Madinks.ie shortlisted for share of €150,000 OPTIMISE Fund

Madinks.ie has been shortlisted as part of a nationwide campaign to receive funding under the IE Domain Registry’s (IEDR) OPTIMISE Fund 2015. Madinks.ie is just one of 32 Irish businesses in the running to make the final 15 companies who will receive funding under the OPTIMISE Fund, valued overall at €150,000.

Madinks.ie, who we have featured in our Business Showcase section here before, are calling on the people of Dublin to vote for the company to make the final 15 selected for funding.

‘Securing OPTMISE funding would help our company improve our online presence and sell online’, said Donal Ryan, Managing Director of Madinks.ie

Now in its fifth year, the IEDR’s OPTIMISE Fund was created to encourage and enable Irish SMEs or micro-enterprises to make greater use of existing web technologies to maximise their online presence.

Since its’ launch in 2011, the OPTIMISE Fund has provided funding to 60 Irish SMEs and micro-enterprises who have invested the funding in expanding their websites to facilitate online selling and to optimise their online presence. Through an increased and improved web presence, businesses have successfully been able to reach a wider audience and, in turn, grow their businesses.

There are 32 businesses shortlisted for this year’s OPTIMISE Fund, including Madinks.ie. This shortlist will now be reduced further, down to the 15 final companies who will be selected as this year’s OPTIMISE Fund recipients.

An online public vote will select 10 of the final 15 fund recipients with the additional five businesses selected by the independent judging panel. This year’s independent judging panel is chaired by Conall O’Móráin (Today FM’s Sunday Business Show) and consists of Keith Bohanna (Near Future), Ronan Smith (AIB) and Alan Sherlock (SFA).

Voting for your preferred business is easy. All 32 shortlisted businesses can be viewed on the IEDR website. Simply log on to www.iedr.ie/optimise to select your preferred business from the 32-strong shortlist. Voting opened to the public on June 19th and will close on the 10th July.

The value of the Fund is €150,000 and each of the 15 SMEs selected will receive training and services up to the value of €10,000 tailored to enhance their existing websites, including to sell online.

Looking forward to the next stage of the process, Donal Ryan said: “We are delighted to make the shortlist for this year’s OPTIMISE Fund. From listening to our customers, we know how important it is for them to be able to shop online. As a local business, optimising our website represents a genuine opportunity for us to grow our business and continue meeting and exceeding the needs of our customers”

“I hope that all the people of Dublin get behind us and vote. At the end of the day, we want to continue delivering a really top-quality online retail service for printer ink cartridges, and this funding would go a long way to helping us do just that.”

The final 15 SMEs selected will be announced on 13th July 2015.

To find out more about the OPTIMISE Fund or to vote, go to www.iedr.ie/optimise.