Irish bioprinting company Ourobotics wins SVOD Europe Startup competition at Google

Irish Bioprinting company Ourobotics has won the inaugural SVOD Europe startup competition.  The company which is headed by Jemma Redmond has developed a bioprinter capable of printing limbs for use in medicine. Jemma pitched her business to a panel of US and local investors as well as industry experts from Western Europe and Silicon Valley.

The Startup competition was held as part of the inaugural Silicon Valley Open Doors (SVOD) Europe conference, supported by Google and held at its European Headquarters in Dublin. The theme of the event was “Unicorn vs Narwhal. Myth vs Reality” and was held over two days, January 27^th and 28^th.

Jemma Redmond of Ourobotics said: “The conference was really helpful, not only did we win, but we also received a lot of great advice and introductions. It’s definitely worthwhile for any Startup company to attend.”

Anna Dvornikova, Founder of SVOD Europe said:” It was fantastic that, in a competition based purely on the merit of business and technological advantages, our winner is a female founder from Ireland. Her project beat off stiff competition from 25 Startups from across Europe to win the prestigious competition.”

Jemma Redmond (3rd from left) winner of SVOD Europe Startup competition at Google EMEA HQ

Jemma will now attend and present at the Silicon Valley Open Doors conference in the United States on May 25^th this year and she also wins Google Adwords credit to promote her business.  Israeli project Recast took second place, while Ukrainian project Wishround came in third in the competition. The event was attended by over 450 delegates with representatives from more than 50 VC funds in attendance.

Denis Dovgopoliy, Organizer of SVOD Europe said: “The idea behind the event is to provide a platform for efficient networking between entrepreneurs from Central and Eastern Europe and investors and experts from Western Europe and Silicon Valley. With a 3:1 ratio i.e one investor to every three entrepreneurs there was a high level of interest and excellent networking opportunities for both at the event”

The event was held in Dublin with the support of key sponsors Almaz Capital Partners, PWC and Google.

Google Director Paddy Flynn said “We strongly believe in supporting the Startup community and this event is another great opportunity for the Irish and European Startup community to connect with US and local investors and as a location Ireland is now seen as major tech hub and is very well placed with its US and European connections.”

“What really makes this event a success is the high quality of startups involved, and for investors it is interesting to see who will capture the imagination – you are afraid to miss out on a hot investment!” said Alexander Galitsky, co-founder and Managing Partner of Almaz Capital Partners. “This event is where Western Europe meets Eastern and Central Europe as well as the USA and we were certainly introduced to some very promising companies.”

Damian Byrne, PwC Partner, added: “Talent is the key driver of success.  It’s also very important to invest at the outset in the support structures, including IP, legal, finance and tax.   Early errors can prove to be very difficult, expensive and time consuming to correct.”