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First ‘cleantech’ start-up comes out of An tSlí Ghlas
23 December 2010
The first new company, GreenEgg Technologies, has launched from the Green Way/An tSlí Ghlas - Ireland’s first Green Economic Zone. The new company was launched at an event organised by Global Action Plan Ireland, an international environmental group that promotes sustainable living. The initial GreenEgg product is an EcoBike, which they developed for Global Action Plan (GAP).
GreenEgg Technologies is a spinout of the Energy and Design Lab in Dublin City University, with a link to Dublin Institute of Technology. The company's co-founders are Dr. Shane Linnane, a DCU post-doctoral researcher and now CEO; and Robert Merriman, a recent graduate from the School of Spatial Planning in DIT, and now Business Development Manager. The primary goal of the company is to develop products and solutions for the clean technology market.
The EcoBike, which was demonstrated at the launch, is a pedal powered electrical generator used to demonstrate the concepts of energy efficiency and green living to children and adults in an interactive and fun way. As users pedal, they can power electrical appliances and the more energy an appliance uses, the harder it becomes to pedal. Through a touch screen interface, users can choose between different appliances, exploring how different devices use electricity such as the difference between sound and heat.
The touch screen computer displays the user-generated power level in real-time and records total power generated for a given user. Each rider’s performance data as well as the combined energy produced on the day is stored on-board or can be up-loaded directly to your own website via WiFi.
As well as the EcoBike, GreenEgg Technologies plans to develop a range of products in the eco-educational sector.
“We are delighted to be the first startup to come out of the collaboration that makes the Green Way such an exciting development’ said Dr Shane Linnane, CEO. “This first product is just the first in a line of new products that we have planned not only for eco education but for a number of cleantech areas.”
The Green Way/An tSlí Ghlas is a unique alliance of businesses, academic institutions and local authorities including Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin City University, Dublin City Council, Ballymun Regeneration, Dublin Airport Authority, Fingal County Council, and North Dublin Chamber. It was launched in November 2010 by the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.
GreenEgg Technologies plans to work with the needs of industry, whether they are striving for better efficiency, or simply trying to find new and innovative products to bring to market and take advantage of the current ‘green wave’. It will invest in the research and development of new products with the aim of future commercialisation through licensing of Intellectual Property or through direct/indirect manufacturing and distribution of goods, through Dublin City University and DIT.