is scheduled for May 2012.
By John Kennedy
