Bank of Ireland unveils second cohort participating in its Startlab accelerator in Galway

Bank of Ireland is launching off its second cohort of its annual startup incubator programme, which supports innovative startups in the West of Ireland.

The six-month program comprises sessions on business model validation, lean methodology, building strategic partnerships and stress-testing the product/market fit, culminating in a demo day pitch to bank execs and VCs.

Startlab is based in the Bank of Ireland building on Eyre Square in Galway, the six startups who are selected for the programme will benefit from a range of complementary benefits such as desk space, high-speed internet, conference rooms, one to one sessions with key coaches/mentors, introductions to investors and support from Bank of Ireland’s Innovation Team.

Startups involved in the last incubator programme, which finished in August 2016. have had “fantastic success” since graduation, securing significant investment from VC funds, says the bank.

The startlab accelerator compliments the Bank of Ireland’s Workbenches programme, which provides hot desking, meeting and event space to startup companies and entrepreneurs.
Based in Galway, Dublin, Limerick and Cork, Workbenches have so far welcomed more than 10,000 visitors, hosted more than 200 events, and supported more than 100 startup enterprises, says Tracey Keogh, community manager, Bank of Ireland.

“Startlab, through its customised programmes, focuses on helping businesses to develop their teams, fine-tune their ideas and engage potential customers and investors,” she says. “Supporting and empowering startups is at the heart of Bank of Ireland’s enterprise ethos and we look forward to working with our new entrepreneurs over the coming months.”

The cohort for this year’s startlab includes:

CitySwifter, a crowd-sourced commuter shuttle bus

HappyTech, which provides a chatbot learning interface for tech firms

BriteBiz business management software

Missing Minutes, a mobile time recording, analysis and reporting tool for the professional services industry

ToyPing, which explores Amazon’s extensive toy portfolio to discover the best toys to match an individual child’s age and interests

OpenBox models for spreadheet modellers.