Twenty-one courageous business founders from across Donegal have completed the ALPHA Innovation Startup Bootcamp, pitching their propositions to an intimate audience of ecosystem stakeholders: industry representatives, peers, and support organisations.
The programme, now in its second year, welcomes applications from budding entrepreneurs from right across the county, who are passionate about solving some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
Throughout May, June & July, the class of 2024 worked on fourteen propositions during seven workshops.
They learned tools and techniques such as Problem Framing, Customer Development Interviewing Skills, Market Sizing, Pricing Models …and much more.
The workshops took place every Saturday morning in the CoLab facility, where the founders tackled challenges which ranged from improving patient outcomes in epilepsy monitoring units where data is frequently lost costing specialist units vast sums; helping physiotherapists better deal with clients suffering from persistent neck pain who do not always follow their exercises.
The solution in this case is based on a novel use of virtual reality technology; and helping health-conscious people to meet their nutrition goals through real food, high-quality protein options.
Since launching in 2022, ALPHA Innovation has been offering advice, support and practical know-how. Entrepreneurs, whether seasoned or first-time, often first engage by booking into their weekly Coaching Clinics or attending one of their know-how workshops.
Spearheading ALPHA is the Head of Innovation, Kevin Sexton. Speaking on the conclusion of Startup Bootcamp, he said “I am delighted to see how far our pre-founders have progressed over the past 8 weeks. During that time, many of our teams have pivoted to target larger market opportunities. They completed the programme having collectively spoken to over 100 potential customers and gained skills that will stand to them on their journey to securing pilot customers over the coming weeks and months.”
Aws Al-Adhami, who travelled from Dublin each week to attend Bootcamp recalled what he enjoyed most about the programme:
“It was well worth the trip from Dublin”, he said. “The whole group was really invested in one another’s ideas and it was great to learn from other founders who are at a similar stage of the startup journey as I was. The icing on the cake for me was being paired up with a co-founder who I had never met before. We were well-matched by ALPHA. It meant our team had a compelling skillset across startups, fintech, and social enterprises which helped me rapidly develop the value proposition further.“
ALPHA Innovation is supported through a Donegal County Council-led economic development initiative and delivered through Donegal 2040 DAC, a company set up specifically to deal with various economic development challenges in the County.
These include town centre regeneration, driven by specific capital investments in buildings, marketing and management of such facilities to support employment creation across a range of towns, and through ALPHA Innovation, which is on a mission to drive innovation in established organisations, and accelerate startups from the region to position themselves as global players.
Eilish Kennedy receiving feedback following her presentation from Bootcamp mentor and facilitator Graham Merriman
Leas-Cathaoirleach of Donegal County Council, Cllr. Jimmy Kavanagh, represented the Council at Tuesday’s showcase. Speaking on the success of this year’s programme, Jimmy said “The Council recognises the importance of driving innovation capability across Donegal and ALPHA’s initiatives are doing just that. It was wonderful to see how far the pre-founders have come in such a short space of time, I was really impressed!“
Chair of the Board for Donegal 2040, Mícheál Ó hÉanaigh said: “The completion of the very successful Bootcamp has further underlined the key role of Alpha as a resource for the North West region. Alpha and its activities are a core element of the Donegal 2040 initiative.
“The just completed Bootcamp has further developed the Alpha ‘community’, with successful participants joining the ALPHAalumni: a mutual support platform based on principles of learning, entrepreneurship, innovation, inclusion and diversity. Alpha aspires to these principles which align with the value behind the saying ‘ní neart go cur le chéile’ (many hands make light work).“
Kevin Sexton concluded, “Last year our goal was to have a good gender balance, and we achieved 73% female participation. This year we deliberately set out to represent modern society as it really is: a multicultural mix, of young and more mature, and keep a good balance of genders. We welcomed 22 individuals from 9 nationalities; we had a participant who retired and is going again; PdD and Masters students who have been in industry previously and are upskilling or diving deep into an area of specialisation ..so we certainly achieved our goals.
“The group worked brilliantly with one another and are all committed to meeting again regularly to continue sharing knowledge, support, and tech skills. We have over twenty individuals now who will champion this way of starting businesses. We also doubled our intake to Bootcamp and fair play to the team for being up for the challenge which was quite demanding at times.”
ALPHA Innovation will now turn their attention to their second edition of Disrupt By The Sea, a Dragon’s Den-style event, where US investors hear pitches from 6 Irish scaleups in front of a live audience, with $100,000 cash investment on the table assuming the winner can agree on equity terms.
Scaleups from across Ireland are encouraged to apply – at www.ALPHAInnovation.eu/disrupt – before applications close on Sunday 25 August.