Image: NDRC
Given the current circumstances related to the Covid-19 outbreak, this year’s NDRC spring cohort will participate in the accelerator remotely.
Today (26 March), NDRC unveiled its spring cohort, which includes six start-ups creating new solutions for the property, sport, hospitality and construction industries.
With its three-month accelerator programme, NDRC plans to invest up to €130,000 in each of the start-ups.
The organisation, which sources and builds digital start-ups to invest in and work with, will continue its new investment approach – initiated in 2019 – where up to €100,000 of the potential €130,000 investment made in each company will comprise of a cash injection.
While the start-ups were initially based at the NDRC offices in Dublin’s Digital Exchange, they are now working remotely with NDRC’s team due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The start-ups in the latest cohort
This year’s spring cohort at NDRC includes AIP, an early-stage company offering a plug-in for developers to automate website maintenance, and Animis Labs, which has created a collaboration tool for internal teams to augment the customer purchasing experience and sales outcomes.
Also included is Champion’s Mind, which is a mental skills and wellbeing platform targeting high-performance amateur athletes. It provides audio guidance for athletes, based on their selected sport, which has been developed using the experience and approach of Dr Jim Afremow, who was a peak performance coordinator with the San Francisco Giants.
Image: NDRC
Another participant is Lintil, which provides a solution to enable home buyers to reduce the long and complex property buying process. This start-up wants to enable property listing websites to add a revenue stream from property buyers by acting as the home buyer’s advocate.
Site Passport, previously featured in Siliconrepublic.com’s Start-up of the Week series, will also participate. The start-up is a procurement, compliance and supplier management solution connecting multiple players in the construction industry supply chain.
The final start-up is Skueeze, which offers a management information tool developed in response to the founder’s experiences in launching a medium-scale, fast-casual restaurant chain. Skueeze has developed a mobile-first solution designed with the day-to-day running of an SME food and beverage business in mind.
‘Expertise and focus’
Ben Hurley, CEO of NDRC, said: “I’m delighted to welcome these six new companies into NDRC’s portfolio. It’s no secret that bringing a start-up from an idea right through to being ready for investment is a challenging process.
“What these founders have achieved so far is clear to see. With our proven expertise and focus, NDRC is here to accelerate that transformation into commercially investable business propositions.”
Hurley added that the Covid-19 pandemic means the organisation has had to tailor its approach to the programme, with remote operations for both its team and the participating start-ups.
“Given what is going on in the world right now, there has perhaps never been quite such a challenging time to develop a nascent business and yet it is also clear that digital technology has a major role to play in future solutions for the benefit of society and the economy,” he said.
“Focus is key now. NDRC will be working alongside each of these companies to help them navigate their way to growth.”
NDRC’s work so far
With the latest cohort, NDRC said that its portfolio of companies is now in excess of 300. In 2019, the organisation invested in 25 new start-ups.
NDRC said that its aim is to find very early-stage companies and teams that are at the concept stage, with the potential to grow internationally. It plans to invest in more businesses later this year, with a second Dublin accelerator set to take place, as well as NDRC at ArcLabs on the way.
Some of the companies that NDRC has invested in so far include Tandem, SilverCloud Health, NewsWhip, Boxever and Nuritas. Each of these start-ups have gone on to raise millions in follow-on investment. The organisation also counts Artomatix and iCabbi among its successful exits.
