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Dublin is truly a great place to build a startup, but most of the early-stage entrepreneurs we speak to are not aware of the local resources that are available to help them.

With applications for the Dublin Founder Institute soon coming to a close, we are excited to release the Ireland Startup Ecosystem Canvas! It was developed by the Dublin Founder Institute and local leaders Dave ConnollyEd EmmanuelJohn O'dea, Neal O'Gorman.

We spent about 20 hours doing this research, but this is just the first draft. More input is needed, so please leave your comments on this collaborative Google document and it will be considered for the next update.

If you are looking to launch a company in Ireland, then apply to the Dublin Founder Institute today.

In addition to the above infographic and the collaborative Google document, you can also see the full list of resources below:

Startup Stages


There is no one right way to build a technology company, but for the sake of simplicity we have outlined a basic, common, sequential framework.

1. Idea Stage

This is where new entrepreneurs get inspired, learn best practices, develop skills, validate ideas, and begin to build their team and product.

  • Inspire
    • Startup Media: Centralized local information, listings, and news. (i.e. startup blogs/ publications/ lists/ FB groups/ newsletters, Startup Digest)
      1. Digital Times
      2. Dublin Globe
      3. Fora
      4. Ireland's Technology Blog
      5. Irish Central
      6. Irish Tech News
      7. Silicon Republic
      8. Startup Digest Dublin
      9. Startup Digest Galway
      10. Startup Digest Limerick
    • Inspirational Events: Open, inclusive, beginner startup events (i.e. Startup Weekend, idea fairs, and inspirational meetups)
      1. Entrepreneurs Anonymous Dublin
      2. Girls in Tech Dublin
      3. Network Ireland
      4. Startup Blink
      5. Startup Weekend Dublin
      6. Startup Weekend Galway
  • Educate
    • Best Practices: Beginner knowledge-sharing events. (i.e. beginner events that serve to educate more than inspirate, like 1 Million Cups, Startup Grind, Startup Founder 101, etc).
      1. Access Silicon Valley
      2. Agile and Entrepreneurship Dublin
      3. B.U.I.L.D.
      4. Dublin Business Creativity & Rulebreaking Meetup
      5. ProductTank Dublin
      6. Startup Founder 101 Dublin
      7. Startup Grind Dublin
      8. TechMeetup.space
      9. Tech Sales Hookups Dublin
      10. UXDX: Accelerating Product Success
    • Training & Feedback: Skill & Idea development. (Ex. bootcamps and comprehensive training programs, like Founder Institute, General Assembly, Lean Startup Machine, code camps, etc)
      1. Code Institute
      2. CoderDojo
      3. Founder Institute
      4. Lean Startup Dublin
      5. Lean Startup for Enterprise
      6. Startup Gathering
  • Validate
    • Team Formation: Resources for teaming up. (i.e. events or other resources that facilitate early-stage recruitment and cofounder matching, like CoFoundersLab, FounderDating, and entrepreneur networking groups and events, “find a cofounder XXX”)
      1. Dublin Startup Jobs
      2. Dublin Technology Leaders Society
      3. Entrepreneurs Unite
      4. Hackers and Founders Dublin
      5. UpStarter
    • Build First Product: Hackathons & resources to build. (i.e. hackathons and other builder-focused events and resources)
      1. AIB Datahack
      2. AI Hackathon
      3. Girls in Tech Hackathon
      4. HackerNest Dublin Tech Socials
      5. NDC Hackathon
      6. SpaceApps Dublin Hackathon
      7. Ulster Bank Hackathon


2. Launch Stage

In this stage, entrepreneurs establish and formalize the company, develop the product, get feedback from customers, and prepare for the next step.

  • Start
    • Establish: Law firms & banks for startups
      1. AIB
      2. A&L Goodbody
      3. Arthur Cox
      4. Bank of Ireland
      5. Eversheds Sutherland
      6. Fire Financial services Ltd.
      7. Flynn O'Driscoll Business Lawyers
      8. HSBC Ireland
      9. LK Shields
      10. Mason Hayes & Curran
      11. Matheson
      12. McCullagh Wall Solicitors
      13. Microfinance Ireland
      14. Moran and Ryan Law Firm
      15. Philip Lee Solicitors
      16. Reilly & Co. Solicitors
      17. Ulster Bank
      18. William J. Brennan and Co. Solicitors
    • Workspace: Co-working and flexible workspaces (note: “official” office space goes in 3.1.a. Infrastructure)
      1. Bank of Ireland Workbench
      2. Blick Studios
      3. Boxworks
      4. Cluster
      5. CoCreate
      6. CoWork@GEC
      7. Coworkinn
      8. Digital Hub
      9. DOCentre
      10. Dogpatch Labs
      11. DoSpace Dublin
      12. Element78
      13. FlexHuddle
      14. Fumbally Exchange
      15. Glandore
      16. Harbour View
      17. Helping Networks
      18. HQTralee
      19. Iconic Offices
      20. Ludgate Hub
      21. New Work Junction
      22. Ocean Office Share
      23. Office Suites
      24. Plus10
      25. Portershed
      26. Republic of Work
      27. Studio 9
      28. SuperPixel Labs
      29. tcube Dublin
      30. The Bank Building
      31. The Building Block
      32. The Cube @ Galway Technology Centre
      33. The Hub Newry
      34. WabiSabi
  • Develop
    • Formalize: Accounting, development and HR for early-stage startups. (search “startup accounting”, “startup book-keeping”, “headhunters”, “software development”
      1. Alan Keane & Co. Accountants
      2. BJK Accountants
      3. Brightwater
      4. Buckley Kiely and Co.
      5. Charles P Crowley & Co
      6. CodeFirst
      7. Cpl Resources
      8. DBASS Chartered Accountants
      9. DeCare Systems Ireland
      10. Dovetail
      11. Eirtight Technology
      12. Engine Lab Software
      13. Fenero
      14. Grogan Ryan Accountants
      15. HST Solutions
      16. Hugh McCarthy & Associates
      17. Irish Recruiter
      18. Liam Burns and Co.
      19. Manus Brady Chartered Accountants
      20. Martinsen Mayer
      21. Matrix Internet
      22. McInerney Saunders
      23. O'Mahony Donnelly
      24. O'Rourke Chartered Accountants & Registered Auditors
      25. Sigmar Recruitment
      26. Software Design
      27. Square1
      28. TalentHub
      29. XTech Staffing
    • Prepare for Seed: Incubators and advanced mentorship. (i.e. advanced knowledge sharing, later stage events and resources for startup TEAMS, Startup Next, etc)
      1. CorkBIC
      2. DIT Hothouse
      3. Dublin BIC
      4. Guinness Enterprise Centre
      5. IGNITE Graduate Business Innovation Programme
      6. Institute of Technology Blanchardstown
      7. Institute of Technology Tallaght
      8. Invent DCU
      9. ITCarlow Enterprise & Research Incubation Campus
      10. NCI Business Incubation Centre
      11. Nexus Innovation Centre
      12. NovaUCD
      13. Rubicon Centre
      14. Southeast BIC
      15. Startup Next Dublin
      16. Synergy Centre
      17. The Gravity Hub
      18. WestBIC
  • Launch
    • Seed Accelerators: Seed funding mentor programs (Techstars-style programs that provide funding)
      1. Bioinnovate
      2. DCU Ryan Academy
      3. FinTech Innovation Lab
      4. Food Works
      5. Hartnett Enterprise Acceleration Centre
      6. LaunchBox
      7. Mastercard Start Path
      8. NDRC
      9. New Frontiers Entrepreneur Development Programme
    • Pitch & Demo: Show local startups for investment (i.e. demo days for companies seeking seed investment)
      1. Inspirefest
      2. Irish VR & 3Dcamp Dublin Demo Day
      3. Student Summit 2017
      4. UCD Startup Stars
      5. UPRISE Festival


3. Growth Stage

Here, a startup proves their utility, receives recognition, and scales up. This usually requires funding, angels, VCs, and ways to connect them to startups.

  • Recognition
    • Investor Networking:  Connect professional investors with founders. (i.e. events or groups that facilitate connections with professional investors vs. angels, venture capital associations, )
      1. Halo Business Angel Network
      2. Irish Investment Network
      3. Irish Venture Capital Association
      4. Irrus Investments
      5. Startup Angels Dublin
    • Major Media: Mainstream local business press. (i.e. major local or regional publications that frequently champion local businesses, major local or regional publications with a business section)
      1. BizPlus
      2. Breaking News
      3. Business and Finance
      4. Business News Ireland
      5. Industry and Business
      6. Insider
      7. Irish Examiner
      8. Irish Independent
      9. RTÉ
      10. The Business Post
      11. The Herald
      12. The Irish News
      13. The Irish Times
      14. The Journal
  • Funding
    • Angels / Micro-VCs: Seed-stage investors (search AngelList, Gust, Crunchbase)
      1. Alberto Cuevas
      2. Arena Capital Partners
      3. Bill Liao
      4. Bolton Trust Angel Fund
      5. Chetan Bhuta
      6. Competitive Start Fund
      7. Eamon Leonard
      8. Gavin Gallagher
      9. Helen Cousins
      10. John Flynn
      11. Jonathan Antonio
      12. Pat Phelan
      13. Scott Hendrick
      14. Stan Massueras
      15. Tadhg O'Toole
      16. Tony Kelly
      17. Will Prendergast
    • Venture Capitalists: Series A and beyond
      1. ACT Venture Capital
      2. Atlantic Bridge Capital
      3. Broadlake Capital
      4. Business Venture Partners
      5. Delta Partners
      6. Draper Esprit
      7. Enterprise Equity Venture Capital
      8. Frontline VC
      9. Greencoat Capital
      10. Ireland Strategic Investment Fund
      11. Kernel Capital
      12. MML Growth Capital Partners
      13. Pegasus Capital
      14. Polaris Partners
      15. SOSV
  • Growth
    • Infrastructure: Office space, HR, local business insurance. (i.e. office space/ HR/ insurance providers for capital-rich companies to grow and scale, “human resources”, “local office space”)
      1. Adare HRM
      2. Bespoke Serviced Offices
      3. Brian J Pierce Insurance
      4. Chill Insurance
      5. Compass Insurance
      6. Crotty Insurance
      7. Daft
      8. EmpowerHR
      9. FBD Insurance
      10. Forde HR Solutions
      11. Glennon Insurance Brokers
      12. Graphite
      13. Gumtree
      14. InsightHR
      15. Instant Offices
      16. Link Business Centre
      17. Lisney
      18. Martin Insurance
      19. McCarthy Insurance Group
      20. O'Leary Insurances
      21. Property.ie
      22. Regus
      23. Search Office Space
      24. The HR Company
      25. The HR Department
      26. Tom Smyth & Associates
      27. Voltedge
    • Expansion: Growth accelerators/consultants. (i.e. programs and business consultants for capital-rich companies to grow and scale, including KPMG, PWC, mature company accelerators, etc.)
      1. Accenture
      2. Aspire
      3. Deloitte
      4. Eaton Square
      5. Ernst and Young
      6. FTI Consulting
      7. Hay Group
      8. KPMG
      9. Lenox Consulting
      10. Mazars Consulting
      11. McKinsey and Company
      12. Mentors
      13. Mercer Ireland
      14. PwC
      15. Willis Towers Watson

4. Success Stories

Successful homegrown companies that have raised significant institutional funding, employ a large workforce, or have achieved liquidity.

  1. Ask.fm
  2. Beutifi
  3. Cohort
  4. CurrencyFair
  5. Deposify
  6. Farmflo
  7. Hostelworld
  8. Indeed
  9. Inflazome
  10. Intercom
  11. Movidius
  12. NewsWhip
  13. Pointy
  14. Rubicoin
  15. Soundwave
  16. Stripe
  17. Sybase
  18. Teamwork
  19. Trustev
  20. Voxpro


Supporters


To facilitate the steps, every ecosystem needs strong supporters.

1. Evangelists

Successful local founders who lead the ecosystem & frequently mentor newbies.  (i.e. Local leaders who have taken a leadership position, speak at a lot of startup events, mentor all the programs, etc. Unless you are doing a very nascent market, >90% of these people should have entrepreneurial experience)

  1. Amy Neale
  2. Ben Hurley
  3. Brian Caulfield
  4. David Scanlon
  5. Elaine Coughlan
  6. Frank Walsh
  7. Gerry Macken
  8. Joan Mulvihill
  9. John Breslin
  10. John Dennehy
  11. Julie Sinnamon
  12. Neal O'Gorman
  13. Niamh Bushnell
  14. Patrick Walsh
  15. Russell Banks
  16. Val Cummins

2. Government

Public organizations that facilitate local economic development (ex. Start with the chamber of commerce, “Invest in XXX”, “Economic Ministry of XXX” , “Innovation”, R&D, etc)

  1. Cork Chamber
  2. Department of Jobs, Enterprise and Innovation
  3. Dublin City Council
  4. Dublin Commissioner for Startups
  5. Enterprise Ireland
  6. Investors & Entrepreneurs - Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service Ireland
  7. Local Enterprise Office
  8. Local Enterprise Office - DLR
  9. Local Enterprise Office - Dublin City
  10. Local Enterprise Office - Fingal
  11. South Dublin - Local Enterprise Office

3. Talent

Major local business or tech universities and employers that attract and retain local talent.

  • Local Universities (universities with prominent technical or business programs)
    1. Athlone Institute of Technology
    2. Cork Institute of Technology
    3. Dublin Business School
    4. Dublin City University
    5. Dublin Institute of Technology
    6. Dundalk Institute of Technology
    7. Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology
    8. Institute of Technology Carlow
    9. Limerick Institute of Technology
    10. Maynooth University
    11. National College of Ireland
    12. National University of Ireland Galway
    13. Trinity College Dublin, The University of Dublin
    14. University College Cork
    15. University College Dublin
    16. University of Limerick
    17. Waterford Institute of Technology
  • Local Employers (Major technical employers, like Microsoft or Google or large local companies, with large local offices, “major technology companies in XX”)
    1. Airbnb
    2. Amazon
    3. Analog Devices
    4. Apple
    5. Cisco
    6. Dell EMC
    7. Dropbox
    8. eBay
    9. Facebook
    10. Google
    11. HP
    12. IBM
    13. Indeed
    14. Infosys
    15. Intel
    16. LinkedIn
    17. Logitech
    18. Microsoft
    19. Oracle
    20. PayPal
    21. Salesforce
    22. SAP Software Solutions
    23. Symantec
    24. Twitter
    25. Uber
    26. Workday
    27. Yahoo
    28. Yelp

This community resource was created by the Founder Institute, the world’s premier pre-seed startup accelerator. If you are building a company in Istanbul, learn more at http://FI.co.

The Startup Ecosystem Canvas project seeks to provide local entrepreneurs with a clear list of resources for every stage of their startup journey, and outline a basic framework for communities to map their ecosystem. 

If you have any comments on this canvas, pleave contribute to this collaborative Google document. While we spent about 20 hours on this research, it is definitely a work in progress so we want your feedback! 

If you are looking to launch a company in Ireland, then apply to the Dublin Founder Institute today.


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