Jerry Kennelly named Ireland’s Net Visionary 2011

30 Sep 2011

Jerry Kennelly after receiving his Net Visionary Award, with IIA chief executive Joan Mulvihill

Kerry entrepreneur Jerry Kennelly, who sold his company Stockbyte to Getty Images in 2006 for US$135m and has come roaring back in the start-up game with Tweak.com, has been named Overall Net Visionary winner in the Irish Internet Association’s 2011 Net Visionary Awards.

Kennelly, who began his first business in 1981, grasped early on the potential of the internet. After starting Stockbyte in 1996, the company quickly became one of the leading stock photography websites in the world by the time it was acquired by Getty a decade later.

He has since started Tweak.com, a web-based design platform which will bring the services of professional designers to the desktops of Ireland’s 230,000 business owners, aiming to give them a cost saving of almost 80pc compared to traditional suppliers.

The 2011 awards were held for the first time at the prestigious Wintergarden at the National Gallery of Ireland.

“I’m sure the artists behind the masterpieces hanging here would be happy that the title has gone to a man who has anchored his career to the marriage of the visual arts and technology,” said IIA chief executive Joan Mulvihill.