NDRC unveils 5 innovative digital startups for latest Dublin accelerator programme

NDRC, which sources and builds digital startups to invest in and work with, has unveiled the latest cohort of innovative new businesses to enter its investment and accelerator programme.

NDRC is investing an increased amount in each company, per a review of industry needs last year. Ventures in the latest cohort will receive an investment of €135,000 (€100,000 of which is cash and the remaining €35k in value-added supports.)

With a sector agnostic approach to digital startups, NDRC’s portfolio is now enhanced with autotech, healthcare, machine learning, aquaculture and managed services businesses.

Based at NDRC’s Digital Exchange offices, the startups will work with NDRC’s team over the course of the extended six-month programme, helping them move towards attracting further private investment.

Ben Hurley, CEO, NDRC: “It’s great to welcome this latest cohort into NDRC, with our refined investment model seeing these companies backed with greater funds to help bring them onto the next stage of development.

“Bringing a startup from an idea right through to being ready for investment is a challenging process. With our proven expertise and focus, NDRC is here to help with that progression.

“Following a successful first Decade of Investing, this latest cohort of businesses brings the number of companies NDRC has invested in close to the 300 mark.

2018 was a particularly good year for NDRC with over 17 ventures receiving follow-on funding of over €500,000.

“A good mix of entrepreneurs in this spring programme will lend itself to an interesting dynamic, with these businesses already showing some progress with their propositions. Some are already revenue generating, with enhanced customer discovery already well underway among the founders but the challenge of securing seed investment remains due to changes in the funding ecosystem.”

NDRC’s portfolio has grown to nearly 300 in 11 years

Having invested in 32 new startups during 2018, the number of companies in NDRC’s portfolio has grown to nearly 300 in the 11 years since its foundation. With such experience, NDRC’s success is built on finding very early stage companies and teams at concept stage and working with them to enhance their prospects of growing internationally.

NDRC will be investing in more businesses later this year, with a second Dublin accelerator. NDRC at Portershed in Galway is due to commence in the coming weeks and we are currently sourcing ventures for NDRC at ArcLabs in Waterford.

NDRC’s portfolio of companies includes Nuritas, Brightflag, Tandem, SilverCloud Health, Newswhip, and Boxever. Each of these has gone on to secure millions of euro in follow-on investment and are continuing on their successful paths to growth.

The five new companies joining NDRC’s Spring Programme comprise:

· MEG enables frontline medical workers to spend more time with patients and less time with administrative workloads by creating mobile first, paperless tools that drive quality improvement in healthcare.

· Sproose provides companies with a suite of services – laundry, bike repair, couriers, dentistry etc – to enhance procurement, management, promotion and reporting of employee engagement.

· Spire is a vehicle incident management business allowing drivers, recovery companies and insurers a faster, easier way to handle post-incident situations.

· Aqualicense vastly improves wait times for organisations seeking aquaculture licenses – which can take more than 10 years to acquire through traditional means.

· Machine Learning Programs uses machine learning and statistical models to improve performance and returns for the insurance industry. It does this by predicting the likelihood of people making claims.