Pictured: Siobhan Finn, Cork Innovates; Rob O'Donohue, EMC; Sarah Walsh, it@cork and Denis Collins, chairman, it@cork
The it@cork European Tech Cluster has revealed the first initiative from its Upstart programme called Dealstart which brings together large multinationals with start-ups to share insights and expertise.
Already, an impressive number of global organisations, all of whom have a strong presence in the Munster region have pledged their commitment to the programme, including EMC, IBM, TrendMicro, VMWare, Moog, McAfee, Laya Healthcare and Abtran.
“Dealstart is about industry collaboration at its best,” Denis Collins, chairman of it@cork, explained.
“The technology and business community here want to see local start-ups succeed globally.
“For start-up companies, landing that first deal with a large multinational can be invaluable when it comes to building credibility, having a key reference site, and understanding the complex procurement processes in large organisations and how to best navigate them.
“Through Upstart, the Dealstart initiative will give start-ups access to global corporations and fast track them to success in winning deals with large organisations.”
Filling a commercial vacuum
The Dealstart initiative is the first of number of initiatives that will emerge from the Upstart programme.
Collins said the Dealstart initiative is a response to a need for direct assistance in the area of sales and business development for new companies.
Rob O’Donohoe, manager in charge of Project Management at EMC, said the initiative is totally unique in Ireland.
“It’s a symbiotic partnership between multinationals and start-ups that will potentially bring tremendous benefit to both parties.
“Large organisations can learn agility, new models of innovation and responsiveness to market trends, while start-ups can experience the processes of a large organisation and glean valuable insights into winning that crucial first ‘big name’ commercial engagement,” O’Donohoe said..
