The Dublin Tech Summit's StartUp100 competition has brought in ambitious entrepreneurs from all over the world looking to showcase their ideas, and the diverse range of companies presenting makes for interesting viewing at the StartUp Pitch Stage.
Coming from all walks of life, products being showcased focus on anything from gaming, to messaging, to dating. Straight from the floor, here are ten startups getting their hustle on at DTS 2017.
ANOTHER WORLD
Virtual reality is the new hottest trend in gaming, but Another World looks to add another layer to the immersive experience. They want to give a “cinematic VR experience”, says Creative Producer Ioulia Isselis, making short movies that lead into their VR games to create a brand new narrative experience. Working on several games – including one set in Co. Clare in the 1300s that Issertis calls the "Game of Thrones of Ireland” – they hope to release demos in the next two months.
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FILLIT
Fillit, an “Airbnb for commercial spaces” as described by founder John Carroll, gives customers an online platform to rent multi-purpose spaces. From retail, to conference, to even shelf space, Carroll looks to quicken the process for people to rent out spaces for any use. Fillit is only six months old, but already they have properties nationwide on their site, and look to expand their unique model worldwide.
NIMI
Kirill Soloviev's second startup found its inspiration when he struggled to think of an effective name for his first. Nimi helps new companies succeed by keeping them away from poor brand names. They perform a crowdsource analysis of potential brand names, logos, and taglines to see if they'll work, and steer entrepreneurs clear of those that don't. Soloviev, who worked in global branding for 13 years, showed off his advertising skills with his unique way of attracting people to his table.
IMPRESSME
ImpressMe is a hiring app based on recommendation. Employers post jobs on the app, and the users recommend their friends by posting a short video and their CV on the application. What's better, if your friend gets the job, you get paid as well! The app was developed in South Africa but the company hope to find a global partner at DTS.
BAMBOO
A new app that lets you buy food from your favourite restaurants before you get there, Bamboo lets you skip the queues in busy places by collecting your food as soon as its ready. The app also lets you collect loyalty points from the restaurants to earn savings, and recommends new ones. The app was initially developed for Dublin, but founder Luke Mackey hopes to add new locations soon.
DESIGNWIZARD
DesignWizard is an online graphic design tool for businesses to edit and create images for logos, posters, and promotional materials. With a large library of templates and images to use, and simple editing tools, DesignWizard look to “democratise design and unleash creativity in everyone”, according to their CTO Aidan Casey.
WOWIT
WowIt is a location-based events finder, described as a “Tinder for events” by marketing manager Eoin Lyons, that allows people to swipe through events on now in their local area. The app bases the event suggestions on your interests, and what your Facebook friends are attending.
OVERCAST
A “Google Drive for video”, Overcast allows videomakers to store their content online, upload it onto social media in any format, and edit their videos with help from collaborators in the Overcast community. The simplicity of the platform, allowing you to upload and edit any video in any format, has made it one of the busiest and most popular stands at the convention. Overcast recently raised €500,000 and are looking to create 70 new jobs, with confident head Philippe Brodeur stating, “we're going to change the world”.
AIRDATES
A new mesh networking dating app, Michael Richard's AirDates does much more than just match potential lovebirds. Designed for those who travel, the app allows you to connect to people on your flight or train, without the need for an internet connection. They also offer chat rooms and have no segmentation. It launches worldwide on May 15th after testing with 25,000 users in the US.
WATERMELON MESSENGER
Watermelon Messenger is a platform for engaging with all your messaging services - Facebook Messenger, Twitter, Instagram etc - in one place, viewing and connecting with them all at once. Designed primarily to help companies deal with customer service, according to co-founder Charl Haas, the service connects all the channels to one system for “a more open, faster, and easier messaging platform”. They hope to add AI chatbots to the service in the coming months and, like Soloviev, had a rather unique idea to help them stand out at the Summit:
Alex Dunne
