Connect Annual Report (2015-16)

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We love entrepreneurs

ANNUAL REPORT 2015/16

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Introducing Catalyst Inc

Our vision for Northern Ireland

Created in 1999 “to assist the NI government in taking forward its vision for a vibrant new knowledge economy in Northern Ireland”, the Northern Ireland Science Park has exceeded all major targets and growth expectations. We now embark on our next stage of evolution as the Science Park is re-envisaged as Catalyst Inc.

A community of innovators so powerful that its people can change the world.

Catalyst Inc provides the home, networks and empathy where anyone with talent and ambition can develop the world’s next great product.

Our model Catalyst Inc is a not-for-profit organisation that invests the surplus generated from our agile workspace and facilities, providing the underwriting necessary for the community-led development of our entrepreneurial innovation ecosystem by Connect.

Northern Ireland will become one of the most entrepreneurial knowledge economies in Europe by 2030.

CON N EC T AN NUAL RE PORT 2015/16 | 3

Our core purpose We enable our most experienced people to help our most promising entrepreneurs from across NI, pro bono.

Chris Horn, Chair I have really enjoyed my three years as Chair of Connect and am proud of the dramatic entrepreneurial movement that is now visibly underway in Northern Ireland. Last year marked an important milestone; the first year that Connect was 100% independently funded and for this I would like to thank many people and organisations: all member companies for providing the time and resources to collaboratively develop the model while having fun doing so, to the hundreds of volunteers who so generously give their time to help entrepreneurs pro bono every day, the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Investment for their early financial assistance and the now First Minister Arlene Foster for her personal support, to Chair Dick Milliken and the board of Catalyst Inc for providing the leadership to underwrite the growth of Connect into the future and lastly, the Connect team who work so hard every day trying to make a difference.

Now that you have the proof that you can do this, I would encourage Northern Ireland to be bolder and move faster than ever before. Good luck.

Your friend, Chris

Steve Orr, Director Ok, so far together we have built a model of peer-driven support to help innovators incubate new entrepreneurial ventures in Northern Ireland that is as good as anywhere.

Yet, if we are to achieve our 2030 vision, we have to conquer our next great challenges: • we need to stimulate many, many more new ideas to come into the top of the funnel and for those ideas to be developed by incredible teams • we need to help incredible teams who have developed brilliant products to scale into businesses supplying markets all over the world The Connect that we have built together is a regional asset of which Northern Ireland should be proud but the real value is coming next when we start to build on that foundation. Things are really going to start to rock and roll.

Connect by numbers Connect by numbers 84%

60,000 Website unique visits

616

Frameworks Attendees

582

Young people engaged

562

Unique number of entrepreneurs engaged on programmes

159

Events & forums organised & delivered

16

Springboard graduates

“Excellent�

mmend to oth eco dr

o someone ne dt w ce

92%

l elpfu &h

s er

98%

Intro du

Average feedback

Wo ul

of Springboard graduates who sought funding secured it

CON N EC T AN NUAL RE PORT 2015/16 | TH E TE AM | 5

The Team

STEVE ORR DIRECTOR

ELAINE SMYTH HEAD OF PROGRAMMES

JOHN KNAPTON DIRECTOR OF SPRINGBOARD

CLAIRE BURGOYNE GENERATION INNOVATION FRAMEWORKS NI KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY

TRUDY PARRY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & MEMBERSHIP CO-ORDINATOR

PETER EDGAR INVENT CO-FOUNDERS WANTED INNOVATION FOUNDER US NI MENTORSHIP PROGRAMME

HOLLY MILLAR SPRINGBOARD CO-ORDINATOR

TIERNA MAGEE DIGITAL & SOCIAL MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS CO-ORDINATOR

Leadership Board CHRIS HORN (CHAIR) STEVE ORR DIRECTOR, CONNECT DR NORMAN APSLEY OBE CEO, CATALYST INC PHILIP MAGUIRE DIRECTOR OF FINANCE & ADMINISTRATION, CATALYST INC TIM BRUNDLE DIRECTOR, RESEARCH & INNOVATION, ULSTER UNIVERSITY PROF HUGH MCKENNA PRO-VICE-CHANCELLOR (RESEARCH & INNOVATION) ULSTER UNIVERSITY

GAVIN CAMPBELL DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING, BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE ALEC MCRITCHIE BOMBARDIER AEROSPACE ALAN TAYLOR MANAGING PARTNER, ARTHUR COX GEORGINA O’LEARY DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION, RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT AT ALLSTATE NI ALAN WATTS DIRECTOR, HALO IVAN MCMINN HEAD OF CORPORATE BANKING, DANSKE BANK

DR HUGH CORMICAN CEO, CIRDAN IMAGING BRIAN MCCAUL DIRECTOR OF INNOVATION & CEO OF QUBIS, QUEEN’S UNIVERSITY BELFAST DAVID MCHUGH FINANCE DIRECTOR, SEAGATE TECHNOLOGIES JULIE-ANN O’HARE DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS BANKING, BANK OF IRELAND DR PAUL BEANEY HEAD OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, ULSTER UNIVERSITY

MARK CAMPBELL SENIOR MANAGER, RANDOX LABORATORIES MARY JO KURTH BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER, RANDOX LABORATORIES KIERAN O’NEILL TALENT AND INNOVATION LEADER AT DELOITTE DIGITAL

Membership Thank You B E N E FA C T O R

P L AT I N U M £ 1 0 K

Colour Logo for use on darkbackground

PLATINUM

Northern Ireland’s Enterprise Bank

Colour Logo for use on white background

Mono Logo for use on darkbackground

Mono Logo for use on white background

GOLD £5K

S I LV E R £ 2 K

Visit connect.catalyst-inc.org if you would like to find out how you could make a contribution to the development of young entrepreneurs and the economy of Northern Ireland

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The Programmes

S P R I N G B O A R D | I N V E N T | G E N E R AT I O N I N N O V AT I O N

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Springboard Summary Springboard is, in a nutshell, a personalised accelerator with a proven reputation for helping early stage companies build and deliver sound commercialisation strategy. Mobilising the most experienced entrepreneurs to assist the most promising is at the programme’s core. The collective knowledge combined with critical friend ethos delivers knowledge and wisdom in a unique way, giving early stage companies the ability to avoid costly mistakes and maximise growth potential. The process drives design thinking, challenges assumptions and advocates compelling go-to-market strategy that results in significantly reduced risk and real investor readiness.

Building on the global CONNECT network, Springboard PLUS utilises proven experts, on the ground, in the geography where graduate companies plan to export, further diminishing the significant risk of scaling overseas. During 2015, Springboard’s first international company graduated through the PLUS process. Luda Elektronik, from Sweden, provides smart farming solutions. This completes a year of records for Springboard with 16 graduates in total, 30 entrants and over 200 new, direct jobs created by participant companies to date.

Through identification of a number of key reasons innovation companies fail to scale successfully, Springboard has introduced a new element, post process, supporting alumni for a further 12 months, with focus on three key, scaling “blockers”: • Marketing – build a brand that creates buyer confidence and delivers interest (sales leads).

• Sales – Support early stage companies to effectively grow business through efficient selling.

• Connect to Capital – educate entrepreneurs on the funding process and Introduces companies to a circle of supportive, Springboard Investor Partners.

USPs • • • • • • •

Better than 6.5X reduction in go-to-market risk Leverage a network of international experts to boost exporting Personalised content that addresses identified gaps in the business 70 Entrepreneurs in Residence, a formative group of critical friends Post graduate support in three key areas to maximise scaling Introduction to Springboard Investor Partners to help capitalise Concise 16 week process allows entrepreneurs to run the business simultaneously

SPRING BOARD CORE 15 Graduates in FY 15/16 have already raised close to £2 million in funding.

AgriFood: 13% Life & Health: 13% Electronics: 20% Enterprise S/W: 20% Engineering: 20% Consumer S/W: 14%

N E W SPRING BOARD SCA LE Addresses 3 key blockers to early stage companies scaling (available to Springboard Alumni); Marketing, Sales, Access to Capital.

S B PLUS 1st graduate Luda Elektronik from Sweden – LUDA Smart Farming solutions provides a modular platform made up of cameras and sensors to enable farmers to get full control over critical processes and events, enabling economic and environmental sustainability of the farm.

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48 143 552 £18M 96% 84% G R A D U AT E S

J O B S D I R E C T LY C R E A T E D

JOBS SUPPORTED

INVESTED

G R A D U AT E S S T I L L I N B U S I N E S S

O F G R A D U AT E S ( W H O S O U G H T FUNDING) GOT IT

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Springboard Graduates Beacon Publlshing Beacon is a content marketing platform that helps you to quickly create, share and measure high impact marketing materials.

EiR: Jude Lynch BrainWaveBank BrainWave capture and analysis.

BrainWaveBank is a crowdsourcing neuroscience platform.

Through a combination of a low cost wearable consumer device, advanced analytics and machine learning technologies, BrainWaveBank will assemble the first Big Data collection of brainwave data collected in natural use environments over extended periods of time.

EiR: Siggi Saevarsson Cognition Video Intelligent video surveillance.Cognition Video is a processing framework that helps users more efficiently understand their media content using intelligent automated algorithms.

EiR: Andrew Walmsley

EquiNutritive Equi Nutritive is an online, innovative horse supplement company. Equi-Liquid GOLD, one of the main supplements, acts as a natural anti-inflammatory and can also be used to optimise the general well-being of horses.

EiR: Colin Coffey Gray’s Clip Novel electrical cable clip. This fully insulated staple (up to 1000 volts) can be used to clip electrical cables to wooden joists. The staple has been produced using non conducting materials (there are no metal parts) and has been made to comply with the latest electrical installation regulations which means it is a safer alternative to the existing product on the market.

EiR: Paul Rothwell

Hygieia Medical Ltd

Hygieia Medical Diabetes Control medical device/ service - The d-Nav insulin guidance service is designed to tame diabetes. It allows people with diabetes to make the most out of their insulin regime. d-Nav optimizes its users therapy plan by making small adjustments to the insulin dosage.

EiR: Julie Taylor

Knight Systems The product is called Clearview, a motorised lens cleaning device. This attaches over existing reversing cameras allowing the drivers to remotely clear the camera lens from dirt and debris before reversing or manoeuvring. Clearview is activated when the vehicle selects reverse and is setup to clear automatically.

Lorry drivers or machine operators never have to leave their cab to clear the lens of their reversing cameras. Clearview attaches over a range of popular reversing camera systems using the existing camera mount. With cartridge replacement taking only 2 minutes, this product saves both time and effort.

EiR: Paul Millar Laser Spoke A laser driven cycle power metersimply put, Laser Spoke is a technology that enables using the wheel, installed on your bike, as a torsional spring to measure power output.

EiR: Jeff Hearst

LUDA Electronik Automated farm intelligence equipment-...Founded 2003 in Sweden, LUDA Elektronik AB is today the leading, fastest growing company in Europe specialized in animal and farming surveillance.

Through strong partnerships with leading distributors, LUDA fills an important role combining innovative technology with attractive marketing solutions.

EiR: Sofia Hjelmberg MOCO MOCO is for you and your children aged 8 and upwards. It is in the form of a fun educational Mobile App and also NFC wearable technology, to facilitate cashless spending on the High Street to help children learn the ‘value of money’.

EiR: Colin McEvoy Modern Democracy Voter engagement application/ Election management app. Modern Democracy aim to transform and digitise elections processes utilising mobile technology.

EiR: Padraig Canavan

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Testimonials RepSelfie Online Social Media reputation tool.

RepSelfie is a tool which identifies how good your online reputation is, and the steps to take to protect and improve it. The product allows you to interrogate your Twitter and Facebook feeds to give you an Online Reputation score. If you want to then view the tweets and posts which are negatively impacting your score, you can buy the app for RepSelfie Premium.

EiR: Bill McCluggage

Reynolds Sports Reynolds Sports are developing a synthetic hurling stick. The material will replicate the specific qualities of Ash with at least 50% more strength.This can then be applied to their manufacturing of various sporting goods.

EiR: Paul Campbell SciLeads SciLeads will uniquely combine thousands of information sources on academic scientists including global grant funding, purchased equipment, published papers and social media. Scientific companies will access this intelligence through our platform and unlock it’s value using search functionality, graphing tools and watch lists.

EiR: Julie Taylor Sixty-5 Sixty- 5 Technologies enable precision agriculture technology to be adopted easily and affordably through their evolving suite of Agri-Apps. Through a suite of AgriApps and a dedicated app store, customers are able to access technology to improve productivity and efficiency of agricultural operations which enable the sustainable farming of small to medium sized agricultural enterprises.

EiR: Richard McMullan Skunk Works Surf Co. Novel surfboard. Elimination of adhesives in surfboards is a world-first!

They are the first brand to use only heat bonding to make their surfboards.

Using only 100% recyclable materials which are of a superior quality to competitors they produce boards with a level of comfort, buoyancy and stability not currently available.

EiR: Ronan Cunningham

“It evaluated every aspect of the business, offered expert advice and improved our business in every aspect. Excellent.”

Ricky Martin, Skunkworks “New ideas and fresh perspectives to help value proposition and company offering.”

Daniel McRitchie, SciLeads “Excellent in helping us understand the options available to us and in focussing our attention in the right direction.”

Julie Gray, Gray’s clip “Very positive experience.”

Fabian Campbell-West, Cognition Video

Co-Founders Wanted Co-Founders Wanted is back in the lab being redeveloped and will be coming out, refreshed, soon

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Invent Summary INVENT is a proof-of-concept stage competition for inventors, scientists, entrepreneurs and students to pitch their prototypes and new inventions in front of Northern Ireland’s most experienced leaders from within the technology and commercial sector. Entrants are competing for a share of the £33,000 prize fund, fast-tracking onto SPRINGBOARD and a place on the NI Tech Mission to pitch to investors and partners in California.

PicoPuf won the Electronics category, then, in the face of stiff competition, the overall grand prize, after being deemed by judges to have the most innovative product with the biggest worldwide potential. They faced stiff competition from 11 other finalists in categories including Agri-Food, Life and Health, and Enterprise Software. The award was presented to a trio of Queen’s researchers who invented PicoPUF, Neil Hanley, Maire O’Neill, and Chongyan Gu. They invented a tiny semiconductor IP core that provides strong, unique authentication for even the cheapest microchip. It means that any grade of device can have the highest grade of security. They took home a prize package of £13,000, a fast-track to Connect’s Springboard programme and a space on Connect and Invest NI’s Tech Mission to California in January 2016.

The other five category winners received £2,500, and a place on Tech Mission. These category winners rose to the top after a grueling six-month process that began with 90 entrants in Spring this year. They were whittled down to 24 after a series of intensive initial pitches, and then a “Quick Pitch” event at W5 in May, which was open to the public, determined the 12 finalists.

Overall Winner PicoPuf

A tiny semiconductor IP core which provides strong unique authentication for even the cheapest microchip.

MAIN SPONSOR

200 600

A U D I E N C E AT Q U I C K P I T C H

G U E S T S AT I N V E N T A W A R D S AT T I TA N I C B E L F A S T

90 £33k ENTRANTS

PRIZE FUND

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C AT E G O R Y W I N N E R S

Agri-Food SPONSORED BY NextGen Biopesticides Insect parasitic nematodes selectively bred to be a safe, effective biopesticide for the control of crop pest insects.

Enterprise Software SPONSORED BY Cognition Video A processing framework that enables the effective understanding of media content using intelligent automated algorithms.

Life and Health

SPONSORS Bank of Ireland Fujitsu IBM Accelerite Dow Almac Allstate NI Queen’s University Belfast PwC (Elevator Pitch) Tughans (Mentor Day) Ulster University (Student Comp)

STEERING TEAM Ronan Cunningham (Chair), Brainwave Bank Neasa Quigley, Carson McDowell Neil Buchanan, Flish Niamh Griffin, Bank of Ireland UK Kathryn Walls, Mills Selig Adrian O’Connell, Tughans David Brownlee, HSC John Macrae, Ulster University Jason Wiggins, QUB Kathleen Garrett, techstart NI Andrew Jennings, Arthur Cox

SPONSORED BY ReVana A new drug delivery system that provides longterm benefits for patients suffering from eye diseases that lead to blindness. The solution also saves the NHS considerable cost on treatment.

Creative Media and Consumer Internet SPONSORED BY ChipIn A platform for goal setting that provides motivation via rewards that are either crowd-funded or selffunded.

Engineering SPONSORED BY Skunkworks Surfboard Company Robust soft (learner) surfboards that are 100 per cent recyclable and unbreakable.

Electronics SPONSORED BY PicoPuf A tiny semiconductor IP core which provides strong unique authentication for even the cheapest microchip

Student Competition SPONSORED BY

IVEA Labs

IVEA Labs are developing a dual-aspect technology solution, targeted at NI tourism.

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Innovation Founder Each year Connect honours an individual who has made an extraordinary contribution to Northern Ireland’s Knowledge Economy through scientific or technological discovery and the formation of a commercial enterprise.

The 2015 Innovation Founder is Brian Conlon, founder of First Derivatives Plc. First Derivatives began in Brian’s spare bedroom in Newry in 1996, with just a £5,000 loan from the Credit Union, which makes the 20 year story of its success even more astounding. Last year, First Derivatives posted earnings of £83.2m, a 19 per cent compound annual growth rate. It has acquired four companies and its global workforce numbers more than 1,200. First Derivatives’ core business — managing Big Fast Data through software and services to the financial industry — remains firmly grounded in Newry, whilst dealing with some of the largest financial institutions on every continent.

DR. WILLIAM WRIGHT 2014

DR. PETER FITZGERALD 2013

TOM EAKIN 2012

DR. HUGH CORMICAN 2011

PROF. JOHN ANDERSON 2010

PROGRAMMES | KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY INDEX | 15

Knowledge Economy Index STEERING TEAM

Summary Now in its fourth year, the Knowledge Economy Index (KEI) project provides a barometer of the relative health and progress of the sector in Northern Ireland, the UK regions and the Republic of Ireland.

The NI Knowledge Economy indicator framework is based on the San Diego CONNECT model, which is both entrepreneurial and private sector focussed. A total of twenty-one indicators make up the framework under the sub-headings of core indicators, investment, R&D and patent activity.

The 2015 report, entitled The Knowledge Economy in Northern Ireland, was compiled by the Ulster University Economic Policy Centre.

The report showed that Northern Ireland has the second fastest growing knowledge economy in the UK – the fastest was the North West of England. Northern Ireland is now the second fastest growing Knowledge Economy in the UK for the second year in a row.

Scott Rutherford (Chair), Queen’s University, Belfast Alan Bridle, Bank of Ireland Tim Brundle, Ulster University Olive Hill, Invest NI Michael McCormack, BT Neal McNamara, Allstate

10%

OF THE NORTHERN IRELAND ECONOMY IS NOW DRIVEN BY OUR KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY •

For every job created in the Knowledge Economy, one more is created in the wider economy

•

The number of PhDs awarded has dropped, risking the pipeline of entrepreneurial talent

•

There’s a danger growth could slow down without relevant safeguards

MAIN SPONSOR

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Generation Innovation Summary Generation Innovation is Connect’s network for Northern Ireland’s most innovative, creative and entrepreneurial teenagers.

The other sponsors were Anaeko, Automated Intelligence, Civica, CoLab, Coca Cola Hellenic, Dow, Liberty IT, Tascomi and Tayto.

Each year schools and colleges identify 15 – 18 year olds to join Generation Innovation. These are young people who excel in a range of different areas from science and technology to business studies, from art and design to engineering and maths.

The summer of 2015 saw the first Generation Innovation Internship Prize competition, generously supported by two local entrepreneurs, Tom O’Gorman and Jim Finnegan. Six young people spent the summer with the Catalyst Inc team, developing their own innovation products. Jack Wallace from Dungannon was awarded the overall £10K prize for Travellise, a tool that allows users to plan a personalised travel experience

The annual Generation Innovation Night of Ambition 2016, in association with headline sponsor Deloitte Digital, took place at St George’s Market in Belfast. 225 teenagers took part, along with more than 70 Founders and Innovators. As well as guest speakers, including Mark Dowds, Chief Strategy Officer at Trov Inc, there was a Design Thinking Workshop.

We were delighted to work with a number of partner organisations, including Young Enterprise NI, Sentinus, BT Young Scientist Exhibition, Colleges NI, BBC Make It Digital, Northern Ireland Screen, the Nerve Centre, FabLab NI and Farset Labs.

The event was also supported by principle funder, the Department of Culture, Arts and Leisure. The lead sponsors were Core Systems, Equiniti, Queen’s University Belfast and Ulster University.

In September 2015 six of our Generation Innovation Alumni organised Create:2015, a one day event at CultureTECH in Derry~Londonderry to inspire future young thinkers, makers and doers. The event was hosted by BBC Click presenter Kate Russell and speakers included James Whelton, co-founder of CoderDojo and Vu Bui (Mojang).

P R O G R A M M E S | G E N E R AT I O N I N N O VAT I O N | 1 7

225 50 70+ 70 T E E N A G E R S AT T E N D E D

F O U N D E R S A N D I N N O VAT O R S

EXHIBITORS

SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES REPRESENTED

STEERING TEAM Lynsey Mallon, (Chair), Arthur Cox Bill Connor, Sentinus Liguori Dobbin, Bank of Ireland Columb Duffy, Allstate Carol Fitzsimons, YENI Michael Ievers, Stranmillis University College John McGuckian, Tughans Rachel McAllister, Carson McDowell Kieran O’Neill, Deloitte Digital Joanne Stuart, NISP Kathryn Walls, Mills Selig

G E N E R AT I O N I N N O VAT I O N INTERNSHIP PRIZE PA R T I C I PA N T S Mason Robinson Jack Wallace Rebekah Loughlin Erin Bennett Mark Ireland Scott Hilland

C R E AT E 2 0 1 5 T E A M Gareth Reid Anona Weir Sarah Semple Matthew Carson Jordan Earle Niamh McCay

18 | PROGRAMMES | FRAMEWORKS

Frameworks Summary Many of our innovators in Northern Ireland have scientific and technical backgrounds but have limited experience in industry, which is so essential when developing a startup.

Connect’s Frameworks workshops aim to solve this problem by offering the time and space to learn the fundamentals of creating a business.

Each workshop is lead by a subject matter expert, covering a range of key business areas from legal, accountancy and finance through to IP, marketing and sales. We also invite experienced entrepreneurs to take part as panel members to share their valuable insights.

The 2015 – 2016 Frameworks calendar was busy with events not only at the Innovation Centre at Catalyst Inc but also at Queen’s University Belfast, Ulster University, the Catalyst Inc

(North West), CIDO in Craigavon and the Causeway Enterprise Agency in Coleraine. 616 innovation focussed entrepreneurs and ‘wantrepreneurs’ took part in 23 workshops across the year. We have also continued our collaborations with the IOD, the Design Salon and CultureTECH.

STEERING TEAM Michael Black, Chair Jamie Andrews, techstart NI Paul Beaney, Ulster University Henry Cleary, Bank of Ireland David Croft, Danske Bank Chris Guy, Mills Selig Lynsey Mallon, Arthur Cox David Moore, QUBIS Dawn McKnight, Carson McDowell Adrian O’Connell, Tughans

Innovation into Action Between March and June 2015, we invited over 50 industry organisations, networks, Meet-Ups and trade associations to nominate their most “can do” members to participate in a process (superbly facilitated by BT’s Michael McCormack) to collectively and collaboratively figure out how to crack the biggest challenge standing in the way of our dream of economic transformation in Northern Ireland: “how do we change our business culture at scale?”

Through a democratic process of idea submission, debate and refinement, participants were asked to identify the silver bullets that would address the following challenges once and for all: • •

•

How do we foster a culture of entrepreneurship, specifically oncampus at Higher Education and Further Education institutions?

How do we crack Northern Ireland’s “BMW syndrome” to increase the scale of ambition and innovation of our entrepreneurs and SME leaders How do we foster a culture of collaboration where local businesses and entrepreneurs collaborate to compete?

PROGRAMMES | FRAMEWORKS | 19

Frameworks Calendar of Events 2015/16 TOPIC

MAIN SPEAKER

PANELLISTS

ATTENDEES

RATING

Startup Fundamentals

Eoin Lambkin, Groupe-Intellex

Fergus McIlduff, Automated Intelligence; Kyle Gawley, Get Invited

25

4.7

Finance for Startups & Beyond

John Knapton, Connect

Hal Wilson, techstart NI; Niall Harkin, Danske Bank; Patricia O'Hagan, Core Systems; Denis Murphy, Anaeko

30

4.7

Marketing your Startup

Michael O'Hara, GSMA

N/A

43

4.7

Protecting your Idea: A Guide to Intellectual Property

Scott Kennedy, Cleaver Fulton Rankin; Michael King, Cleaver Fulton Rankin; Christopher Neill, Cleaver Fulton Rankin

JG Doherty, NISP EiR & Jamie Andrews, techstart NI

21

4.8

A Startup Guide to Professional Selling Methods

Aidan McGrath, Acumensis

Michael Curran, Display Note; Laura Houston, Analytics Engines

36

4.7

More Marketing for Startups

Michael O'Hara, GSMA

N/A

46

4.6

Licensing for Startups

Mathew Forde; Forde Campbell

Paul McElvaney, Learning Pool

14

4.7

New Director Bootcamp

Colin Coffey, Digital Venture Group

Helen Kirkpatrick; Paul Vaughan, Reprographic Systems; Olga Murtagh, Armagh City Banbridge and Craigavon DC; Andrew Jennings, Arthur Cox; John Knapton, Connect

25

4.7

Startup Fundamentals

Eoin Lambkin, Groupe-Intellex

Jamie Andrews, techstart NI; John McGuckiuan, Tughans

18

4.9

New Director Bootcamp

Colin Coffey, Digital Venture Group; Eilleen Mullan, Strictly Boardroom; Lynsey Mallon, Arthur Cox

Karen Shearer, Novosco; Simon Campbell, Portview Fit-Out Limited

24

4.6

A Startup Guide to Accounting

Darren McDowell, Harbinson Mulholland; James Fair, Harbinson Mulholland

Gary Hamilton, former CEO with Omiino; Paul Stewart, Uni Baggage

15

4.9

The Investment Process

Ivan Waide, A&L Goodbody; Mark Stockdale, A&L Goodbody

David Patterson, Sophia; Chris Johnston, Adoreboard

25

4.6

Product Development

Conรกnn FitzPatrick, Ulster University

Fiona McLaughlin, Pingster

28

4.7

A Guide to Crowdfunding

Julia Groves, UK Crowdfunding Association

Seรกn mac Cann, Carson McDowell; Philip McAleese, See.Sense; Mike Thomson, Mike's Fancy Cheese; Cillian McMinn, The Element Cube

45

4.7

All about the IPO

Chris Guy, Mills Selig; Kathryn Walls, Mills Selig

Marcus Stuttard, AIM; Mark Fahy, London Stock Exchange; Richard McCann, Kainos; Malachy McEntyre, Shore Capital

21

4.8

A Startup Guide to Selling

Aidan McGrath, Acumensis

Brian Reid, BR Consulting; John Knapton, Connect

15

4.5

Doing Business in the US

Alan Taylor, Arthur Cox

Jenny Cardell, US Consulate; Kevin Bell, KPMG

45

4.9

A Startup Guide to Digital Marketing

Michael White, Motarme

Emma Gunes, Landed; Kren Yates, Zing Design and Print

34

4.6

Building the Dream Startup Team

Michael McQuillan, Ulster University Business Institute

Oliver Lennon, CEO, SpeechStorm; Jamie Andrews, techstart NI

33

4.8

Doing Business in Europe: A Guide to VAT

Alan Martin, PwC

Andrew Gough, GCD Technologies

15

4.6

CSIT Tech Summit Workshop 1 - Scaling your Technology Business

Alex Van Someren, Amadeus Capital

25

n/a

CSIT Tech Summit Workshop 2 How to Build the Perfect Team

Sandy McKinnon, Pentech Ventures

18

n/a

Debunking the Myths of R&D Tax Credits

Gemma Craig, Jumpstart

15

4.9

Julian Greer - Bombardier; Carolynn Rooney, Catalyst Inc

20 | PROGRAMMES | NI TECH MISSION

Northern Ireland Tech Mission C O M PA N I E S

Summary In January 2016, in partnership with Invest NI, we took fourteen entrepreneurs to the San Francisco Bay Area and San Diego for a non-stop week of pitch forums and customer and investor meetings.

Venues included the Runway Incubator in the Twitter Building, Stanford’s d.school and Faculty Club and CONNECT’s Innovation Clubhouse in San Diego. It was nice to hear from some notable Californians that our companies were “California Standard”. A huge thank you to Brian Glynn and Teresa Madden of Invest NI.

BrainwaveBank Limited, Ronan Cunningham Brewbot, Chris McClelland Digishare360, Michael Carlin Glistrr, Matthew Large i3 Digital Ltd, Adrian Bradley Laser Spoke Limited, Gennady Lubarsky TakeTen Ltd, Fintan Connolly The Skunkworks Surfboard Company, Chris Martin Cognition Video, Fabian Campbell - West ReVana, Rob Grundy AppAttic Ltd, Rachel Gawley Sirona, Neil Hanley See Sense, Philip McAleese ServiceClarity, Denis Murphy

TechWatch TechWatch is home to Northern Ireland’s technology superstars.

TechWatch receives nearly 5,000 unique views per topic area. It is sent fortnightly to our email subscription list of more than 4,300 relevant business people, entrepreneurs, investors, politicians and anyone interested in technology in NI. Leaders and influential businesspeople from diverse sectors read the newsletter. We cover NI’s burgeoning scene of tech startups, investors, spinouts and inventors, in topic areas including: enterprise software, Big Data, IoT, Agri-Food, artificial intelligence, data analytics, life and health, connected home, security and education. It is distributed across our social media channels and syndicated on SyncNI. Our stories have led to new international business leads, media coverage and speaking opportunities for the profiled companies.

EMILY MCDAID

DATE

TOPIC

March 2016

Can startups kill the banks? | Financial technology (Fin-tech)

February 2016

Should we fear the robots? | Robotics and (AI) Artificial Intelligence

January 2016

Will technology disrupt traditional education?

Education technology (Edu-tech)

December 2015

Data analytics | Women in Tech

November 2015

Springboard | Is Belfast as collaborative as Dublin? | Web Summit

October 2015

INVENT finalists

September 2015

INVENT finalists

August 2015

INVENT finalists

July 2015

Fin-tech | INVENT finalists

June 2015

Sports technology

April 2015

Big data

PROG R AM M ES | SPRING BOARD | 21

The Directory

22 | TH E D I REC TORY | CON N EC T A N N UA L RE PORT 2015/1 6

A huge thank you to...

Rory Campbell, Forde Campbell LLC Terry Canning, Farm Wizard ENTREPRENEURS Sarah Chapa, Tughans IN-RESIDENCE Linzi Conway, Key to Success Consultants William Corrigan, Dow AgroSciences Brian Baird Ted Laverty Angela Craigan, Harbinson Mulholland Jeremy Biggerstaff Andrew Logan Thomas Cromie, Agri AD Michael Black Peter Lorimer Noel Culbert, PwC Ian Browne Jude Lynch Patrick Cullen, Lumenera Corporation Guy Bucknall Stephen McClelland Brian Cummings, Clarendon Fund Managers Owen Byrne Bill McCluggage Michael Curran, DisplayNote Paul Campbell Richard McConnell Louise Cushanhan, CSIT David Campbell Jeremy Dalton, PwC Colin McEvoy Padraig Canavan Sara Dalzell, Komodo Aidan McGrath Geoff Clarke James Davidson, PwC Richard McMullan Colin Coffey Richard Dennys, Tech City UK Liam McQuillan Brendan Colgan Eamonn Donaghy, KPMG Paul Millar Ronan Cunningham Kevin Donaghy, SaltDNA Karl Mulligan Les Curran Damian Donnelly, ad man Denis Murphy JG Doherty Peter Donnelly, BioBusiness Miceál O’Kane Bruce Douglas Paddy Dunlop, Ulster Uninversity Clare Passmore Gareth Dunlop Stephen Ellis, AEJ Business Solutions Brian Reid Benjamin Fellowes Alistair Fee, Squid Academy Paul Rothwell Richard Furey Ashleen Feeney, KPMG Siggi Saevarsson Geraldine Gordon Joel Ferguson, Innovate UK Stephen Seawright Stephen Gunning Brendan Flynn, DTL Security Solutions Jim Shields Jeff Hearst Stephen Gallagher, Accelerite Ann-Marie Slavin Stephen Houston Seamus Garland, Openwave Des Speed Jim Irving Judith Gordon, MOCO Sinclair Stockman Roger Johnston Alan Gourley, PwC Julie Taylor Michael Keltai Neil Graham, Danske Bank Andrew Walmsley Eoin Lambkin Simon Grattan, Almac Group Niamh Griffin, Bank of Ireland DOMAIN EXPERTS Elaine Groom, Agri-Food and Biosciences Institute Christine Adams, Tughans Rob Grundy, Anglezarke Life Sciences Ltd Tanya Anderson, Danske Bank Jonny Hacking, A&L Goodbody Jamie Andrews, TechStart NI Gary Hamilton Ken Armstrong, Lava Group John Haran, Haran & Co Rosi Armstrong, Armstrong IPR Ciaran Harkin, KPMG John Arrell, Sixty-5 Niall Harkin, KPMG Ken Baird, Baird Consulting Annesley Harrison, Invest NI Danielle Barrios- O’Neill, Ciliaris Jeff Hearst, Laser Spoke Ian Beatty, Danske Bank Ronan Heenan, People 1st Nicola Bothwell, NB Chartered Marketing David Hill, Hill Business Growth Consultants Jon Bradford, F6S & Tech.eu Laura Houston, Ammado Paul Brewster, Pure Marine Gen Austen Hunter, DTL Security Solutions Des Brown, DB Commercial Marketing Nigel Hutchinson, Meridio (Autonomy) Frank Bryan Max Jaderberg, Google Deepmind Owen Byrne, Digital TV Labs Ian Jeffers, The Princes Trust Paul Campbell, ESS Andrew Jennings, Arthur Cox

S P R I N G B OA R D

Adam Keefe, Belfast Giants Kate Keith, A&L Goodbody John Kelly, BeansUp Peter Kelly, PwC Scott Kennedy, CFR Colm Kernan, Irish Water Jim Kirkwood, Danske Bank Trevor Knox, Bombardier Ted Laverty, DTS Alex Lee, INVEZZ Oliver Lennon, SpeechStorm Darryl Lloyd, Belfast Giants Francis Lowry, Allstate Sean MacCann, Carson McDowell Solicitors Mark Maguire, Fujitsu Brendan Martin, KPMG Ian McAleer, Fujitsu Maria McAllister, Bank of Ireland Neil McCabe, WhiteRock Capital Partners John McCaffrey, Cirdan Imaging Jonny McClintock, Qualcomm Richard McConnell, HollyHill David McCurley, WhiteRock Capital Partners Darren McDowell, Harbinson Mulholland Naomh McEllhatton, RUA Digital Tony McEwan, ESS Grainne McGarvey, Pulse PR Claire McGonigle, PwC Caroline McGoran, Ulster Uninversity Fergus McIlDuff, Automated Intelligence Mari McLarnon, PwC Alan McNally, Page Set Up Design Victoria Milhench, Ken Montgomery, Pinnacle Computing Liam Morgan, Denis Murphy, Anaeko Nuala Murphy, Malone Marketing Michael Murray, BT Northern Ireland Christine Naylor, Rockport Ventures Paul Nixon, Bank of Ireland Mark O’Brien, Bank of Ireland Patricia O’Hagan, Core Systems Neil O’Hare, KPMG Sean O’Hare, Domhnail O’Neill, Glastonbury Ass Ltd Kieran O’Neill, Deloitte Digital Paddy O’Reilly, Deloitte Digital Andrew Owen, AJO Dave Patterson, Sophia

Denise Price, The Polymer Processing Research Centre George Redpath, IoT Tech William Revels, BT Northern Ireland John Rice, Bank of Ireland David Rowan, A&L Goodbody Gillian Sadlier, Bank of Ireland Ian Scott, Taggled Judith Scott, Bank of Ireland Gavin Shields, PiggyPot Neil Simms, Clarendon Fund Managers Alexander Sleigh, London Business Angel Network Peter Smittenaar, Citizen Science Team at Cancer Research UK Ash Songra, 3 Five Two medical Group Des Speed, Path XL John Spindler, Capital Enterprise and the London Co-investment Fund Edwina Stewart, Arthur Cox Emma Swift, Tech City UK William Thompson, Bank of Ireland Kris Toner, Bank of Ireland Marv Van Niekerk, Experior Biotech Ivan Waide, A&L Goodbody David Wells, G4S Hal Wilson, TechStart NI Suzanne Woodside, MadebyMint Stephen Wray, Deloitte Digital Jeff Wylie, Kana, a Verint Company

CON N EC T A N N UA L RE PORT 2015/1 6 | TH E D I REC TO RY | 23

INVENT

QUALIF YING ROUND JUDGES Brian Baird, Replify Colm Hayden, Anaeko Bill McCluggage, Connect EiR Peter Donnelly, BioBusiness Sandy McKinnon, techstart NI Julie Taylor, Integrity NI Neil MacDonald, Connect EiR Leslie Orr, ADS Group

QU I C KPITC H Michael Black, Accelerite Colette Donaghy, Venn Life Science Michael O’Hara, GSMA

FUNDING WORKSHOP Allen Martin, Kernel Capital Nick McCormack, Invest NI

M E NTOR WORKSHOP Tom Griffiths, Brand NI Ian Browne, Connect EiR Stephen Lusty Andrew Walmsley, Connect EiR Aidan Langan, Enterprise Equity Colm Moane, Bank of Ireland UK Denis Murphy, Anaeko Jamie Andrews, techstart NI Julie Taylor, Integrity NI Sandy McKinnon, techstart NI Frank Bryan Deirdre Terrins, Crescent Capital JG Doherty, Connect EiR Daniel McCaughan, Kernel Capital Stephen Simpson, Bank of Ireland Uk Richard Furey, Yelo Darren McDowell, Harbinson & Mullholland Jeff Hearst, Connect EiR Ken Baird, Connect EiR

G E N E R AT I O N I N N OVAT I O N TECH FOUNDERS 2015

Aaron Gibson, CEO, Hurree Aaron Taylor, Co-Founder & CEO, Icons Festival Adam Flanagan, Founder, Future2016 Alan Leacock, AMFOR Group Founder & Leader, Ulster University Alexandra Frazer, Proprietor, EquiNutritive Andrew Bolster, Director, Farset Labs Andrew Bowd, CEO/Founder, DYADEY Andrew Fulton, Founder, Fulton & Dawson Andrew Gough, Co-Founder, GCD Technologies Angela Canavan, MD, Civica Ben Bland, Director, Farset Labs Charlie Tuxworth, Director, Software & Innovation, Equiniti Chris Martin, Founder, Skunkworks Surf Co. Chris Acheson, Founder & CEO, CADshare Christine Boyle, Founder, Senergy Christine James, Managing Director, Blick Studios Clare Medland, Managing Director, Rolltack Colin Williams, Creative Director, Sixteen South Damian Cranney, Director, Big Motive Daniel Crawford, CEO, Axial3D David Kane, Director, Farset Labs Davy Sims, Founder, David Sims Media Denis Murphy, CEO, Anaeko Eoin Lambkin, Owner, Groupe-Intellex Eve McClelland, Founder, Em-Bed Fergus McIlduff, COO, Automated Intelligence Fiona Bennington, Founder, Potting Shed Gareth Dunlop, CEO, Fathom Gareth Reid, Managing Director, Write to Read Gavin Shields, CEO, PiggyPot Grainne Kelly, CEO, Bubblebum Guy Bucknall, Marketing Consultant, digiShare360 Herman Chan, Director of Research, AppAttic Ian Browne, Founder, My Surgery James Donaghy, Founder, Freelance Student James Leckey, CEO, Leckey Jeff Hearst, COO, Laser Spoke Jim Hook, Founder CEO, Seven Technologies Joan Condell, Founder, HidInImage Karishma Kusurkar, Founder, Karishma Kusurkar

Paul O’Brien, Tughans Michael Hilland, Adair and Milliken David Hill, Hill Business Growth Consultants Colin Coffey, Connect EiR Neil McCabe, Whiterock Capital Partners John Kelly, Halo Cara Lagan, Tughans Hal Wilson, techstart NI

I N N O VAT I O N F O U N D E R PA N E L Tom Eakin, TG Eakin Ltd Hugh Cormican, Cirdan Imaging Julie-Ann O’Hare, Bank of Ireland Peter Fitzgerald, Randox William Wright, Wrightbus

FINAL ROUND JUDGES INVENT STUDENT JUDGES Bryan Keating, Matrix NI Opal Perry, Allstate NI Philippe Joffroy, Dow Lynsey Mallon, Arthur Cox Timothy Davison, Almac Julie-Ann O’Hare, Bank of Ireland UK Siggi Saevarsson, Connect EiR

Kathryn Walls, Mills Selig Charlie McKeegan, Total Mobile Paul Beaney, Ulster University Niamh Griffin, Bank of Ireland UK

Karla McNally, Owner and Creative Director, Bill & Coo Katie Brown, Owner, Katie Brown Designs Kevin Donaghy, CEO, SaltDNA Kwa Daniels, CEO, Bounce Education Lorraine Martin, CTO, ProAx-SiS Mal Duffin, Director, Game Skinners Mark Dowds, Chief Strategy Officer, Trov Mary McKenna, CEO/NED, Mary McKenna Matthew Large, CEO, Glistrr Miceál O’Kane, Founder, 7thVenture Neil Hanley, CEO, PicoPUF Nuala Murphy, Owner, Malone Marketing Consultancy Oliver Lennon, Vice President & General Manager, Genesys SpeechStorm Patricia O’Hagan, MD, Core Systems Paul Brewster, CTO, Pure Marine Gen Paul McElvaney, CEO, Learning Pool Paul Stewart, CEO, UniBaggage Rachel Gawley, CEO and Founder, AppAttic Reuben McFeeters, Founder, Way North Ricky Martin, Co-Founder, SkunkWorks Surf Co Robert Grundy, Founder, Anglezarke Life Sciences Ltd Sean McAllister, Co-Founder & Managing Partner, PlotBox Sheena Lewis, CEO, Lewis Fertility Testing Simon Hamilton, Founder, Rumble Labs Stephen McGilloway, Design Director, bigsmall design Stephen McPeake, Owner, ReportAll Vicky Kett, Founder, VaccineTab Adam Whiteside, Co Founder, IVEA Labs Alex Caskey, Co Founder, IVEA Labs Andrew Boyd, Co Founder, IVEA Labs Victoria Potts, Co Founder, IVEA Labs Scott Hilland, Intern, Northern Ireland Science Park Mark Ireland, Founder, ApolloDevIT Mason Robinson, Founder, I-Save Rebekah Loughlin, Founder, UNI Erin Bennett, Founder, AIRATE Jack Wallace, Founder, Travellise

G E N E R AT I O N I N N O VAT I O N PA R T I C I PAT I N G S C H O O L S Abbey Christian Brothers Grammar School, Newry Antrim Grammar School Aquinas Diocesan Grammar School, Belfast Ashfield Boys’ High School, Belfast

24 | PROG R AM M ES | SPRING BOARD Ballyclare High School Ballymena Academy Banbridge Academy Bangor Academy and Sixth Form College Bangor Grammar School Belfast Royal Academy Bloomfield Collegiate, Belfast Campbell College, Belfast Christian Brothers’ Grammar School, Omagh Coleraine Grammar Collegiate Grammar School, Enniskillen Dalriada School, Ballymoney Dominican College, Portstewart Down High School, Downpatrick Foyle College Friends’ School, Lisburn Grosvenor Grammar School Kilkeel High School Lagan College, Belfast Larne Grammar School Limavady High School Lismore Comprehensive School, Craigavon Lisneal College, Londonderry Little Flower Girls’ School, Belfast Lumen Christi College, Derry Malone Integrated College, Belfast Mercy College, Belfast Methodist College Mount Lourdes Grammar School, Enniskillen New-Bridge Integrated College, Loughbrickland North West Regional College, Derry Northern Regional College Oakgrove Integrated College Omagh Academy Omagh High School Our Lady and St Patrick’s College Our Lady’s Grammar School, Newry Portora Royal School, Enniskillen Priory College, Holywood Rainey Endowed School, Magherafelt Rathmore Grammar School, Belfast Regent House Grammar School, Newtownards Sacred Heart College, Omagh Shimna Integrated College, Newcastle South Eastern Regional College South West Regional College (SWC) Southern Regional College St Catherine’s College, Armagh St Cecilia’s College, Derry St Colman’s College, Newry St Columb’s College, Derry St Comhghall’s College, Lisnaskea St Dominic’s Grammar School, Belfast St Joseph’s Boys’ School, Derry St Killian’s College, Carnlough St Louis Grammar School, Ballymena St Louis Grammar School, Kilkeel St Louise’s Comprehensive College, Belfast St Malachy’s High School, Castlewellan St Mary’s Christian Brothers’ Grammar School, Belfast St Mary’s College, Clady St Mary’s College, Derry St Mary’s Limavady St Michael’s College, Enniskillen St Patrick’s Academy, Dungannon St Patrick’s College, Belfast St Patrick’s College, Dungannon St Ronan’s College, Lurgan Strangford Integrated College Strathearn School, Belfast Sullivan Upper School, Holywood The Royal Belfast Academical Institution Thornhill College, Derry Wallace High School, Lisburn Wellington College, Belfast

I N N OVAT I O N I N TO AC T I O N PA R T I C I PA N T S

Paul Beaney, Ulster University Patrick Black, Study USA Robert Bowman, Institute of Physics Conor Bradley, CCRCB Tim Brundle, Ulster University Rory Campbell, Digital Circle Fabian Campbell-West, Cognition Video Liz Conlon, Institute of Physics Ronan Cunningham, Entrepreneur in Residence Deirdre Devlin, BBC Peter Donnelly, Bio Business Michelle Douglas, Queen’s University Belfast Donal Durkan, Invest NI Alistair Fee, Queen’s University Belfast Conann Fitzpatrick, Ulster University Rachel Gawley, AppAttic Colette Goldrick, ABPI Tom Griffiths, Entrepreneur in Residence Gary Hamilton, InvestNI Corrine Heaney, Young Influencers Paul Henry, Ulster society of Chartered Accounts Robert Hill, ADS Conor Houston, Young Influencers Luke Humphreys, CCRCB Matt Johnston, Digital Circle David Kane, Farset Labs Bryan Keating, Maitrix Mark Lawler, CCRCB Patrick Legett, NI Chamber of Commerce Greg Maguire, 2D3D Bill McCluggage, British Computer Society Michael McCormack, BT Chris McCreery, NI Science Festival Ciaran McGarrity, DETI Catherine McGinnis, Design Salon Anton McGonnell, USNI Mentorship Programme Pauric McGowan, Ulster University Jim McLaughlin, Institute of Physics Kirsty McManus, Ulster University Ruth Morrow, Queen’s University Belfast Mark Nagurski, CultureTech Mark O’Donnell, BT & Bank of Invention Patricia O’Hagan, NI Chamber of Commerce Caroline O’Kane, EnterpriseNI Leslie Orr, ADS Anne Philipson, William J Clinton Inst at QUB Seamus Sands, Young Influencers Sandra Scannell, NI Chamber of Commerce Fred Scharf, Ulster University Michelle Simpson, OWASP Matt Stewart, YI & Potting Shed Cameron Stewart, Young Influencers Emma Swift, Tech City Margaret Topping, QUB Suzi Waddell, Young Influencers

SPECIAL C O L L A B O R ATO R S Michael Alcorn, QUB Shusma Balaji, Gi Alumni Hollie Bennett, Playstation Alan Blair, Colleges NI Ben Bland, Farset Labs Andrew Bolster, Farset Labs John Andy Bonar, Letterkenny Institute of Technology Linda Brown, Institute of Directors (IOD) Claire Burn, Women Who Code Belfast Mari Cahalane, BT Young Scientist Exhibition (BTYSE) Jan Carson

Liz Conlon, Institute of Physics in Ireland Bill Connor, Sentinus Toby Coppel, Mosaic Ventures Moira Dean, Royal Society of Biology Deirdre Devlin, BBC Northern Ireland Connor Doherty, CultureTECH Patsy Donaghy, Letterkenny Institute of Technology (LYIT) Mark Dowds, Trov Inc Charlotte Dryden, Oh Yeah Centre Emma Dunseith, BBC Northern Ireland Eamon Durey, The Nerve Centre Justin Edwards, CCEA Claire Ferris, WorkWest Carol Fitzsimons, Young Enterprise Northern Ireland Alan Foreman, B-Secur Deirdre Francis, Intelesens Sarah Friar, Square Matthew Gibson, Gi Alumni Mark Gordon, Generator NI Mary-Ellen Gribben, British Computer Society Paul Hanna, British Computer Society Judith Harvey, W5 Greg Horowitt, T2 Venture Capital Brian Hunter, CIDO David Kane, Farset Labs Bryan Keating, MATRIX Ruth Kelly, Science Café Ciara Kennedy, Amplyx Pharmaceuticals Vivienne Kerr, School Employer Connections Helen Keys, Belfast Enterprise Academy Lisa Keys, Institute of Directors (IOD) Scott King, NIACE Karishma Kusurkar, The Design Salon Elaine Lennox, The Association for Science Education (ASE) Jennifer McAlorum, Nerve Belfast Jonathan McAlpin, East Belfast Enterprise Sarah McBride, Gi Alumni Chris McClelland, Brewbot Paschal McCloskey , MOF Technologies Bill McCluggage, British Computer Society Michael McCormack, BT Chris McCreery, Northern Ireland Science Festival Rachel McDermott, CultureTECH Kieran McGeown, St Mary’s University College Belfast Eoin McGread, IET Angela McKeown, Royal Society of Chemistry Mervyn Middleby, BBC Northern Ireland Brendan Mooney, Kainos Cathy Moore, N.I. Schools and Colleges Careers Association Paul Moorhead, IET Andrew Mulholland, Farset Labs Brian Murphy, Brainwave Bank Nuala Murphy, LeanIn Belfast Chris Murphy, Ulster University Daithi Murray, St Paul’s High School, Bessbrook Mark Nagurski, CultureTECH Niall O’Donnell, Michael O’Hara, Mobile World Congress Karen Orme, South Eastern Regional College Nicholas O’Shiel, Omagh Enterprise Bryan Patten, Washington Ireland Program Opal Perry, Allstate NI John Peto, The Nerve Centre Donal Philips, Northern Ireland Screen Tom Popay, BBC Northern Ireland Stuart Portis, BBC Northern Ireland Gareth Quinn, DigitalDNA Norbert Sagnard, Mobile Monday Yvette Shapiro Niamh Shaw John Simpson, Economist Sarah Smith, North City Business Centre Ltd Jayne Taggart, Causeway Enterprise Agency Amanda Thirsk, Private Secretary to The Duke of York Martin Thomas, Arkwright Scholarships Trust

PROG R AM M ES | SPRING BOARD | 25 Sharon Tosh, The Nerve Centre Sharon Tracey-Collins, Omagh Enterprise Sean Vikingsson, Gi Alumni Adam Wallace, FabLab Belfast Mary Walshok, San Diego CONNECT David Waugh, Centre for Cancer Research & Cell Biology, QUB James Whelton, CoderDojo Jason Wiggins, Queen’s University Belfast

T E C H WATC H Noel Sharkey David McCleary, Path XL Sean McNicholl, Sphere Global Dan Loughlin, IRP Commerce Dr Joan Condell, ActivSense, Ulster University Ged McBreen, Komodo Janice Stinson, The Creativity Hub Mary McKenna, Digital Catapult Advisory Network Frank McGonagle, Wholeschool Tom Montgomery, EdTap Fred MacDonald, Student System Architect at QUB Dr David Trainor, Sentireal

Adrienne Hanna, Right Revenue Elaine McGinty, PwC Leigh-Ann Jackson, Analytics Engines John O’Dea, Enterprise Ireland Karishma Kusurkar, The Design Salon Jack Wallace, Travellise Irene McAleese, SeeSense Siggi Saevarsson, BrainWaveBank Mark Fletcher, Cardinal Analytics Michael Robinson, Deloitte Digital Mark Elliott, Profitbees Fabian Campbell-West, Cognition Video Dr Johnathan Dalzell, NextGen Biopesticides Alexandra Frazer, Equi-Liquid Gold Neil Hanley, Sirona Mike Little, RF Proximity Chirag Gujral, ReVana Dr Raj Thakur, ReVana Dr Damien Coyle, NeuroCONCISE Chris Martin, Skunkworks Surfboard Company Ricky Martin, Skunkworks Surfboard Company Barry Reynolds, Reynolds Sports Wayne Denner, Repselfie

Peter Devine, Capital Markets Collaborative Network Stephen McNamara, Bitnet Fiona McLaughlin, Pingster Patrick Catterall, Pingster Alan Clarke, Statsports Sean O’Connor, Statsports Fergus Wallace, Performace Active Dr Cathy Craig, Movement Innovation Lab, QUB Dr Alan Cummins, Movement Innovation Lab, QUB Mark Godfrey, Automated Intelligence Laura Houston, Analytics Engines Andrew Bolster, Farset Labs Opal Perry, Allstate NI Siobhan Donaghy, Modern Democracy Andrew Bowd, Quiz Fortune Jordan Stodart, Orca Money Iain Niblock, Orca Money Judith Gordon, Moco Dr Mark Durkin, Ulster University Business School Stephen Morrow, Options Kris Thompson, Danske Bank NI

We couldn’t do it without you.

26 | BIG CEO SUMMIT

Big CEO Summit In September 2015, we gathered CEOs from 20 high-potential technology companies from around the world to attend BIG, a CEO Scaling Retreat. Lasting 24 hours, the closed-door meeting was held at the CultureTECHFestival in Derry-Londonderry. To qualify to attend, the companies needed to have raised £1M in equity funding in the past 18 months and be nominated by a regional tech cluster organisation. The CEOs hailed from the US, Sweden, Manchester, Edinburgh, Dublin and Liverpool, as well as 12 from the host region, Northern Ireland. The scaling retreat is helping to inform our new initiatives in peer-support that will be coming soon.

AT T E N D E E S US Tim Donnelly, SoftVU

Gothenburg Magnus Andersson, Metrum

Liverpool Carl Wong, LivingLens

NI Based Chris McClelland, Brewbot Alan Foreman, B-Secur Chris Johnston, Adoreboard Conor Moran, GoReport Dave Patterson, Sophia Godfrey Gaston, TitanIC Hugh Cormican, Cirdan Kevin Donaghy, SaltDNA Noel McKenna, Sensurity Paul Brown, Displaynote Stephen Houston, QuizFortune Stephen McKeown, Analytics Engines Steve Orr

Manchester Jamil Khalil, Wakelet Edinburgh Ed Molyneux, Freeagent Dublin Paddy Holahanm Newbay Sean Fennell, Initiafy AlanClarke, Homestay Chris Horn

Sir Bernard Crossland Lecture Steve Orr was invited to give the annual Sir Bernard Crossland Lecture (organised by Queens University Belfast and Engineers’ Ireland) to a full house at Queens University Belfast on “The Reinvention of Northern Ireland: The three things that must happen for Northern Ireland to become a land of opportunity”. If you would like to learn more about the three things, you can watch the video or read the transcript here: http://bit.ly/1T93GdX

CON N EC T AN NUAL RE PORT 2015/16 | FINANCIAL S | 27

Financials FUNDING

2015-16

2014-15

2013-14

2012-13

Membership

150,250

153,000

133,195

126,000

Sponsorship

135,039

100,701

74,820

78,142

NISP/NISP Trust

316,367

103,423

23,000

0

Grant

0

146,000

174,902

208,837

Total Income

601,655

503,124

405,917

412,979

Programme costs

180,127

168,671

116,070

121,410

Other costs

29,268

54,098

71,413

60,141

Salaries

392,261

280,354

218,434

224,064

Total Costs

601,655

503,124

405,917

405,615

SURPLUS/DEFICIT

0

0

0

7,364

COSTS

28 | PROG R AM M ES | SPRING BOARD

We believe that entrepreneurs are the most important people to the future of Northern Ireland’s economy. Being an entrepreneur is tough - so, we provide a way for our most experienced people to volunteer their time, share their experiences, contacts and collective intelligence to give our entrepreneurs an advantage. The result is a powerful network; a community of researchers, experienced entrepreneurs, executives, investors, legal and financial experts, and our diaspora united together to help make our most promising entrepreneurs more successful.

Our membership model enables Northern Ireland’s main knowledge economy stakeholders to set the direction and create the conditions for the grassroots volunteer effort to flourish.

Enquiries to: Trudy Parry, Business Development & Membership Co-ordinator, Connect trudy.parry@catalyst-inc.org + 44 (0) 9073 7920 Catalyst Inc The Innovation Centre Queen’s Road, Queen’s Island Belfast BT3 9DT

Based at

Catalyst Inc is the trading name for the Northern Ireland Science Park Group of companies, with company numbers NI035856, NI614527, NI039294, NI038987 and whose registered addresses are: - Queen’s Road, Queens Island, Belfast , BT3 9DT

circletwitterbird @CICONNECT | connect.catalyst-inc.org | +44 (0) 28 9073 7920