RUNNING IN parallel with the Dublin Web Summit is the invite-only F.ounders event, which is pitched at web entrepreneurs from around the globe who want to network with their peers in an informal setting.
The event began with a mini-pub crawl last night led by “cultural ambassadors” which included author Colm Tóibín, DJ Dave Fanning, Abbey Theatre director Fiach Mac Conghail and singer Gavin Friday.
Now taking place for the second time, F.ounders attracts an all-star attendance of the geek world. Among the attendees are Michael Birch and Xochi Birch, the husband and wife team who founded Bebo, the social network which was once dominant in Ireland and Britain and which they sold to AOL for $850 million.
Niklas Zennström is considered something of a legend among the other founders. He now occupies himself with Atomico, a venture capital fund that has backed more than 50 startups, but he made his personal fortune as the co-founder of internet calling service Skype.
Other attendees may not be that well known in their own right – even among the technology community – but the businesses they founded and run are household names worth billions of dollars. Jawed Krim, a computer scientist turned investor, co-founded the video-sharing site YouTube, now owned by Google.
Mikael Hed is the boss of Rovio Entertainment, the Finnish company behind Angry Birds, the mobile game that has been downloaded more than 400 million times and is on its way to becoming a cultural phenomenon, spawning everything from a range of cuddly toys to a theme park in China.
As well as taking part in discussion panels on topics dear to the hearts of these young turks – such as the global economy, freedom and anonymity online, the growth of Asia and the role technology plays in improving the world – they will also be addressed by Taoiseach Enda Kenny and on Saturday will have an audience with President Mary McAleese.