Research and communications company, KnowledgeWorks, wins DCU Mallin-invent award
24 October 2003

Noelle Noonan, Niamh Reynolds, The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Mary Harney, td and Roisin Bell

The Tanaiste, Ms Mary Harney, td presented this year's DCU Mallin-invent start-up award worth €60,000 to KnowledgeWorks. Noelle Noonan, a web engineer in the Information Systems & Services at DCU, Roisin Bell a business researcher and business journalist Niamh Reynolds make up the three-woman team, and are seen here receiving their award at a ceremony in the Helix.

Speaking at the event, the Tanaiste said that it is important that universities convert intellectual resources into actual enterprise; "not all new jobs are created by large multinationals locating their business in Ireland and this underlines the important role played by the indigenous small business sector in the Irish economy".

The Tanaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, Ms Mary Harney, td

She paid tribute to DCU for the role the university has played in supporting and encouraging, entrepreneurship. "Although this award is only in its second year, 50 business plans of a very high standard were submitted by members of the DCU community. Alumni, researchers, graduates, postgraduates and campus companies were all amongst those with entrepreneurial spirit and ambitions to establish their own companies. Furthermore, DCU's new incubation centre for start-up companies has been in operation for two years and already 21 companies are developing the products and services here. That record speaks for itself", she said.

Now in its second year, the DCU Mallin-invent award scheme attracted 50 entries and is designed to encourage start up projects and to give them the opportunity and support to translate their ideas into viable businesses.

According to the judges, chaired by Liavan Mallin, the entreprenuer behind the scheme, this year's short-listed companies were chosen because they displayed superiority in all the elements that make for a successful company and they are poised to develop rapidly.

KnowledgeWorks is about to launch its ground-breaking new product, Ireland's first online rentals database. The independent facility will be used by banks and financial institutions to assist them evaluate clients for investment mortgages. At a glance it will be possible to ascertain the average rent on different types of properties in different locations throughout Ireland. The unique product is timely as the Central Bank and the IMF are calling for banks to strengthen their risk management practices. IIB Bank has already signed up as KnowledgeWorks first customer.

Niamh Reynolds, Noelle Noonan and Roisin Bell

Other research and communications products produced by KnowledgeWorks include Location Research - information on local economies, at home and abroad, for property investors, banks and property companies.

KnowledgeWorks is the first company of its kind in Ireland and has already attracted clients here and in the UK including First Active, Bank of Ireland, Crosby Homes (UK), Alchemy, Orbiscom, Statoil and Green Isle Foods.

Two other companies were shortlisted for the award.

Identity Based Solutions (IBSolutions) is launching a product that will dramatically improve and simplify network security. The company was set up to commercialise research being done in DCU's School of Computing and is about to locate into invent. IB Solutions exploits recent advances in computer security research. The technology is an evolution of existing algorithms, which allows for the same levels of security while reducing the complexity of operation. The IBSolutions team is led by Dr Michael Scott, a senior lecturer and researcher in DCU's School of Computing, and includes post-graduate researchers Neil Costigan and Noel McCullagh.

Highlife Adventures Ltd, a campus company at DCU, is a licensed travel company specialising in tailor-made activity holidays for discerning outdoor enthusiasts. The cornerstone of the business is to provide hassle free holidays designed to meet individual needs. The company initially focussed on alpine sports but new products, including rafting and scuba diving, are currently being developed. Last year, their first year of operations, they sold around 200 winter ski holidays. This year their target is to treble their sales. The founders of Highlife are Alan Moynihan, Simon Egan, and David Hogan.

Last year's winners were 2XL sports a sports consultancy company set up by Daragh Sheridan and Neil Coleman, undergraduates of the faculty of Science and Health in DCU. The company now provides a variety of services to the sports sector to meet the performance related needs of coaches, players and clubs within Irish sport.

The €60,000 prize fund for the Mallin-invent Award is made up of €10,000 cash from Liavan Mallin, a car from Finglas Motors, a laptop and printer from Dell Ireland as well as 12 months incubation space in invent, audit, accounts set-up advice from KPMG, legal advice from A&L Goodbody, tax advice from David Clancy & Associates, marketing strategy advice from Quaestus, presentation skills from Drury Communications, design from Baseline Creative Services and business development and marketing communications support from DCU.M