CATALYST is inviting applications for a new business programme in Derry that aims to tap into the north west’s talent base and encourage more people to get involved in start-ups.
Co-Founders, which will be based at the Catalyst innovation centre at Fort George, is a part-time programme for first time entrepreneurs and early stage start-ups that takes place one night a week for 10 weeks.
It brings together talented, skilled and ambitious individuals from technical and commercial backgrounds, to meet like-minded people interested in developing new product ideas focused on technology, engineering and science.
Since launching in Belfast in 2017, Co-Founders has delivered four cohorts involving 170 people who formed more than 50 teams - nearly half of whom are still working together.
Twenty teams have received proof of concept funding, and eight teams have progressed to the full-time Propel pre-accelerator programme.
Co-Founders has attracted software engineers, data scientists, sales and marketing experts, medical professionals, mechanical engineers, researchers, undergraduates and PhDs as well as people who have experienced a problem in a certain industry or from everyday life and want to develop a product to solve it.
Participants in the new north west programme will have the added incentive of being in the running to win one of five £10,000 proof of concept grants from Innovate UK, the government’s innovation agency.
Programme manager Sonya Kerr said Catalyst is hoping to attract 80 to 100 people from Derry, Letterkenny and across the north west to sign up at www.co-founders.co by the March 12 deadline.
“We know there is a wealth of talent here and a lot of people who have great ideas or are restless to try something new, who will really benefit from meeting others with different skills needed to build a start-up that they wouldn’t normally have a chance to meet,” she said.
Well-known Derry entrepreneurs Jennifer Neff and Leeann Monk-Ozgul, co-founders of tech for good start-up Elemental Software, are backing the latest programme.
The health tech innovation company is bridging the gap between health, housing and communities with a range of digital solutions designed to support the strategy and practice of self-care and independence.
“Meeting talented and skilled people outside of your normal network, who can help test and challenge your ideas, is incredibly important to building the growth-mindset and resilience you need as a start-up founder,” they said.
