Outbox initiative supporting girls in Stem to run in Dublin

The Outbox incubator initiative aimed at supporting girls with innovative business and technology ideas is coming to Dublin.

Cofounder Mary Carty announced at Inspirefest 2016 that the next Outbox programme would be held in Ireland, after its initial run in London last year.

The programme provides seed funding, mentorship and support to girls under 22 years of age. It is a six-week programme involving three weeks of germinating ideas, a demo day and then three weeks of incubating. Up to 45 girls take part in each programme.

The initiative is being driven by the Stemettes organisation, which aims to inspire the next generation of women into science, technology, engineering and maths (Stem) fields.

“I was always scared to go into Stem and it was the CoderDojo Girls class that attracted me to it,” said Vanessa Greene, founder and host of Echoing STEM and participant in Outbox.

"In Outbox everyone's become our sister. These guys I turn to for every piece of advice I need. It was kind of like Big Brother but in a good way. I think we're all going to be friends for life."

The inaugural Outbox incubator yielded 29 companies, with six different companies represented.

“We’ve been inundated with people calling us wanting to bring Outbox to their city,” Ms Carty said. “It’s easy to get to Dublin. It’s a great place for tech and Stem, and we have a great network.” Ms Carty said the ultimate plan is to have an Outbox in every city.