Founders talent programme appoints Silicon Valley veteran Heather Morris as new managing director

Dogpatch Labs has appointed angel investor and Silicon Valley veteran Heather Morris to head up its new talent accelerator Founders, which has chosen its first cohort of participants and is set to kick off in the coming weeks.

Announced earlier this year, Founders is designed to match people from different backgrounds and skill sets with the goal of investing in people who will build new, innovative start-ups. The first of its kind in Ireland, it hopes to offer an opportunity for those hit by the recent lay-offs in the tech sector.

“Having spent over a decade in Silicon Valley, Heather brings a wealth of relevant experience as both an operator, adviser and angel investor. She has spent her career identifying high-potential early stage companies and founders in various capacities at amazing companies like Chegg and JP Morgan, and helping them overcome obstacles to get to the next level,” said Dogpatch chief executive Patrick Walsh.

“Heather’s experience and unwavering commitment to supporting founders makes her an ideal fit for this role.”

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The full-time programme, which starts on September 18th, has chosen 42 people from about 500 applicants to take part. Some 16 per cent are from universities, with 20 per cent from big-tech multinationals.

“I have been absolutely blown away by the level of ambition, drive and determination from all four corners of Ireland and beyond. Now, through Founders and leveraging the incredible Dogpatch platform, we have an opportunity to unleash this untapped resource of talent to help ‘people’ become ‘founders’, and create the next great thing – and in doing so, we can democratise access to entrepreneurship as a career choice,” said Ms Morris.

“We have the opportunity and the privilege to be the first to say ‘we believe in you’, with our words, our actions, and importantly, our capital.”

Participants will have access to a network to find a co-founder, build a start-up, and pitch for €100,000 investment. Phase one will see participants pair up and develop business ideas with a team of experts, accessing individualised coaching, group workshops and a network of mentors such as Manna founder Bobby Healy, entrepreneur and broadcaster Áine Kerr and Stephen Kinsella, director of the immersive software engineering programme at the University of Limerick. Participants will receive a monthly stipend, worth about €2,000 per person, to contribute to costs.

A second phase will give the teams a chance to grow the company.

The programme is also expected to facilitate greater diversity and inclusivity, giving people access to talent outside their usual contacts, such as women entrepreneurs searching for technical co-founders in their network. More than 40 per cent of the first cohort are from under-represented minorities, and 30 per cent are women.

The pilot programme is being funded by returns from successful investments in Irish startups through start-up accelerator NDRC.