Pictured: Spark of Genius judges David Scanlon, Enterprise Ireland, Donal Flynn, Group Finance Director, ESB and Clare Dilion, Microsoft
A shortlist of close to 30 finalists has been revealed for the ESB Spark of Genius Award, which will take place at the Dublin Web Summit in just under three weeks.
The competition, now in its fourth year, focuses on the most promising high potential Irish start-ups.
The companies will have the chance to present to more than 1,500 developers, entrepreneurs and investors in attendance.
“The quality of start-ups is exceptional this year, we are excited to find the next Irish company to IPO,” said Dublin Web Summit CEO Paddy Cosgrave.
Two rounds of pitching will take place during the Dublin Web Summit with the grand final playing out on the Main Stage in front of an audience of thousands of leading international start-ups and technology investors.
“The team needs to show they have a deep understanding of their target users, and ideally have relevant experience in convincing similar markets to part with their cash,” said David Scanlon of Enterprise Ireland on behalf of the judging panel.
“If they don’t have this, then a solid plan about how they’re going to fill the skills gap.”
Previous winners include Datahug, which has gone on to raise €6m from Salesforce, DFJ and others, and Smartthings which has rised €3m since its win in 2012.
The shortlisted companies are: FoodCloud, Senddr, Alogen Biotech, Game Spark Technologies, SparkPage, InverCloud, LearnUpon, Tempster, MMSOFT Design, Pharmapod, Bizimply, FabAllThings, NVMdurance Ltd, AdMe Apps, Fonesense, Popdeem, Medxnote, FanFootage, Truepivot, Zinc Software Ltd, Hiri, Incereb, BragBet, Tempity, Pulsate, Viddyad, Scurri, Sedicci and Sian’s Plan
