Applicant Profile – MARC Sports

December 1st, 2009

Founder Names: Mark Ganly
Startup Name: MARC Sports
Website: http://www.MarcSports.ie

History of startup

Hurling and the GAA has always been a personal passion. I launched my business MARC Sports with the MARC Sliotar, an official GAA approved sliotar at the end of 2005.

In light of modern day economic pressures, I wanted to be able to design and source quality sliotars at a competitive price for my customers. I was working as a computer programmer at the time, but within 18 months, the growth of this part-time enterprise required my full-time attention.

In early 2008, following an extensive period of rigorous testing, MARC Sports successfully obtained the coveted IS355 Safety Standard for our MARC hurling helmet, and subsequently the helmet was officially endorsed by the GAA. The MARC Hurling helmet became only the second brand of helmet in the country to receive such an accreditation.

Significantly, this development offered choice for the first time, to Provincial Councils, County Boards and Cuman na mBunscoileanna when purchasing hurling helmets.

The MARC helmet incorporates features that enhance visibility, comfort and style based on both inter-county player feedback and my own personal technical expertise.

With the introduction of compulsory protective headgear for all levels of hurling from January 2010, and the increasing popularity of the sport both nationally and internationally, the market for hurling helmets is set to expand significantly.

It is imperative that the consumer can be offered a product that conforms to exceptional safety criteria, provides quality and choice at a competitive price.  We at MARC Sports are proud to be able to deliver on all counts.

Why do you deserve to win?

As a committed player, supporter and member of my own local club, I hope that my business venture will complement the vision of those who wish to ensure the longevity of the game. Through www.MarcSports.ie I aim to merge new technology with our ancient, national game, and thereby help revive its appeal nationally, as well as introducing it to a growing global audience.

I am dedicated to offering the consumer choice, value & quality. MARC Sports is currently a small player in the industry. We have worked very hard and diligently to design & produce high quality products. This funding would go a long way to publicising the products and building MARC Sports brand awareness.

What will you do with the money?

We are currently planning to launch a large-scale initiative prior to Christmas. This is in conjuction with a very well known Childrens Charity, to which we have committed to donating a percentage of our profits annually.

€5000 would allow MARC Sports to advertise and promote the launch and in doing so also give back to a well deserving organization that makes a real difference to children’s lives.

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Applicant profile – Nootrol

November 30th, 2009

Founder Names: Mark Kearns, Pearse Gilroy
Startup Name: Nootrol
Website: http://www.nootrol.com

History of your startup

Nootrol applies social networking technologies to carbon accounting principles. The result is a real-time model of carbon supply chains without the costs or administration headaches associated with supply chain carbon accounting.

We developed the concept in response to feedback from 280 organisations actively managing their carbon inventories.

The Nootrol service:

  1. Improves collection rate, accuracy and timeliness of carbon emission inventories by collecting data at the source of the emission
  2. Reduces the direct and indirect costs of carbon accounting
  3. Provides a centralised repository for the storage, analysis and reporting of carbon emission inventories
  4. Enables secure and audited delegation of responsibility for the collection and submission of activity data
  5. Helps drive corporate sustainability efforts by engaging directly with all employees and demonstrating the impact their activities have on the businesses carbon inventory

Our USP’s are:

  1. Supply Chain Accounting
    Nootrol is unique in that it enables businesses to connect their supply chains online and understand the scale and scope for reducing emissions upstream and downstream of their supply chains.
  2. Employee Engagement
    Nootrol helps drive corporate sustainability efforts by engaging directly with all employees and demonstrating the impact their activities have on the businesses carbon inventory
  3. Better value in respect of Cost / Benefit
    Nootrol addresses the key “customer pain points” of carbon accounting, yet it provides it at a fraction of the cost of alternative vendors.

Where are we now?

The product is scheduled to launch on December 7th at the “Scope 3 Carbon Accounting Conference” in London. This coincides with the United Nations Climate Change negotiations taking place in Copenhagen and should further enhance our opportunity to position Nootrol in the public eye.

We are currently trying to secure funding to enable this launch to occur.

Why do you deserve to win?

We deserve to win for the following reasons:

  1. We have a truly unique product in the Carbon Accounting software market. (Business plan and market analysis available on request)
  2. We have a strong management team with a track record of successfully delivering in start-up environments
  3. We are committed to the Nootrol project and have personally invested over €100,000 bringing the service to the position where we are about to launch. However, we are desperate to source funding to enable Nootrol to launch at this unique conference in London.

What you’ll do with the money?

Launch the Nootrol platform on 7th & 8th December in London at the Scope 3 Carbon Accounting Conference.

The costs are:

  1. €3,000 for a presenting slot and to host a break-out session with associated branding.
  2. €1,500 for promotional materials
  3. €500 for flights, accommodation, etc. for Mark & Pearse

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Applicant profile – KildareStreet.com

November 28th, 2009

Founder Names: John Handelaar, Sabrina Dent
Startup Name: KildareStreet.com
Website: Kildarestreet.com

History of your startup

KildareStreet.com is a non-partisan website which makes it not only easy for people to keep tabs on their elected representatives in the Houses of the Oireachtas, but actually possible for them to do this – quickly, clearly, and electronically – for the first time ever in the history of the Republic.

Since launching in April, we’ve helped nearly 55,000 people in 77 Irish citites to read and search through the workings of the Dáil and Seanad. The site currently receives more traffic than the official Orieachtas site, serving approximately 1 in every 25 Irish voters. It also sends over 350 email alerts on most sitting days and more than 1,200 people are following TDs, Senators or search queries via email alerting.

All of this is cheerfully provided to the public at no cost and ad-free, and to date, Kildare Street has been built entirely from volunteer efforts. In order to continue to provide services and add new features, we need income. But we are not asking you to donate Outvesting funds; instead, we’re asking you to invest them in new civic services and in a viable commercial revenue stream to generate future income for the site.

KildareStreet is based on the UK website TheyWorkForYou.com, whose open source code allows for third-country projects like ours. Unfortunately, while the back-end tools are first-class, the web interface is so tightly coupled to Westminster that porting the app to Ireland was a huge and Byzantine task. The barriers to adoption of additional modules are large as the project now stands.

Investment from Outvesting would mean a new platform for the site, new services for the public, and new revenue streams for the organisation – all of which will significantly help to secure the growth and future of Kildare Street.

Why do you deserve to win?

Our goal is to make Government accessible, accessible and transparent to voters and constituents in Ireland. Sites like ours are not produced by any arm of the Government itself, and none of these facilities existed before we started to build them. In Ireland there isn’t even anywhere you can go online right now and discover who your own TDs an Councillors *are* without requiring you to have detailed knowledge of the electoral system, let alone sites which put local communities directly in touch with the people who are supposed to be working on their behalf.

Opening up the processes of democracy to ordinary people is our contribution to the civic areana. It might be a sad fact that this should be innovative, but it is a fact nonetheless. Kildare Street provides a service that is fundamental to a free and open democracy, and is the only such service in Ireland.

In October, we were honoured to win the 2009 Irish Web Awards award for Best New Web Application or Service. We’d like to continue to improve what we can offer with your help. And, in terms of bang for your buck, we think Kildare Street is a great investment. We’ve achieved a huge amount with absolutely no funding at all; with €5,000 we can deliver significant new services very quickly and bring on board a commercial revenue stream that will continue to fund the site into the future.

What you’ll do with the money?

We want to port KildareStreet.com to a new, future-facing framework so we can add new tools to the site, make it much better looking and more user-friendly, and make that happen much more quickly. Part of your €5,000 will buy new civic services like expenses for TDs and the ability to use your address to find out who your representatives are and contact them online. (We’ll even track responses and produce scorecards for TDs, showing who is responding to constituent questions and who isn’t.)

We are painfully aware of the urgent need to develop revenue streams for Kildare Street to secure its financial future. Accordingly, we need investment to fund two commercial projects that will generate significant revenue for the site.

First, we’re looking to create an extremely dull but high-value service for solicitors and barristers allowing them to compare changes in legal statutes that have been amended through new legislation. Essentially we can tap data we already have and present it in a way that solves a significant marketplace problem.

Secondly, we are planning to create and sell a print directory of politicians using a slightly expanded data set. While not particularly sexy, the information we would be able to provide in our directory would form a canonical reference volume and be of interest to anyone with an interest in politics and public affairs, including lobbyists, PR companies, journalists, Ireland’s 359 public libraries, and law libraries.

Without investment, none of this will be possible – but with Outvestment, we can make a lot happen with your money. Thanks for your time!

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