Continuous learning, stretching the brain, listening to others, taking on board information is so valuable in today’s world. The is so much to learn and keep up with and luckily a lot of good presenters and speakers willing to teach. Out of the events calendar in a year, it’s important to pencil in time for […]
The latest Invest NI introduction to Access to Finance session was held last week to announce the “new” equity funds. These are local government backed equity funds; supported by Invest NI, tendered for and then managed by private fund managers. There is a history of government funding in NI that, according to Crescent Capital, extends […]
I’ve been ruminating this blog post over the weekend and then an article on Techcrunch just spurred me to put the thoughts into electrons. I’ve been guilty of using the words “startups need” many times. There’s always something they need whether it is access to better talent, better markets, better funding alternatives. A startup is […]
One of our fledgling startups worked their way through product development and into a Kickstarter campaign about three weeks ago. 75% of the way into the campaign they’re at 83% funded – and all authentic pledges which, as most will know from Kickstarter analyses, is pretty awesome. Batchbuddy is certain to get across the line […]
Reality of Equity Crowdfunding Raising investment for start-ups is one of the many challenges an entrepreneur will face. This has always been the case, even back in the 17th Century when entrepreneurs stood on tables in Jonathan’s Coffee Shop in the City of London. They shared their business opportunities and merchants would offer investment. Their […]
The question of who holds the power comes up in every day life. Where there is power there is change. Is the power coming from the electricity companies, well literally! But it also comes from the politicians, the parents, the teachers, the business people, the civil service or is it from the community? The hardest […]
Just after re-launching Digital Circle as part of the Raise family, we didn’t let the grass grow under our heels as we headed straight into a Roundtable with the Department of the Economy about the excessive disparity between the demand for digital skills and the supply. The consultation, being hosted by the CBI, recognises that […]
Following Stephen Rice, Founder of NI Startup UpSkill Enterprise on his trip to Missouri, Phoenix, Las Vegas and Dallas. A real life example of the hard yards made in an effort to take an innovative edutech software solution Stateside. Day 1 Belfast – St Louis, Missouri via Dublin and Chicago Early alarm for a monster […]
Raise the Glass was the latest in our series of pitching events for founders and investors. Founded itself when there was no way for startups to meet financiers it’s proving to be popular! Last night we had six pitches, half of them going through the Raise programme and half of them independent. It’s important for […]
Last weeks Raise session was about risk and mitigating risk. The first step was helping our startups identify the risk level they may pose to an investor (and for good measure, this could also apply to early customers, like those who engage via crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter). We have heard before how an investor is […]
