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UStart Investor Day

UStart Investor Day

UStart, the DCU Accelerator programme for student business, will host its inaugural Investor Day in The Helix on Thursday 24th October at 6:30pm.

Seven fledgling student companies have completed a 16 week programme over the summer at DCU’s Innovation Campus, honing their business plans and developing their entrepreneurial ideas into viable, sustainable businesses with the help of seasoned mentors and business experts.  The start-up teams will now pitch their businesses to a room full of investors, business angels and venture capitalists.

  • Agile Payments provides a cashless transaction service to enhance user experience and provide a streamlined system free of restrictions.
  • Cent for Change offers the online banking customer a new way to donate to charity.  The service provides customers with a simple way to donate the spare cent from their bank balance to a selected charity of their choice.
  • Edu App – a mobile app that organises the day-to-day lives of university students by providing key information such as a timetable and an academic calendar.  The app allows users to directly access their timetable information from university servers with their login credentials.
  • headstARTS empowers and enables people with intellectual disabilities through the Arts.  It aims to create a community which is caring, understanding and creative, and promotes positive mental health. 
  • Notehome – an online and mobile communications and payments platform for primary school and parents, fulfilling the need for digitalisation in this area.  It satisfies a parent’s desire to have more real time and accurate information while also saving schools money.
  • Optistride – The Foot Reviver is a device which allows the user to perform prescribed physiotherapy exercises that will strengthen the feet and reduce foot pain.  This ensures strengthening of foot and lower leg muscles more effectively than current prescribed physiotherapy exercises.
  • The Man Package aims to make men into their best selves.  And to be their best, they need to have the best.  The Man Package is an online service that tells men what ‘the best’ thing is, from socks to razors, cigars to whiskey.

Three of the student companies - Agile Payments, Cent for Change and Notehome – won places in the prestigious Intel Technology To Market Accelerator@UC Berkeley earlier this month and headstARTS was one of two DCU social enterprises to represent Ireland at the Enactus finals in Mexico this year. 

UStart provides interdisciplinary teams of students with the financial backing and support to enable them to develop viable, sustainable businesses.  It offers students a unique entrepreneurial learning experience and a foundation from which to launch a successful career.  Supports on offer include:

  •  Up to €10k seed funding. 
  • Office space and facilities for 4 months in DCU Innovation campus.
  • Assistance with design and build of prototypes
  • Workshops in accounting, legal issues, human resources, marketing
  • Investor Day attended by venture capitalists and business angels
  • Residential accommodation in campus residences with other start-up teams
  • Mentorship from an extensive network of 100 experienced business experts and professionals

This first-of-its-kind initiative, which is supported by JP Morgan Chase Foundation, was launched in January 2013 by Minister Richard Bruton.  Advisory sessions, idea pitching and team matchmaking events took place on campus over a number of weeks with a final submissions in April.   

To find out more about UStart Investor Day, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/489044737860117/.