Start-up Picturk, which has created a new platform that delivers high quality digital images to creative professionals, has emerged as the winner of the NDRC Launch Pad ‘Lift Off’ competition.
The company enables creative professionals to choose high quality digital images from from an international bank of amateur photographs.
Picturk was chosen by a panel that included Eamonn Fallon, CEO of Daft, Shay Garvey from Delta Partners, Nessa Butler, entrepreneur and former managing director in Ireland at Harvey Nash Plc, and NDRC CEO Ben Hurley.
The international reach and market potential of the platform was cited as the primary reason for the win.
Second place was awarded to BragBet, a social gambling platform that enables users to communicate about their bets, encouraging chat, banter and bragging about their wins. Bragbet gains access to €15,000 worth of investment and additional supports.
Private-sector investment
The €45,000 combined investment and support package for the first prize and runner-up companies on NDRC’s LaunchPad programme included a cash contribution from Bank of Ireland, legal services from Mason Hayes and Curran; and accounting services from Grant Thornton.
“NDRC’s LaunchPad programme has delivered a number of successes since launching earlier this year,” said NDRC board member Sean Baker.
“The significant private sector investment on offer to the winners demonstrates the value of such an accelerator programme in Ireland, taking strong digital ideas from concept to market-ready status within a three-month time frame,” Baker added.
