Five emerging University College Dublin (UCD) startups are set to pitch their business plans at the final of the university’s annual accelerator programme. Between them the participating startups are seeking to raise seed investment of several million euro.
Sustainable and profitable
The aim of the annual UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme, which is run by NovaUCD and which this year took place virtually, is to support the creation and launch of sustainable and profitable new startups emerging from the university.
This year ‘as live’ Awards final is taking place as a Zoom Webinar on Wednesday, December 2, at 12.30pm.
Register to attend the virtual awards event via: https://venturelaunch20.eventbrite.ie.
The emerging startups on this year’s UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme are, AquaB Nanobubble Innovations Ltd, epiCaPture, Joyst Instruments Ltd, recsyslabs and seamlessCARE.
AquaB Nanobubble Innovations Ltd is commercialising a breakthrough technology to generate nanobubbles of different gases in aqueous solution.
Multiple commercial applications
This technology has multiple commercial applications in sectors including, wastewater treatment, gas storage, food, biopharma, brewing, disinfection, agriculture and food.
The company was founded by Professor Niall English and Dr Mohammad Reza Ghaani as a spin-out from the UCD School of Chemical and Bioprocess Engineering. http://www.aqua-bubble.com/
epiCaPture is developing a novel urine DNA test for aggressive prostate cancer. The epiCaPture test measures six epigenetic biomarkers which are indicative of aggressive disease, using a widely available PCR platform.
The epiCaPture test has potential as a non-invasive, early-detection and screening test to augment the current PSA blood test for the early-detection of aggressive prostate cancer.
Monitoring tool
A second application is as a repeated use monitoring tool for men with low-grade disease, to identify tumour progression. The members of the epiCaPture team are, Dr Antoinette Perry, Asia Jordan, Adele Connor and Ross Nelson, UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science and Edward Simons.
Joyst Instruments Ltd is changing how music is made. Joyst’s instruments unleash new creative possibilities by deploying precision analogue joysticks for note activation, allowing unprecedented pitch-bending and note articulation effects.
With easy-to-learn note layouts, Joyst is putting unlimited expressive potential in the hands of all musicians. The founders of Joyst are, Philip Snell, William Langrell and Edward Byrne, who have just graduated from UCD ME programmes, and Dr Paul Cuffe, UCD School of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. https://www.joyst.ie/
Alternative revenue stream
recsyslabs is developing artificial intelligence (AI) technology to connect readers to personalised content that is worth paying for. recsyslabs’ technology provides publishers with an alternative revenue stream and allows them to automatically identify readers’ segments, based on their interests, and generates one newsletter, with different articles or different order per segment.
The technology is easy to integrate, explains the reasons behind the recommendations and does not require nor collect personal identifiable information, making it fully compliant with US and European privacy regulations.
The members of the recsyslabs team are, Dr Ernesto Diaz-Aviles, Dr Claudia Orellana-Rodriguez and Dr Igor Brigadir, UCD School of Computer Science. https://recsyslabs.com/
seamlessCARE is developing four application programming interfaces (APIs) to improve life for people with intellectual disability, dementia and a range of complex needs.
The applications are built on the HL7 Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources (FHIR) framework to ensure interoperability and regulatory compliance. They promote safety, enhance communications, increase efficiency and improve the delivery of care.
The seamlessCARE team includes, Dr Aviva Cohen, UCD School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, Ian Kennedy and Dr Çağrı Çubukçu. http://www.seamlesscare.ie
AquaB, epiCaPture, recsyslabs and seamlessCARE are currently being supported through the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund.
The main objective of the UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme is to equip participants with the knowledge, skills and understanding that will be required to work as part of a team leading a new commercial venture.
Business plan
On completion of the programme the expectation is that the emerging startups will have developed a commercially viable business plan.
Following the pitches an overall winner, selected by an external judging panel, will be selected and will be awarded the 2020 UCD VentureLaunch Accelerator Programme Award.
The members of the judging panel are, Dr Helen McBreen, Atlantic Bridge (Chair); Denis Dudley, AIB; Caroline Gaynor, Lightstone Ventures; Dr Sean Baker, NDRC and a NovaUCD Entrepreneur-in-Residence; Dr Sharon O’Kane, LivaNova and a NovaUCD Entrepreneur-in-Residence, and John O’Sullivan, ACT Venture Capital.
Register to attend the virtual awards event via: https://venturelaunch20.eventbrite.ie