Web 2.0 Ireland

TribalCity launched iphone game Into the Twilight which has reached number 1 in its category in 15 countries in its first three weeks on the App Store.

You can grab the game here

They have a series of games coming out for smartphones and Facebook over the next few months, according to co-founder Alan Duggan.

The new fund is focused on software and biotech. Like many incubation-style setups, the amounts involved are €50k with 3-months of Genesis/Hothouse style support and training. Hopefully there will also be a Y Combinator approach to rolodexes and introductions.

The first round of investment will open for applicants in October this year, with the first four successful entrepreneurs being announced before the end of the year.

All the details over on their blog. Thanks to Gordon McConnell Deputy-CEO of the Ryan Academy for letting us know.

Stockbyte founder, Jerry Kennelly has just announced his new startup – Tweak.com

Tweak is an online self-service design library which makes tweakable press advertising and marketing collateral available to users at the touch of a button. Simply change colour, copy, photos, logos and Calls to Action, to create a compelling piece of advertising and marketing.

Check this video out (25 mins in)

CEPIC: Jerry Kennelly: Secrets of His Dramatic Exit from REELDEALHD on Vimeo.

tip: James Corbett and Learnpipe

We ran an online poll for a few weeks to find Ireland’s top angel investor – looking for the “Ron Conway” in Ireland. HBan also had a little competition to find the Top Angel

Brian Caulfield is the Top Angel investor in both the Web2Ireland poll, and also by HBAN (coincidence !!)

Bill Liao, serial entrepreneur, co-founder of Xing and philantropist has just indicated that he wants to bring TechStars to Ireland!

If you don’t know what TechStars is, in their own words:

Get your startup funded and off the ground while learning from the best. Get up to $18,000 in seed funding for your new company, plus the chance to pitch to angel investors and venture capitalists at the end of the program. At the end of the three month program, it’s your company. TechStars is the best way to get your new company off and running and on a path to success. TechStars companies get 40+ educational opportunities during the program. Learn from over 50 highly accomplished mentors.

I’ve only met Bill briefly and have his book Stone Soup on my desk waiting to be read. His energy and positivity is infectious. Given what he has achieved both in business and through his work in Neo/WeForest, I have no doubt TechStars is going to happen and deliver results for the startup community here.

Irish Iphone travel app “My Craggy Island” is free of charge this weekend

“My Craggy Island” which was released by Tourist Republic and Spoon Safari last week will be free to download this weekend.

Craggy Island may be a rugged granite island, off the coast of south-eastern Australia but it is also the TV home of our three favourite priests. While most of the interior shots were filmed in a studio in England, most of the exterior shots were filmed around Ireland and particularly in the beautiful Clare region of Ireland.

My Craggy Island wants to be your personal gps tourguide as you embark on an adventure to discover these locations with our offline map. Visit the lonely wreck of the plassey ship on Inisheer, have a pint and soak up the atmosphere in Vaughan’s pub and of course make the pilgrimage to the remote parochial house.

My Craggy Island also includes a fun geogaming platform-by visiting Craggy Island locations, you will unlock special achievements in the digital world. After unlocking an achievement, you can then share this (and compete) with your friends on Facebook.

Features:

* Complete offline map of Ireland-so no expensive roaming charges
* Currently 11 locations to discover on Craggy Island, with directions
* Achievements:Visit locations to unlock various achievements such as a holy stone
* Facebook connectivity-share achievements with friends (requires internet connectivity)
* Personalised trips
* Real time weather tool of the clare region (requires internet connectivity)

Get the App here

HBan are looking for the top angel in Ireland. We’ve previously covered this topic before – “Who is the Irish Ron Conway ?”

HBan didn’t list anyone, so we compiled our own, based on recent activity, and any tech entrepreneur who had a significant exit in last 10 years

In lieu of live streaming or the release of the official videos from yesterday, Darragh Doyle managed to grab some some meaty clips of the Gateway Ireland launch event.

Whilst there has already been plenty of 140 character responses to the launch, we’d appreciate it if you could leave longer thoughts and comments below.

John Kelleher, Project director introduces Gateway Ireland from darraghdoyle on Vimeo.

Neil Leyden, Project Manager, introducing Gateway Ireland from darraghdoyle on Vimeo.

At yesterday’s Gateway Ireland, this cool video was shown

With the likes of EA Games setting up in Galway, Zynga, Crowdstar, etc together with the native scene, Jolt Online, Demonware, Havok and others, we have a very vibrant Gaming scene.

Thanks Dylan for video.

Guest Post: Paul Browne is a Development Advisor at Enterprise Ireland (EI), working with  Irish Software companies to increase exports, and export led jobs. A key area is Cloud and Software as a Service)

You may have already seen the posts on Enterprise Ireland’s BestConnected blog about the work that Enterprise Ireland and Microsoft are doing to help the Entrepreneur Community in Ireland. One of the companies benefitting from this approach is HR Locker

HR Locker is a  web 2.0 provider of HR Solutions to Business. That’s HR as in Employee Records, TimeSheets and  compliance (making sure everybody has a suitable contract). Today, at the Microsoft Bizspark European Conference, John Dennehy from HR Locker got shortlisted into the Top 18 Startups in Europe.

As part of the prize, John got the chance to pitch the HR Locker Business to a panel including Brent Hoberman (founder LastMinute.com), Loic LeMeur (Seesmic), Stefan Glaenzer (former chairman Last.FM) , and 8 other seasoned VC’s and investors. On offer for the best business model / pitch from the 18 companies is a €10,000 cash prize.

Prior to founding HR Locker, John John has worked in the Internet sector for the past 14 years. He co-founded Upstart Games, a global developer and publisher of mobile phone games, which was acquired in Nov 2006. The company had offices in Tokyo, Beijing, New York, LA, Dublin and Cork.

Microsoft’s view on HR Locker and Enterprise Ireland

BizSpark Network Partner Enterprise Ireland is an excellent example of an organisation that is helping to nurture next-generation start-ups.  Microsoft and Enterprise Ireland collaborate to help entrepreneurs in Ireland to maximise the opportunities available to them. Outside the USA, Ireland is host to the largest BizSpark community.

One example is HR Locker, one of the finalists at this year’s European Investor Summit.  HR Locker has benefited from being part of BizSpark and has received business and financial support from Enterprise Ireland (see separate profile).   Other BizSpark members that work with both Microsoft and Enterprise Ireland include TradeFacilitate and InishTech.

Gary Fallon, Country Manager, Enterprise Ireland France:

Microsoft have played a key part with Enterprise Ireland’s software clients, encouraging them to innovate and helping them to access new markets. Microsoft has consistently supported many of our software companies throughout their development and is a key platform for supporting them in developing new business opportunities in the French market.