A big congratulations to the fantastic ten finalists of the AIB Start-up Academy in association with The Irish Times who have been selected to continue their exciting journey into the world of business.
Last week 20 Irish start-ups pitched their ideas to a panel of six judges at The Irish Times for a chance to take part in the AIB Start-up Academy. The 20 start-ups that made the shortlist were selected from a much larger group of several hundred applicants, but only ten finalists would make it through to take part in the AIB Start-up Academy.
We've heard it was a very tough process for the judges, and after much deliberation, they made their decision and chose the ten start-ups they thought were most worthy of a place in the AIB Start-up Academy.
Those lucky finalists are: Blanco Nino, GymChef, herdwatch, KillBiller, Obeo, Usher, worldBOX.ie, Writing for Tiny, Wyldsson and Everest Granola.
Speaking about the final processes, Gary Quinn of The Irish Times said: "while the prize was always a place on the academy, the feedback from the judges paid off immediately with excellent industry knowledge flowing directly into the product planning of each startup.
“Participants didn’t hide their enthusiasm for taking part in such a useful process and the determination to succeed shaped the atmosphere in The Irish Times boardroom throughout the day."
The AIB Start-up academy kicks off in January 2015 and will take place over an eight week period. The finalists will get the chance to fine tune their businesses, from accounting to marketing strategies and everything else in between, and one overall winner will be chosen at the very end of the programme.
Take a look below at what the lucky overall prize winner will receive. And very best of luck to all involved!
€90,000 advertising spend across JOE.ie & Her.ie
€50,000 print and online advertising spend with The Irish Times
Profiling on JOE.ie & Her.ie for 12 months
Mentoring from an AIB Sector Specialist and finance meetings with AIB SME Specialist
Digital & Social mentoring with AIB Head of Digital & Innovation
Brand mentoring with AIB Brand Director
Media workshop from The Irish Times’ Editorial team
Office space in The Irish Times building for a year
Mentorship from successful entrepreneur Niall McGarry, owner of Maximum Media (creator of JOE.ie/Her.ie)
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