About this Event

Maximise your Return on R&D Investment & R&D Tax Incentives: ReaDI-Watch Webinar

Does your company invest in Research, Development and Innovation and annually claim for the available R&D tax incentives ?

If you do, would like to put more of a structure around your efforts and make sure you're not missing out on any expenditure ?

If you don’t, would you like to hear how to effectively avail of this incentive to fund your continued investment and future development ?

To address these questions and challenges, we are hosting a webinar to make R&D Tax Incentives and R&D Management more accessible to companies, and to showcase our real-time R&D Management Platform, ReaDI-Watch©.

Speakers Bios

David Byrne, Founder & CEO of ReaDI-Watch Ltd., seeks to transform the way companies across the globe manage R&D. By managing R&D in real-time and on the cloud, companies can maximise R&D funding and R&D tax incentives, and get the best return on R&D investment. ReaDI-Watch© is a digital platform for your company to manage R&D in real-time, with time & cost saving features like automated R&D Tax Credit technical reports. (www.readi-watch.com)

Gerry Byrne, MD of GB Innovation Ltd., is one of Irelands most Senior International Engineers with over 30 years' experience in Research, Development and Innovation Management. Through intensive work strengthening the R&D and Innovation capability of over 60 companies in Ireland, and strong global network, GB Innovation have developed a scalable methodology to drive forward the field of R&D and Management: the ReaDI-Watch© Platform and Research Readiness Level© Index. (www.gbinnovation.ie)

About this Event

SEMINAR TOPIC: Debt / Equity fundraising and grant supports for (early stage) ICT companies

11.00

Welcome and introductions - Pat Byrne – Business Mentor - The Agile Executive (TAE)

• Accessing Grants and other supports – lots of options but complex – ETB LEO ITI EI IDA etc
• ‘Being prepared’ for funding rounds – Financial capability - Mary Hayden Business Mentor – TAE

Facilitated Panel Discussion

11.15

Panel Discussion - securing investment for your early stage start-up

• SBCI – Pillar bank and alternative debt/asset finance funding
• Arianna Taroni & John Madigan - Marketing

• EI Growth Capital – iHPSU - Brian Fives – EI South East & Eimear O’Keeffe EI Agile
• EU -  EIC Accelerator programme, Jim Ryan – Partner Lira Consultancy
• Angel investors -  Aidan Shine - HBAN
• Venture Capital - Mike Brennan – Principal - Finch Capital
• Private Equity & Debt Fund investors - Alan O’Dea – Beechbrook Capital

12.15

Q&A - facilitated session

12.30 Close

The series will be of interest to start-ups, micro enterprises and marketing professionals, and will provide the latest insights into how businesses can use marketing to drive sales.

The series will be taking place in virtual environment on a monthly basis with an exciting line-up of speakers and industry professionals providing their insights on the topics of customer experience, digital marketing, brand development and much, much more.

Attendees will have a chance to listen to the insights of Lean Marketing Strategist Rory McCall from RIKON as well as take part in a workshop aimed to help them get better at identifying the needs and wants of their customers.

Outline of Topics

The theme will be key legal issues for Start-Up Companies with a focus on three core areas:

Employment

Corporate Financing

Intellectual Property

At a very high level, for each of the three topics, this will look like:

• Basic legal framework relevant to entrepreneurs, start-ups and third level researchers looking to commercialise / spin out their research;
• Importance of getting things right at the beginning from a legal perspective;
• We will illustrate this point with some real world horror stories we have come across including:
  • Ownership of Name disputes;
  • Source Code issues;
  • Co-founder disputes; and
  • Minimum wage / employment law issues.
• The really key points that they need to focus on from day 1.
• Give an overview of our Legal Start-Up Pack – a suite of legal documentation / agreements that DLA Piper provide that Arc-Lab members and other attendees can use free of charge. What each document covers and how best to use.

  Speakers:

  Conor McEneaney,
  Micheál Mulvey & Triona Coady

About this Event

Our sixth webinar, this time in association with Network Ireland, who support the professional and personal development of women.

Gender diversity in the composition of leadership in Irish enterprises is vital in reflecting the modern and globalised society in which we operate and in delivering a more sustainable and inclusive economy into the future. Increasing the participation of women founding, leading and growing enterprises will result in better businesses and faster economic growth.

Earlier in 2020, Enterprise Ireland launched an Action Plan with its main aim to increase the participation of women in entrepreneurship and business leadership.

Our panel for this event includes two impressive female entrepreneurs, both from the South East, who are scaling their businesses in Kilkenny and Tipperary, along with Sheelagh Daly who heads up Female Entrepreneurship in Enterprise Ireland.

NDRC and ArcLabs will host an Open Night information event on 23 June ahead of the closing date for the NDRC at ArcLabs accelerator programme. Applications close on 28 June for what will be the third accelerator programme held with ArcLabs, in Waterford IT, and NDRC.

The Open Night, which will be held remotely, will see a panel consisting Dr Aisling O'Neill, manager of ArcLabs; David Jelly, founder of Property Bridges; Wendy Slattery, co-founder of The Beauty Buddy; and Gillian Doyle, co-founder of Cerebreon.

On the evening, a selection of entrepreneurs and investors will explain the NDRC way, and talk attendees through the application process and what it is we look for in startups.

Entreprenuers who successfully make it onto the programme will receive investment of €75,000, €50,000 of which is cash; three months working alongside startups, innovators and investors; expert mentorship from industry experts; weekly workshops and networking; the opportunity to build your connections with the investment community.

The 'Health Innovation in the South East' forum will see entrepreneurs from across the health space discuss the business opportunities in the sector, with the panel consisting of Feargal Duignan, founder of PacSana, Dr Aviva Cohen, founder and CEO of NeuroHero, Frank Dolphin founder and CEO of Rigneydolphin, and David Beirne, MD of UPMC Ireland and SVP of UPMC International. The discussion will be chaired by Dr Aisling O'Neill, manager of ArcLabs.

Hosted in partnership between NDRC, ArcLabs and South East BIC, this online panel discussion will provide attendees with in-depth detail on the health space in Ireland and abroad, as well as the investment opportunities available to early stage businesses at the moment.

Covid 19

The Problem

In normal times, businesses go through momentum cycles as they develop. These include growth, stagnation, decline, and then further growth and so on. The COVID crisis has had some unforeseen consequences for businesses and their usual growth cycles. Some businesses have been completely halted and others have been unable to keep up with demand. Most have had to deal with a momentum shift of some nature.

The Session

The session will look at the principles of momentum establishment and maintenance through crisis and how they apply to SMEs and start-ups. It will be specifically customised to the ArcLabs community. A brief survey of attendees' experiences of momentum maintenance during COVID lockdown will ensure that issues that are unique to the ArcLabs community are addressed in the session.

The Presenter

Dr Feargal O'Neill

Dr. O'Neill has been supporting businesses to maintain and reestablish project momentum, develop continuity plans post COVID lockdown and realign and finesse their business models so that they survive and thrive in the new normal.

DR. O'NEILL HAS A BACKGROUND IN THE EDUCATION SECTOR, A MASTERS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCE, PHD IN PSYCHOLOGY AND EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE IN MANAGEMENT AND WORKING WITH ORGANISATIONS TO MAXIMISE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

NDRC is hosting a Journey of Disruption event, remotely, with Dermot O'Shea, co-founder and joint-CEO of Taoglas, on Wednesday, 29 April.

At the event Angela Duffy, Venture Leader with NDRC, will have a wide ranging and open discussion with Dermot, before a Q&A from the audience.

The Journey of Disruption is a fireside chat where startup leaders candidly discuss their journey so far, the ups and downs of startup and tech life and their thoughts on the future of tech and startup land.

You will also get to hear more about the NDRC and its investment programme, NDRC at ArcLabs, which is currently open for applications

Techstars Startup Weekend is the place to look for a team, create a prototype of your idea, validate your business idea, and receive feedback from experienced entrepreneurs, all in one weekend. Techstars Startup Weekend is a full weekend long experience. Your ticket includes:  

• 7 full (and delicious) meals over the course of the weekend
• Benefits and discounts from our global partners
• One-on-one time with amazing mentors
• A new network of developers, designers, and entrepreneurs eager, like you, to change the world.
• All the internet and coffee you can consume

The ArcLabs Student Entrepreneurship Boot Camp aims to assist in developing WIT students innovative ideas into viable business opportunities.

The boot camps which cover Ideation, The Business Model and Pitching, will run in ArcLabs on 25^th and 27^th of February and the 3^rd of March from 5-8pm with the Pitch Competition and Awards being held on W.I.T. main campus 5th of March.