Eircom teams up with SVG Partners for accelerator programme

Ten start-ups will have the chance to pitch for up to $1 million each as part of a new accelerator programme Eircom Business Solutions is running in conjunction with Silicon Valley-based SVG Partners.

The programme, called Lab353, is aimed at companies operating in the areas of mobile, Internet of Things and cloud-based services, and will run for 10 weeks from March to May 2015.

Participating start-ups will receive office space in Dublin city centre, corporate, legal and tax services through Lab353 partners, access to customers and access to technology leaders and mentors in Silicon Valley and Ireland.

“We help with the heavy lifting. We take the logistical hurdle out of the way for companies as the practical realities of securing office space, legal support data centres and networks can be hard,” Bill Archer, managing director of Eircom Business Solutions, said.

With about 90,000 business customers, Eircom has a route to market through its customer relationships, Mr Archer said.

He said this is invaluable for tech firms looking to accelerate their technology offerings either from within Ireland or from outside of Ireland looking to get a foothold in a new market. “Innovation in this networked and digital economy is dynamic, fast-moving and global in nature.

“We are looking for a way to access that and channel it. We want to get access to the community out there that’s building innovative things,” he added.

Pitch

At the end of the programme, the start-ups will pitch their ideas to a group of investors, with the aim of securing up to $1 million investment each.

Mr Archer said the money would come from SVG Partners and Eircom Business Solutions, adding the start-ups could each get $1 million or nothing, or for example $500,000 and a distribution agreement.

The programme's mentors will include Digicel chief operating officer Andy Thorburn, Facebook vice-president of global operations Colm Long, Accretive Solutions chief executive Richard Moran, PCH International founder Liam Casey, former Intel chief executive Craig Barrett, SVG Partners chief executive John Hartnett and Enda Doyle, director of business development and innovation at Eircom Business.