Boost for Limerick startups with “Paddy’s Valley”
h/t to Damien MulleyI for the story.
Irish hi-tech startup companies, frustrated by not gettig anywhere knocking on the doors of venture capitalist and pretty much getting nowhere, they have decided to pool their resources and send their own delegations to the US to form links with businesses in Silicon Valley themselves, in the hope for new business opportunities.
But the campaign to create links with Silicon Valley companies received a major boost when Enterprise Ireland endorsed the Paddy’s Valley project and assisted with contacts in the US
The tour will take advantage of new Aer Lingus trans-atlantic routes and is scheduled to take place in December of this year. It is hoped that this tour, organised by Limerick based organiser, James Corbett, will be the first of many, thus strengthening startups in Ireland with the US.
The full press statement can be found below the fold.
Enterprise Ireland Boost to Limerick companies tour of Silicon Valley
Tired of knocking on venture capitalist doors in Dublin and keenly
aware of Ireland’s need for a new kind of enterprise culture, a group of Irish high tech start-ups decided a trip to America’s Silicon Valley could open new doors for them. But on which doors in America’s high tech Mecca do you go knocking?
Limerick based Tour organiser James Corbett stated “As individuals, we all had some contacts in Silicon Valley but pooling our resources, we’ve built up some influential people to meet but even then there were some people we could not reach.”
This week Enterprise Ireland stepped in to endorse the trip and
provide facilities and additional contacts for the Irish in California. The wheels on the Paddy’s Valley wagon are about to roll. The trade mission will be the first of many cross-Atlantic trips that
will help build trade links between Irish early stage technology
companies and investors and technology companies in Silicon Valley.
“It’s great that Enterprise Ireland are supporting our trip and
opening doors for us in Silicon Valley. Enterprise Ireland are liked
and respected by the heavy hitters in the Valley and we will make much better connections when we are there as a result of the assistance of Enterprise Ireland” added Corbett.
Benjamin Mosse, a Market Advisor with Enterprise Ireland based in New York, said “We are delighted to see grass-roots initiatives such Paddy’s Valley taking place. As the United States is the largest single destination for Irish software exports, representing Irish exports of over E500m in 2006, it is critical for Irish entrepreneurs to think internationally and develop links to the US at a very early stage.”
Corbett is an advisor to Grazr.com, a Boston based startup developing a complete feed management system, combining a feed reading widget for Web pages and mobile devices, free hosting for OPML reading lists and feeds, and an integrated feed programming language for building custom applications.
“Being a French expatriate on this island, I’m flaterred to be
considered as one of the Paddys and am looking forward to conquering the Silicon Valley” added Jan Blanchard of Limerick company Tourist Republic. Tourist Republic’s websites combine a travel social network and a trip planner application. The best way to find out what a place is like is to discover it from people who have been there before. TouristR makes it easy to post travel stories based on locations, makes it easy to find relevant stories and to plan trips upon them.
Another company that are going are Limerick Company Magnetic Time. Magnetic Time make software products that turn text into audio. iAudioize for PC & Mac allows you to: Listen to your emails and documents on your iPod, PDA, Phone or any mp3 player. iAudioize brings ‘everyday’ information from the desktop to today’s most popular portable audio devices, in mp3 format. Great for Business people & Students alike, use it while commuting, working, exercising, studying etc