14 firms chosen for start-up initiative

THE start-up business programme, Endeavour, has announced the 14 companies that have been selected to complete its 2011 start-up programme.

The chosen participants will be given personal mentoring from structured workshops from finance, legal and communications professionals.

Endeavour also offers incubation space at Kerry Technology Park for the duration of the programme, and international mentor teams in New York, Silicon Valley and in Asia.

The first group of Endeavour companies who completed the programme in 2010 secured a 40% increase in company valuations in the last six months, bringing the combined value to €13.9 million.

Co-founder of Endeavour Jerry Kennelly said: “The increase in value for these start-up companies augurs well for the future and we are confident that the 2011 Endeavourees can match or even exceed this performance.”

Kerry Group joined up with Endeavour founders; Jerry Kennelly, Shannon Development; and theInstitute of Technology, Tralee, as the programme’s new corporate partner.

Kerry Group director of corporate affairs Frank Hayes said the Kerry Group are delighted to partner with Endeavour.

“The programme attracts ambitious, high achievers with globally scalable business ideas. They have access to a phenomenal network of world class mentors and advisers which sets Endeavour apart from the other programmes,” said Frank Hayes.

Among the companies selected are:

- SwiftQueue aims to become a global leader in queue management in the healthcare industry by offering a multi-platform solution to reduce A&E waiting times.

- Handcraft hurleys online store also caught the selectors as it aims to sell Irish handmade ash hurleys and related products worldwide.

- Lawsimply.com was also chosen and plans to allow Irish companies to create affordable legal documents online, for a fixed cost.